ProCamera App Tutorial: Table Of Contents

Click a title below to go directly to that section of the tutorial:

Section 1: ProCamera App Settings

Section 2: Flash

Section 3: Exposure Compensation

Section 4: Front Camera

Section 5: Photo Mode

5.1 Rapid Fire
5.2 F/E Lock
5.3 Grids
5.4 Tiltmeter
5.5 Manual Mode
5.6 SI Mode
5.7 White Balance
5.8 Histogram
5.9 Aspect Ratio
5.10 Anti-Shake
5.11 Self-Timer
5.12 Display Mode
5.13 File Format

Section 6: Video Mode

Section 7: HDR Mode

Section 8 : LowLight Mode

Section 9: LowLight Plus Mode

Section 10: Selfie Mode

Section 11: Scan Mode

1. ProCamera App Settings

If you’re a first-time user of ProCamera, you’ll see several messages appear when you first open the app.

You’ll be asked if you want to allow the app to access your location. If you tap Allow, the app will remember where each photo was taken (also known as geotagging). This can be helpful for remembering where you took each picture:

On the message that says ProCamera would like to access the camera, tap OK so that you’ll be able to use the app to take photos:

On the message that says ProCamera would like to access your Photos, tap OK so that the photos you take will be saved into the iPhone’s native Photos app:

On your iPhone’s screen you’ll now see the normal camera view, ready to take a photo. Before you start shooting pictures, you should make sure the camera is set to shoot at the highest quality setting.

Tap the Menu icon (three lines) at the bottom right of the screen, then select Settings:

Tap the File Format (JPEG) option, then drag the Quality slider all the way to the right to 100%:

When the quality is at 100%, tap Settings at the top left. After confirming that your JPEG quality is at 100%, tap the Camera icon at the top-left to return to the camera screen:

2. Flash

Sometimes you might want to use the camera’s flash to illuminate a dark subject or brighten up the shadows in a scene. To turn on the flash, simply tap the Flash icon (lighting bolt) circled in red below:

The flash icon should now appear solid white to indicate that the flash is switched on. Tap the shutter button to take your photo with the flash:

To turn the flash off, tap the Flash icon so that it appears with a small X next to it.

Below is a comparison of what this scene looked like with and without using the flash. As you can see, using the flash will brighten up shadowed areas in your scene.

No flash:

With flash:

3. Exposure Compensation

The Exposure Compensation setting in ProCamera allows you to easily control the exposure (brightness) of your image. With a simple swipe you can make the image brighter or darker before you take the shot.

Tap the +/- icon at the top of the screen to display the Exposure Compensation scale at the bottom of the screen. At the top of the screen you’ll see that the EV (Exposure Value) is currently set to 0.0 – this is the normal exposure value:

To make the photo darker than normal, drag the Exposure Compensation slider to somewhere in the negative (darker) side. In the photo below the EV was set to -1.4. Notice how much darker the image is now:

To make the photo brighter, drag the Exposure Compensation slider to the positive (brighter) side. In the photo below the EV was set to +1.2 which made the image much brighter:

Below are the three photos of this scene shot at normal exposure (0.0 EV), darker exposure (-1.4 EV) and brighter exposure (+1.2 EV):

As you can see, if the camera suggests an exposure that isn’t what you like, it’s very easy to use the Exposure Compensation slider to make your photo darker or lighter.

4. Front Camera

If you want to take a self-portrait photo, you’ll need to tell the ProCamera app to use the front-facing camera. To switch to the front camera, simply tap the little Camera icon at the top right of the screen:

If you need to make your face brighter or darker, use the Exposure Compensation slider at the bottom of the screen to adjust the exposure (brightness).

After taking your photo, you can return to the rear-facing camera by tapping the Camera icon at the top of the screen.

5. Photo Mode

ProCamera has a range of different shooting modes for different situations and conditions, but Photo mode is the one you’re likely to use most often. This mode gives you access to the standard camera, as well as a useful selection of manual iPhone camera controls.

To ensure you’re in Photo mode, tap the opposing horizontal arrows icon to the left of the shutter button, then select the Photo shooting mode:

To take a picture, simply tap the round shutter button at the bottom of the screen:

You can, of course, also take photos in horizontal orientation. When shooting like this the shutter button will appear on the right of the screen. Don’t forget that you can also tap the +/- icon to adjust exposure compensation (image brightness) before taking your photo:

To access the camera’s settings, tap the Menu icon (three lines) to the right of the shutter button (or above the shutter button if shooting in horizontal orientation). The camera setting icons will appear in the lower half of the screen:

We’ll now explore how to use each of these camera settings…

5.1 Rapid Fire

Rapid Fire is the same as the Burst Mode feature in the iPhone’s native camera app. It’s great for photographing moving subjects as it allows you to take many photos very quickly, one after the other, for as long as you press and hold the shutter button.

