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Tips taking better iPhone images of your family/children

Posted in Baby | Children, Families

Nowadays almost everyone takes photos with their iphone. Even I do it (ssshhh ;-)) when I can’t be bothered to carry my ‘big’ camera around! It’s just easy and convenient and lets be honest we don’t leave the house with a phone anyway. The iphone camera can really make a very nice looking picture if you know how to use it right! Let me give you a few photo tips taking better iPhone images of your family/children.

1. Zoom with your feet!

Never, ever, ever think about zooming with the little slider at the bottom of your screen. This is the quickest way to ruin your picture. The iPhone may have a good camera built in, but as soon as that slider moves, you can kiss your image quality goodbye.

2. Turn on your grid lines

Grid Lines are extremely helpful when using an iPhone. This divides your picture into 9 equal boxes and really helps you with your composition. Compose your image using the law of thirds and you are sure to have an interesting picture.

Grid use for taking better iPhone images of your family and children
3. Use two hands

Sure the iPhone is light and thin, but it still can move while you are taking a picture. Use two hands whenever you are taking a picture. Keep your arms in close and rest them on your body to stabilize yourself. Rest your iPhone on something sturdy if possible. Also, don’t forget that you can push the + button on the side of your iPhone to release the shutter.

4. Learn AE/AF lock

AE/AF lock can be turned on by tapping on the screen where you want to focus on/ expose for, and then holding down till the box bounces twice. This means that the place that you tapped on is where the camera focuses on and exposes for, and no matter where you move the camera those settings stay the same. This is good for backlit subjects. Say you wanted to take a better picture of 2 people, and the sun was at their back. If you just took the
picture, chances are it would be way too dark because your phone exposed for the sun. If you lock the exposure on the people, they would be properly exposed and if you move around a little, no worries, they will still be well lit.

AE AF lock for taking better iPhone images of your family and children

 

5. Use HDR for pictures of landscapes

HDR has a lot to do with the last photo tip. It takes the exposures from different pictures and pastes them together to make a better-lit image. If take a picture with the HDR setting, your iPhone will take 3 pictures very quickly and paste them together to give you a better lit image. Don’t move when you do this. You will get a blurry image. Master Tip 3 ;-).

6. Look for good light

Nobody likes to have a picture taken with the sun blaring right in his or her eyes. Also, nobody likes to look at those pictures. The harsh light from the sun can either cause harsh shadows all over someone’s face or wash all of the shadows out. Keep the sun at their back or stay in the shade. I love images taken in the shade. You will be amazed how good they are. The pictures will definitely look better.

7. Download Camera+

Camera + is an incredible camera photo app. You can control the exposure and focus points independently, it has a self-timer, burst mode, stabilizer and a level. It’s got it all. It’s a must have. Leave the default camera at home and use the photo app, Camera.

Cameraplus

 

8. Download Snapseed

Snapseed is a free photo editing app made by Google and is the best one that I have come across. The amount of things that you can do in this app is incredible. It is also super easy to use. You swipe up and down to choose which effect you want. You swipe left to right to choose the intensity of that effect. You can also export straight from Snapseed to Instagram.
Snapseed
9. Try to avoid Instagram Filters.

My goal for 2016 ;-)! I must say I use Instagram filters but every single picture on Instagram looks the same. Have some individuality and make your picture yours. Edit in Snapseed and come up with your own picture and put it on Instagram without a filter. Set yourself apart from everyone else and develop your own style. People will notice a difference.

10. Break every single rule (sometimes, ha, ha)

Last but not least. In Photography there are no absolutes. This means, nothing is right and nothing is wrong. Don’t be afraid to take everything that I just told you to do and not to do and do the opposite. Take a blurry picture of someone running. Underexpose a picture and make it a silhouette. Zoom with the slider and get some artsy grain. Take an extremely bright, harsh shadow picture in the sun. Put the subject right in the middle of your frame. Do whatever and make an exception to the rule every now and then. The only thing you can’t do is use an Instagram filter ;-).

Keep shooting and enjoy! to get more tips every month please sign up for my newsletter here and find it in the right column.

 

 

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