All of us know how to click the shutter button on our phones and get a standard shot. However how to take it to the next level?
As the host of the YouTube PhotowalksTV series, I get asked the concern all the time, and with a new year ahead of us, what a good time to up our game, right? Here are 10 of what I think are the most necessary hacks to shooting like a professional with your smart device. Please see the video above for examples, and below, read on.
The best images are taken at morning and in the last hour of the day, called “magic” or “blue” hour. Examine any pamphlet, publication, poster or whatever, and you’ll see what I’m speaking about. The colors of our world are soft and soft in the morning and late day. Take your shots there and you can take a snooze the remainder of the day.
One pro trick is to always clean your lens prior to a shoot. We’re carrying the phones around in our pockets and purses, and they get dirty. Bring along a cloth to wipe it down, or just utilize your t-shirt or blouse to do the technique.
In the professional classification, this is my crucial tip. I, like Joni Mitchell, look at the world from both sides now. How is the light falling on my subject? Perhaps from the front it’s not so great, but back lighting, or to the side may make a difference. You’ll see in the video how I framed my friend Rich DeMuro from every angle until we got the right one. Keep moving up until you get it right, and as a bonus offer, shoot from every angle to, vertical, horizontal, underneath, overhead … you understand, right?
Overcast skies are what I call “professional photographer weather,” when faces have nice, even, individuals pleasing light, without the extreme shadows of the mid-day sun. Wet weather condition is even much better in that it produces great vibrant reflections, especially in the early morning and evening. Latest phones are “water resistant,” implying you can quickly shoot in the rain without worry. There’s just one issue– the touchscreen gets unresponsive when wet, and hence, it’s tough to snap the shutter. Which causes the next hack!
The volume up and down buttons on your phone can likewise snap the shutter for you. So if you’re in the rain, or underwater (have a look at my episode on doing simply that) you can snap the shutter with the volume button and not need to stress over an unresponsive touch screen. Secondly, the iPhone will do double duty by getting you to rupture mode. This will stop action and provide you a lot of images to choose from. (On Galaxy phones, you go into the menu to gain access to burst mode.)
If you skipped the early morning shoot and require to get a good portrait in the mid-day sun (we have actually all been there) I have a great hack for you, the magazine technique. There is usually a realty listings or a regional calendar magazine on most metropolitan locations. Choose one up, and get a pal to hold the magazine over the topics head. This will cover the harsh sun and let you see your topic without the raccoon eyes.
When shooting a sundown, how do you make it intriguing? Stick something in the foreground. In Pismo Beach, as I displayed in the video, we utilized a cool tree branch. In Manhattan Beach, there’s the Pier or Lifeguard tower. Have an individual in there, preferably a shape. (Click reply if you need guidelines on how to do that on your phone.) Be imaginative, but remember, absolutely nothing’s more boring than a large body of water.
Sometimes topics move so quick it’s tough to snap a good shot, so when in doubt, run video and understand that you have actually selected whatever up. Better yet– you can take stills and video at the same time on iPhones. When you’re in video mode, after you’ve pushed record for video, a white shutter button appears at the top of the screen. Hit it with your best snaps and get the very best of both worlds.
No photo leaves my phone that hasn’t been “established” in a picture app. My first go-to is the plain vanilla Photos app on the iPhone, which has terrific tools to darken the skies and enhance the colors a bit. (I demonstrate how in the accompanying video.) From there. my next level up is the totally free Adobe Lightroom Mobile app, and there are 2 key sliders I display in the video. When I wish to go nuts, I grab the Snapseed app from Google.
See the distinction below, with Lightroom, before and after? Which do you choose?
iPhone shot in Palm Desert, unedited
iPhone shot in Palm Desert, modified in Lightroom Mobile