To switch on Rapid Fire, tap the Menu icon (three lines) then select the Rapid Fire option. The icon will turn green to indicate that it’s switched on:

Tap the Menu icon again to hide the camera settings icons. When you’re ready to start shooting, simply press and hold the shutter button for as long as you want:

When you’re finished shooting, you’ll see multiple photos of the scene in your photo library. You can then delete the ones you don’t want and keep only the best shots.

5.2 F/E Lock

F/E Lock stands for Focus and Exposure Lock. You can use this feature to lock and maintain the focus and exposure values when taking photos.

Once the focus point and exposure level is locked, you can point the camera at different parts of the scene while maintaining the original focus and exposure settings that you chose.

Once you’ve composed your shot, tap once on the screen to display the focus and exposure icons – focus is the blue square and exposure is the yellow circle. You can now drag the focus and exposure points to different parts of the screen:

Drag the focus point (blue square) onto the subject that you want in sharp focus. Drag the exposure point (yellow circle) to the area that you want correctly exposed, e.g. the sky, foreground, subject, etc. Notice how the image brightness changes depending on how bright or dark the area is that you’re exposing for:

You could take the photo now, but if you want to try out different compositions by moving the camera slightly, you’re going to have a problem… As you move the camera, the exposure/brightness will change depending on where you point the lens.

To stop this from happening, tap the Menu icon (three lines) then select F/E Lock:

The focus and exposure values will now be locked, and won’t change no matter where you point the camera. When you’re done taking photos with the locked focus and exposure values, tap the Menu icon and turn off the F/E Lock option.

5.3 Grids

Switching on gridlines in the ProCamera viewfinder will help you when composing your photos. The grid helps you line up elements in your photo to ensure horizons are level and architectural lines are straight. It’s also great for helping you compose a photo according to the Rule of Thirds.

To switch on the gridlines, tap the Menu icon (three lines) then select Grids. Keep tapping the Grids option to display different types of gridlines on your screen:

When you’ve selected the type of grid that you want, tap the Menu icon to hide the camera setting icons. You can now use the gridlines on the screen to help you compose your photo.

To switch off the gridlines, tap the Menu icon, then keep tapping the Grids option until it turns white.

5.4 Tiltmeter

The Tiltmeter is a simple graph-like method of showing how straight or level your iPhone is when taking a photo. The Tiltmeter is a fantastic tool for ensuring horizons or other lines in your photo are straight.

Tap the Menu icon, then select Tiltmeter. You’ll now see a large cross appear in the middle of the screen. Tap the Menu icon to hide the camera settings icons. As you tilt your iPhone, you’ll see a small + symbol appear beside the Tiltmeter:

When the + symbol lines up exactly with the Tiltmeter grid, the Tiltmeter will turn green and you know that your iPhone is perfectly level.

To turn off the Tiltmeter, open the Menu and tap Tiltmeter so that the icon appears white.

5.5 Manual Mode

Manual Mode allows you to control shutter speed and ISO. These settings can be used for fine-tuning the exposure, just like you can on a DSLR camera. Tap the Menu icon, then select the ISO & Shutter option so that the M appears green:

Tap the Menu icon to hide the camera setting icons. To adjust the shutter speed, tap the top left Shutter Speed icon as shown below. At the bottom you’ll see a sliding scale of shutter speeds that you can swipe across:

The Shutter Speed setting lets you adjust the exposure time. Using a faster shutter speed helps you avoid camera shake in low light due to the shorter exposure time, and will result in a darker photo. A slower shutter speed lets more light in, but can result in blurry photos if the camera is moved during the exposure.

A fast shutter speed will freeze any movement in the scene, whereas a slow shutter speed will capture movement as motion blur.

To adjust the ISO, tap the top right ISO icon as shown below, then use the ISO slider to dial in the value you want:

The ISO setting makes the camera more or less sensitive to light. Increasing the ISO makes the camera more sensitive to light, which means the camera can use a faster shutter speed in low light, helping you to avoid camera shake. However, keep in mind that increasing ISO often introduces noise (grain) into your photo:

When you’re happy with the exposure of the image, tap the shutter button to take the photo. To turn off Manual Mode, open the Menu and keep tapping the ISO & Shutter option until the M appears white.

