I get a lot of questions about which camera I use to take my Instagram photos with. When I tell them that I use the camera on my iPhone everyone is surprised! Are you asking yourself what my secrets are to get those beautiful iPhone shots too? Or do you want to take your iPhone photography to the next level?

Well, first let me tell you this: You don’t need a DSLR or another expensive camera to shoot amazing photos with. I do own one, but I never use it, because I’m completely satisfied with the quality of my photos taken with my iPhone 8 Plus. I believe that everyone can make beautiful photos. I have collected some tips & tricks that I always keep in mind while taking photos to get the best of every shot! These little secrets of mine will bring out the hidden photographer in you! Getting curious? If yes, keep reading..

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Always clean the lens before using your camera

How many times did it happen to you that you get home, watch the amazing pictures you just made outside just to find out that your camera lens wasn’t clean? Aargh so annoying right?! To prevent this from happening again you should always clean your lens before using it. Make it a habit! I did. I’ve been doing this automatically throughout the day for a couple of years. A beautiful picture starts with a clean lens right!?

Lightning is everything!

Lightning can make or break your photo. The best time for shooting photos is after sunrise and before sunset (golden hour). The light during those times is very soft, warm and you don’t have to deal with unwanted shadows. There are more reasons why you should wake up in the early hours. You won’t find a lot of people early in the morning at your photo spot. That means that you can relax and have the whole place mostly to yourself. I never use the flash of my phone by the way. I don’t like the way it makes my picture look. I always look for natural light!

Composition is key!

The composition is one of the most important things in the photography world! It’s possible that you never heard about this. Composition means the position of objects in a frame that draws the attention directly! The rule of thirds for example. When you just starting out it is normal to put objects or people in the middle of a frame. But this is not how you should take photos. By using the rule of thirds you make your photos appear SO MUCH BETTER! I advise you to do some research on this subject. It’s a little hard to explain but very easy to learn when you understand the rule. You will thank me later!

Zoom with your feet

Another thing I never use is the zoom function on my camera. What I do instead is moving my phone around until I get the best composition! What I mean by this is to never zoom in with your camera, but instead get closer or further from your subject to get the perfect shot. By zooming in with your camera you decrease the quality of your photo a lot and this is enough reason to skip the zooming! Trust me on this.

Use the HDR effect

The HDR effect is life! If you never used this option you’re missing out! HDR will let you capture so much more detail on photos. It’s perfect for landscape photos or when you want to capture nature AND the sky. I’m telling you guys. You should really turn this effect on! You can do this in the settings of your camera. Settings > camera > HDR.

Have a lot of patience!

How many times do I hear people asking to remove ‘that guy that walks by’ or ‘the woman that stands behind you and covers your beautiful view’. If you wait for a little until the people around you leave you’ll have a very nice picture without objects or people in it. It saved you a lot of time afterward during editing. A tip from me is to wake up very early if you want that perfect shot without people on it. Especially at very touristic locations! I always plan ahead when I’m going to shoot. So I’ll set my alarm at around 7. The earlier the better.

Tap to focus

It is so important to tap on the object that you want to focus on. A lot of people don’t do this, but I really think it’s very important. When I make a photo I tap on the object I am focusing on. Then I swipe up and down to make it lighter or darker if it is necessary. So always tap on your subject before shooting the picture to get that sharp detailed photo or the blurry background if that’s what you’re looking for.

These are my top little secrets on how I create my photos with my iPhone. If you use these tips I promise you that you will see a big difference in your photos! I hope you found these little secrets of mine helpful!  If you want to see more photography blog posts, please comment below!

Much love,