There is photography, there is videography, and now there is iPhoneOGRAPHY! Compared to DSLRs, iPhones are less bulky and more convenient to carry around. We always carry our phones around nowadays. Be it iPhone, Android, or Samsung, most phones now have a good quality camera for us to play around with. Who says iPhones cannot shoot unique photographs?
Captured by Fatma M.
Today, I am going to give you a few tips on iPhoneography.
1. Keep your photos simple
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci
Do not over complicate things by having too much going on in the background. Simplicity is key. Keep things simple. Watch out for distracting objects on the camera screen. You will be surprised by how sophisticated your photos will turn out in the end.
“Drive Thru” captured by Davidag on an iPhone
2. Have a theme
You often hear people saying, “A picture speaks a thousand words.” Every picture tells a story. What does your picture say?
“Poznan, the Old Town” captured by Michał Koralewski on an iPhone
3. Shoot from a different perspective
Shoot the same thing a few times! Try to shoot from different angles; it gives you different perspectives. Be creative! Try different compositions. Shoot both horizontally and vertically. When you go back and review the photos you took, you will be amazed by how different shots give people different opinions and emotions. One of your pictures of the same object, shot from a different angle, may be that award-winning photograph. Let your creativity take flight!
“Tøyen” captured by Geir Tønnessen on an iPhone
4. Do not use the digital zoom
Only use optical zoom, no digital zoom. Zooming in beyond the smartphone’s optical range will produce grainy and pixelated pictures—chances are, pictures produced this way will be shaky and low quality. So, if you want to take a close-up shot of the object, my recommendation is that you move closer to the object (zoom with your feet) and click.
“Antizyklisch” captured by eagle1effi on a Nokia Lumia 800
5. Share your photos
All of my iPhone pictures are posted on Instagram. One good thing about Instagram is that you can process your photos. Play around with the filters.
“Instagram’d” captured by Darren Shilson on an iPhone and edited in Instagram
You can also use other more comprehensive photo editing apps. Edit the temperature, the brightness and contrast, blur the background to make your objects stand out—these are some of the many things you can do. And part of the magic of iPhoneography is that a “shot gone wrong” can be transformed into something extraordinary. You can transform it into something artistic just by playing with the buttons in the app.
What are you waiting for? Grab that iPhone and shoot some photos now! Try to shoot at least one photo a day. Remember, practice makes perfect! And experience is the best teacher.
About the Author:
This article was written by See Sher Lyn who blogs about correcting photography mistakes.
Like This Article?
Don't Miss The Next One!
Join over 100,000 photographers of all experience levels who receive our free photography tips and articles to stay current:
This blog has a lot of useful information. All of the suggestions are quite beneficial.
It doesn’t show when this was written, but instagram has had editing tools besides filters for a while already.
The article title is a little misleading. You say mobile photography but then the whole article is reading like a love letter to iPhones.
The only real advice in this article is the to not use the zoom. It really should’ve explained that it’s because digital zoom distorts the image. The newest iPhones have 2x optical zoom which won’t distort the image. However, most people don’t understand the difference between zoom types.