5.6 SI Mode

SI stands for Semi-Automatic mode. This mode is used for altering either the shutter speed or the ISO. It’s different to Manual Mode where you can alter both the shutter speed and the ISO settings independently of each other.

With SI mode you either choose the shutter speed, and the app will choose the appropriate ISO to ensure you get a good exposure. Or you choose the ISO, and the app will choose the best shutter speed.

To switch on SI Mode, tap the Menu icon, then keep tapping the ISO & Shutter option until you see SI appear in green:

Tap the Menu icon to hide the camera setting icons. To change the ISO setting, tap the ISO icon at the top right of the screen, then use the ISO slider to dial in the setting you want:

When you adjust the ISO setting, notice how the shutter speed setting at the top left of the screen automatically changes.

To set the shutter speed, tap the Shutter Speed icon at the top left of the screen, then use the shutter speed slider to dial in the setting you want:

When you adjust the shutter speed, notice how the ISO setting at the top right of the screen automatically changes.

To turn off SI Mode, open the Menu and keep tapping the ISO & Shutter option until the icon appears with a white M.

5.7 White Balance

White Balance allows you to alter the color temperature of your image to either make the colors cooler (more blue) or warmer (more yellow). Tap the Menu icon, then select White Balance:

Tap the Menu icon again to hide the camera setting icons. Tap the AWB icon at the bottom of the screen to exit the Automatic White Balance mode, and enter the Manual White Balance mode where you can adjust the color temperature of the image:

Color temperature is measured in Kelvin (K), which is a numbered system that describes how blue-toned or yellow-toned your photos are. The sample photo below of a Mexican doorway is at a normal 5988 K:

To add a blue tint to your photo, drag the Color Temperature slider toward the smaller numbers on the scale. In this case the photo was changed from 5988 K down to 3212 K. The photo becomes more blue as the Kelvin numbers get smaller:

To add a yellow tint to your photo, drag the Color Temperature slider toward the larger numbers on the scale. In this case, the white balance was set to 9430 K. The photo becomes more yellow as the Kelvin numbers get larger:

To turn off the White Balance settings, open the Menu and tap the White Balance option so that it turns white.

5.8 Histogram

A histogram is a graph that shows a visual representation of the brightness or darkness of the pixels in your photo, i.e. how your photo is exposed. It helps you to understand whether your photo has a good balanced exposure, or whether it might be under-exposed (too dark) or over-exposed (too bright).

To display the histogram on your screen, tap the Menu icon, then tap the Histogram option. At the top of the screen you’ll see a series of vertical bars that look like a mountain:

If you point your camera at different parts of a scene, e.g. a bright sky then a dark foreground, you’ll notice that the position of the bars on the histogram change according to the brightness of the scene.

The left side of the histogram graph represents the shadow or black areas. The right side represents the bright areas or highlights. The middle section represents mid-tones (tones of a medium brightness).

The height of the peaks in the graph represent the number of pixels of a particular brightness (shadows, mid-tones, highlights).

A high peak on the left of the histogram means you have a lot of dark tones in your image, indicating that it may be under-exposed. A high peak on the right means you have a lot of bright tones in your image, indicating that it may be over-exposed.

If you use the Exposure Compensation tool (+/-) to adjust the exposure of your photo, you’ll instantly see these changes reflected in the histogram. For a balanced exposure, try to aim for an even distribution of vertical bars across the entire length of the histogram.

There are actually three different visual representations of the histogram in ProCamera. If you keep tapping the Histogram icon in the menu, you’ll see the histogram displayed in different ways across the top of the screen:

If you don’t want to see the histogram on the screen when taking photos, open the Menu, then keep tapping the Histogram  option until it turns white.

5.9 Aspect Ratio

Aspect ratio is a term that describes the relationship between how wide your photo is to how tall it is. Have you ever purchased a frame at a store and then found that your favorite printed photo has the wrong dimensions to fit the frame? This is because the aspect ratio of the photo is different to that of the frame.

In ProCamera you can change the aspect ratio to fit your photographic style and pre-plan for your photo framing needs.

For most cameras the default aspect ratio is 3:2. Tap the Menu icon and you’ll notice that the Aspect Ratio is currently set to 3:2 (unless you’ve already changed this setting previously):

Use the 3:2 aspect ratio if you want to print out your picture to fit the following frame sizes: 4×6, 8×12, 16×24 inches. Below is an example of a photo taken using the 3:2 aspect ratio:

If you keep tapping the Aspect Ratio icon in the menu, it will toggle through all of the aspect ratios that you can shoot in. The 16:9 aspect ratio creates a wide image that’s very good for using in video or movie productions as it’s the same ratio as HD television sets and many computer screens:

The 1:1 aspect ratio is a perfect square. The square 1:1 ratio works well for any photo frames that are square-shaped, and also for photos that you intend to upload to Instagram in square format:

The 3:1 aspect ratio is called a panoramic ratio. A panoramic ratio of 3:1 is excellent for shooting wide landscapes, as the resulting image is very wide:

If you’ve studied art theory, you might like to use the Golden Mean aspect ratio. The Golden Mean is a mathematical formula developed by the early Greeks to help artists create the most pleasing compositions possible:

The 5:4 aspect ratio is one of the most popular ratios for framing print-outs of your photos. Use the 5:4 aspect ratio if you want your photo to fit inside a frame measuring 4×5, 8×10 or 16×20 inches:

The 4:3 aspect ratio isn’t a very popular dimension for framing, but it’s the standard dimension for almost all North American video editing prior to the advent of HD video. Also called the NTSC aspect ratio, this format isn’t used any more for video work as the HD video’s 16:9 aspect ratio has taken its place:

5.10 Anti-Shake

The Anti-Shake feature helps you create sharper photos by reducing the effects of camera shake – which is a particular problem when shooting in low light.

Anti-Shake is usually turned on by default. If you open the Menu, you’ll see that the Anti-Shake option is probably green which means it’s switched on:

To shoot with the Anti-Shake feature, hide the camera setting icons by tapping the Menu icon again, then tap the Anti-Shake icon to the right of the shutter button at the bottom of the screen.

The Anti-Shake feature uses the iPhone’s built-in gyroscope to detect when the device is held steady, and delays taking the photo until the camera is still.

5.11 Self-Timer

The self-timer allows you to set a 10 second delay between pressing the shutter button and the photo being taken. This can be useful in a variety of shooting situations.

For example, if you’re using an iPhone tripod and iPhone tripod mount, you can use the timer delay so that you can appear in the photo yourself.

It’s also very helpful when shooting in dark environments with a tripod. Even with a tripod, you can introduce camera shake when you press the shutter button. Leaving a 10 second delay ensures that the camera will be perfectly still by the time the photo is taken.

To activate the timer, tap the Menu icon, then select Self-Timer. Hide the camera setting icons by tapping the Menu icon again:

To take a photo with a 10 second delay, tap the Self-Timer icon to the right of the shutter button at the bottom of the screen. You’ll know that the timer is working when you see the numbers counting down from ten to zero:

5.12 Display Mode

The Display Mode option lets you choose what kind of information and icons you see on the screen when taking photos. Some people like to see a lot of technical information and icons on their screen. Others only want to see the picture in front of the camera, with no additional text getting in the way of their composition.

Tap the Menu icon, and you’ll find the Display Mode option at the bottom right. Keep tapping this icon to toggle through the three different display modes:

Standard displays all technical data and icons on the screen while you’re composing photos. Medium displays only a small amount of information. Light doesn’t display any information or icons.

5.13 File Format

When you take a photo with your iPhone, the default file format for saving images is JPEG. The benefit of JPEG images is that they’re compressed so you can fit a lot of photos on your device. However, JPEG compression does result in a slight loss of image quality.

If you want to shoot uncompressed high quality images, you’ll need to shoot in TIFF or RAW format – and the ProCamera app allows you to do just that. The downside is that the file size of these images will be much larger, so they’ll take up more storage space on your iPhone.

To select which file format you want to shoot in, tap the Menu icon, then keep tapping the icon at the bottom left to toggle through the different file formats: JPEG, TIFF, RAW and RAW+JPEG:

6. Video Mode

To record video footage using the ProCamera app, tap the opposing horizontal arrows icon to the left of the shutter button, then select the Video shooting mode:

If this is the first time you’ve used Video mode, the app will ask for permission to access the iPhone’s microphone. Tap OK to ensure that the video will record sound. To start recording your video, tap the red Record button:

You’ll know that your video is recording when you see the seconds increasing at the top-middle of your screen.

Video Mode in the ProCamera app also allows you to take still photos at the same time that your video is recording. To take a photo, tap the little Camera icon while video is still being recorded:

To stop recording video footage, tap the red Stop button.

7. HDR Mode

iPhone HDR settings help you create more balanced exposures when shooting high contrast scenes that have both bright and dark areas. In HDR Mode the camera takes multiple photos at different brightness (exposure) levels whenever you press the shutter button. The app then combines these images to create an evenly exposed photograph.

HDR is particularly useful when shooting landscapes where you have a bright sky and darker foreground. By combining multiple exposures you can ensure that color and detail will be visible in both the bright and dark areas.

The HDR feature in ProCamera is only available as an extra in-app purchase costing $3.99. If you don’t think you’ll use this feature there’s no need to buy it, but if you think it would be a useful addition to the app, tap the opposing arrows icon to the left of the shutter button, then select the HDR shooting mode:

To purchase the Vivid HDR feature, tap Buy. Alternatively, you can try out the HDR feature for free by tapping the Try It option – however, you’ll get a watermark on your photo unless you purchase the full HDR Mode.

If you don’t want to purchase Vivid HDR, or would like to purchase it later, tap the X at the top right of the purchase box.

8. LowLight Mode

Lowlight Mode is used for photographing dark scenes where there’s little available light to illuminate your subject. To access this mode, tap the opposing arrows icon to the left of the shutter button and select LowLight:

This tiled floor and counter was photographed in a dark kitchen with the lights out. The LowLight function works great for poorly lit scenes, both inside and outside. When you’re ready to take the photo, tap on the shutter button with the moon icon:

9. LowLight Plus Mode

LowLight Plus Mode is for photographing very dark scenes, such as at night with a tripod. The ProCamera app uses various techniques to give you the best possible exposure, even in very dark environments.

Like the HDR feature, this option is only available as an extra in-app purchase costing $3.99. If you think you’ll use this feature, tap the opposing arrows icon to the left of the shutter button, then select the LowLight+ shooting mode:

To purchase the LowLight Plus Mode, tap Buy. Alternatively, you can try out the LowLight Plus feature for free by tapping the Try It option. If you don’t want to purchase LowLight Plus, or would like to buy it later, tap the X at the top right of the purchase box:

10. Selfie Mode

The Selfie Mode in ProCamera allows you to take self-portrait photos using the front camera – with the added feature of being able to flip the image horizontally.

Tap the opposing arrows icon to the left of the shutter button, then select the Selfie shooting mode. To flip the scene horizontally, simply tap the Camera icon at the top-right of the screen. The image of yourself should now be flipped. To flip back to the normal view, tap the Camera icon once again:

If your face appears too bright or too dark, you can adjust the image brightness using the Exposure Compensation slider at the bottom of the screen. When you’re ready to take the photo, tap the shutter button:

11. Scan Mode

The Scan mode isn’t actually for taking photos – it’s for scanning printed QR codes (similar to a bar code) on products, in magazines, in shopping malls, etc. When you scan a QR code, the app will direct you to a website with more information about that product or location.

If you see a QR code, tap the opposing arrows icon to the left of the shutter button in ProCamera, then select Scan. Use the camera’s lens to position the QR code on the screen:

In the example below, the ProCamera app displays a website URL to visit, the option to copy the URL to your iPhone’s clipboard, and the option to share the URL. When you’re finished with this page, tap Done:

The post How To Use ProCamera App To Shoot Stunning iPhone Photos appeared first on iPhone Photography School.

What Is Long Exposure Photography?

Long exposure photography – often referred to as slow shutter photography – is a shooting method that involves taking photos using a slow shutter speed.

Shutter speed refers to the length of time the camera’s shutter remains open when taking a photo. The longer the shutter stays open, the slower the shutter speed will be.

When you use a slow shutter speed, any movement in the scene will be captured as motion blur or a trail of light.

Slow shutter speeds also allow the camera to capture more light, which is why it’s useful for capturing more detail when shooting at night.

While it’s true that the iPhone’s ability to alter shutter speed isn’t nearly as sophisticated as a DSLR camera, the Slow Shutter Cam app has done an amazing job of digitally mimicking the look of traditional slow shutter photography.

Slow Shutter Cam allows you to choose from several different kinds of long exposure techniques, namely Motion Blur, Light Trail and Low Light. It also lets you control settings such as shutter speed, light sensitivity and blur strength.

The Slow Shutter Cam app can be downloaded from the App Store for $1.99, and is designed to work with both the iPhone and iPad.

Now let’s discover how to use the Slow Shutter Cam app to create light trails, motion blur and low light photos with your iPhone.

1. Create A Slow Shutter Abstract Photo

One of the easiest ways to create an interesting long exposure photo is to shoot a stationary subject while moving the camera in a certain direction.

The movement of the camera, combined with a slow shutter speed, results in streaks of light that create unique fine art abstract photos.

The first thing you’ll need to do is find a scene that has small points of light and strong vertical or horizontal features, such as the example below of some city lights behind a set of trees in the evening:

Open the Slow Shutter Cam app and set your composition as you like it:

At the bottom left of the screen, tap the gear icon to display the capture mode options:

There are three capture modes in Slow Shutter Cam: Motion Blur, Light Trail and Low Light. Select Light Trail, and you’ll see three sliders that allow you to fine-tune the exposure settings before taking your photo.

For my scene I set the Light Sensitivity to 1/16, Shutter Speed to 8 seconds, and ISO to Auto. But keep in mind that you’ll need to experiment with different light sensitivities and shutter speeds based on how much light you have in the scene that you’re shooting.

When setting the slider values, remember that the longer the Shutter Speed, the more pronounced the light trail will be. The Light Sensitivity option is a way to make your photo brighter or darker. The ISO setting also affects exposure (brightness), but keep in mind that you can end up with grainy photos when the ISO setting is high.

When you’re ready, go ahead and press the large shutter button at the bottom middle of the screen. Immediately (but slowly) move your camera up and down vertically to create the light trail.

After the 8 second exposure (or however long your own light trail takes) you’ll see the finished photo with three options at the bottom of the screen – Clear, Edit and Save:

Tap the Edit option which opens up five different editing tools at the bottom of the screen: Freeze, Brightness, Contrast, Saturation and Hue. Tap on Brightness and adjust the brightness levels of your photo as you see fit:

Don’t worry if your photo seems a bit “flat” at the moment – you’ll have a “punchy” image after going through all of the editing tools.

The next tool is Contrast which makes the shadows darker and the highlights brighter. To begin, take the contrast all the way to the right for maximum effect, then bring it back a bit if you feel that you have too much contrast:

Saturation is an important tool for creating abstract light trails as it can make the lights more colorful and vibrant. Try taking the Saturation to its full amount, all the way to the right:

If you like what you see, there’s no need to do any more work. However you may feel that you’d like a to alter the color temperature of your image to make it “warmer” or “cooler.” If so, you can play around with the Hue option.

In the example below you can see that the Hue adjustment took the image from a warm orange tone to a cool blue color:

If you’re wondering what the Freeze option is all about, it’s simply a way for you to see what your composition was at the first part of your light trail photo, and what your composition was at the end of the exposure. There’s no need to adjust this unless you want a less pronounced effect:

When you’re happy with how your abstract light trail photo looks, you can save it to your iPhone’s photo library (in the Photos app) by tapping Save at the top right.

You’ll then have the option to save to various apps and services that you’re subscribed to. If you only want to save your photo to your photo library, tap the Save Image option:

Below is my final edited slow shutter photo:

If you don’t like the way your edits turned out, you can easily re-edit your light trail photo in the Slow Shutter Cam app. Simply tap the Reset button at the top of the screen and start editing again by tapping the Edit option:

If you’d rather trash the photo because it didn’t turn out the way you wanted, tap the Clear option at the bottom of the screen, then Clear Capture. You’ll be taken back to your camera’s live view so that you can start shooting another slow shutter photo:

Keep in mind that this abstract light trail technique isn’t limited to vertical movement. You could also try moving the camera in other directions such as horizontally, diagonally, or just completely randomly:

You can also do circular light trails by rotating the camera in a circular motion:

One of the best tools for creating circular light trails is the iOtrip mini tripod. This system is perfect for rotation photos as the tripod mount allows for smooth 360 degree rotation of your iPhone while taking your shot:

Simply find a nice location such as these trees, set up your iOtrip tripod with your iPhone, and then take your light trail photo while rotating the phone in a complete circle. Below are two results using this technique:

2. Capture Moving Light Trails

Another way to create light trail photos is to keep your camera perfectly still, and use a slow shutter speed to capture moving lights such as fireworks or the headlights and taillights from passing cars.

Any stationary objects in the scene will appear sharp, while the moving lights will appear as light trails across the image:

To create car light trails, find a location with constant traffic. You’ll also need an iPhone tripod and iPhone tripod mount so that you can keep your camera perfectly still during the long exposure.

Set up your tripod and aim your iPhone so that you can see the car headlights, taillights or both. When shooting the photo below, I used a MeFOTO BackPacker Air tripod. It’s very lightweight and portable, and works for both iPhones and heavier cameras:

When you’re ready to create your light trail photo, open the Slow Shutter Cam app, tap the gear icon, then select Light Trail.

Adjust the slider options to set Light Sensitivity, Shutter Speed and ISO. Below you can see the settings that I used for this particular scene:

Tap gently on the shutter button to start taking your photo, and enjoy watching the app capture the light trails!

When your photo is finished you’ll have the option to edit the light trail image. If you like the photo the way it is, simply tap Save. Or tap Edit to adjust the Brightness, Contrast, Saturation or Hue:

For this photo, all that was needed was a small increase in Saturation to make the colors more vibrant:

Below is my final edited city light trail photo:

3. Use Motion Blur To Capture Moving Water

Another major function of the Slow Shutter Cam app is the Motion Blur feature. This is great for making moving subjects appear as a blur or streak across your photo, and it’s perfect for creating soft, silky smooth waterfall photos.

In this section you’ll learn how to capture moving water with a slow shutter speed to create beautiful, dreamy images like the one below:

To photograph waterfalls with motion blur, make sure you’re using a tripod so that any stationary objects in the scene appear sharp in your image.

In the Slow Shutter Cam app, tap the gear icon and set the capture mode to Motion Blur. Use the sliders to set the Blur Strength, Shutter Speed and ISO:

When you’re ready, tap the shutter button lightly so you don’t shake your iPhone. When the exposure is finished, either tap Edit to tweak brightness, contrast and color, Save to save the photo as it is, or Clear to delete the image and start again.

For my image, I increased the Contrast a little, then added a bit of Saturation to make the colors more vibrant:

If you want a simple black and white photo, feel free to reduce the Saturation to zero.

Finally, I increased the Brightness of my photo:

When you’re happy with the edited image, tap Save to save it to your iPhone’s photo library.

To get an idea of how good Slow Shutter Cam is, take a look at the before and after shots below. The first image shows the scene captured with the native camera app – the water appears sharp because the camera used a fast shutter speed:

The next photo was shot with the Slow Shutter Cam app. The motion blur created by the slow shutter speed makes the moving water appear smooth and silky:

4. Shoot High Quality Photos In Low Light

Do you struggle to capture good photos in low light? A lack of light often results in blurry and grainy images due to the slow shutter speeds and high ISO (light sensitivity) settings required to get a decent exposure.

However, the Slow Shutter Cam app has a great Low Light setting that allows you to reduce digital noise (grain) so that you can capture clean and sharp photos in low light conditions.

Due to the slow shutter speeds required to capture enough light in your photo, always use a tripod to keep your camera steady. Hand-holding the iPhone will result in camera shake and your entire photo will appear blurred.

Once you’ve got your camera set up, open Slow Shutter Cam and tap the gear icon. Set the capture mode to Low Light:

To reduce the amount of grain (digital noise) in your photo, set the Noise Reduction slider to High. To start with I would recommend setting the Shutter Speed to around 8 seconds, but you may need to alter this based on your own lighting conditions.

When you’re ready to take the shot, lightly tap the shutter button to take the photo. Ensure you don’t move the iPhone as you press the shutter button as this will introduce camera shake that will result in a blurry photo.

When the app has finished exposing your photo, you can then choose to Clear, Edit or Save the image:

Below is the low light image that I captured in the Slow Shutter Cam app:

The post How To Use Slow Shutter Cam To Create Long Exposure iPhone Photos appeared first on iPhone Photography School.

Hipstamatic can be downloaded for $2.99 on the App Store. It comes with a selection of iPhone filters (lenses, films and flashes), and you can purchase more from the Hipstamatic store if you want to expand your collection.

1. Hipstamatic Lens & Film Combos

Hipstamatic is best known for its ability to create a wide range of retro-styled images based on various filters. The filters are applied when you shoot the photo, but you can always change the final result by selecting different filters after you’ve taken the shot.

The Hipstamatic filters fall into three categories: lens type, film type and flash type. Before you take a photo in Hipstamatic you choose which lens, film and flash you want to use.

The lens determines the colors and tones in your photo. The film determines the frame or vignette around the edge of the image (and in some cases also changes the colors of the photo). The flash allows you to create different lighting effects.

The lens, film and flash combinations in Hipstamatic are referred to as “combos.” By using different combinations of lens, film and flash, you can create a wide range of image styles – from faded vintage effects to high contrast black and white photos.

To give an example of how Hipstamatic can turn an ordinary scene into something far more visually appealing, take a look at the photos below. The first image is the original image without any Hipstamatic filters applied:

Next are some examples of the same scene captured using different Hipstamatic lens and film combos:

When taking photos with Hipstamatic, you can either let the app select a combo for you, or try out different combos of your your own choice until you find an effect you like.

Hipstamatic comes with a core collection of lens, film and flash options, and many others are available as in-app purchases.

2. Choose A Camera Interface

Hipstamatic has two different camera modes/interfaces built into the app. You can use the Classic camera interface that mimics the look and feel of retro film cameras:

Or you can use the Pro camera interface which has a modern and professional feel. This camera mode is great if you want a bit more manual control when taking photos:

To switch between the two camera modes, simply tap the two opposing arrows icon (arrows are either facing toward each other or away from each other depending on which camera mode you’re currently using).

The instructions below give you an in-depth guide for using both the Classic and Pro camera interfaces.

3. Shoot With Hipstamatic Classic Camera

In this section you’ll learn how to take photos using the Classic camera mode in Hipstamatic. Ensure you’ve selected the Classic camera interface which should look similar to the screen below. If you’re currently in Pro camera mode, tap the opposing arrows to switch to Classic mode.

Back view of Classic camera

When using Classic mode, you can switch between the front and back views of the camera by tapping the Flip icon (curved arrow) at the bottom right of the screen. Above is the back view of the camera, and below is the front view:

Front view of Classic camera

Depending on which camera feature you want to access, you’ll need to switch between the front and back views.

3.1 Take A Photo With Classic Camera

When you point the camera at a scene, you’ll see it appear in the square viewfinder. When taking pictures you can choose from two viewfinder options.

You can either view the scene without any filters (lenses, films, etc.) applied, or you can see in real-time what the photo will look like after the shot has been taken using your chosen filters (you’ll learn how to select lenses, films, etc. later in this section).

To switch between these two viewfinder options, tap the small black switch at the bottom right of the viewfinder (shown circled in red below):

When the switch is in the off position (completely black), you won’t see the scene with any of your chosen filters applied, however, when the photo is taken the filters will be applied to the image.

When the switch is in the on position (yellow eyeball icon), you can see in real-time how the scene will look with the filters applied:

I would recommend having the viewfinder switch in the on position so that you can see the effect of the current lens, film and flash combo.

When you’ve composed your shot, take the picture by tapping the yellow shutter button at the top right.

Note that you can also enlarge the viewfinder by double-tapping on the viewfinder window. You then simply tap once on the viewfinder to take the shot.

To see the photos you’ve taken, tap on the square image thumbnail icon at the bottom left of the screen. The image gallery will appear displaying a preview of the photos you’ve shot with Hipstamatic:

To see a larger version of a particular photo, tap the image you want to view. When viewing the full size image, you’ll be able to see which film/lens/flash combo was used, as well as the location where the photo was taken.

In the example below, you can see that the location was Greendale, the lens was Madalena, and the film was BlacKeys XF:

The other icons on this screen are as follows: The “i” icon at the top right reveals exposure and location data. The two opposing arrows display a full-screen view of your image.

At the bottom of the screen, you can tap the trash icon to delete the image, the heart icon to favorite the photo, the three circles to edit the photo (more on editing to come later), and the up-arrow icon to share the image.

To exit the image gallery and return to the Hipstamatic camera, tap the yellow bar at the top of the screen.

3.2. Choose A Lens/Film/Flash Combo

To specify the look and style of your image, you’ll need to select from the many different combinations of lenses and films (and flash if desired).

You can either select a preset combo from the Favorites screen, or you can create your own combo from scratch. Let’s look at the preset combos first. Start by tapping the round icon (second from the bottom right) shown circled in red below:

Swipe across to view the range of cameras with different lens/film/flash combos, but don’t tap on any of the cameras yet. Each camera has an example photo to show want kind of image style that particular combo will create.

Tap and hold a camera to view more information about what settings will be used, then tap the X to return to the Favorites screen.

To select a particular combo from the Favorites screen, simply tap on the camera combo you want to use. Alternatively, you can tell the app to randomly shuffle the combos every time you take a picture, giving you a different effect for each shot. If you prefer this option, tap the Shuffle icon (two arrows at the top right) and select your preferred option:

Once you’ve selected either a camera combo from the list of Favorites, or the Shuffle option, you’ll be taken back to the camera so that you can start shooting.

You can also create your own lens/film/flash combos and add them to the list of Favorites. To do this, tap the round icon (second from right) at the bottom of the screen to access the Favorites screen.

Swipe across the cameras to the far right, then tap the New Favorite (+) icon:

The following screen will appear, which has a preview image with three icons beneath it. From left to right these icons are: Lens, Film, Flash:

Start by selecting the type of lens that you want to use – remember the lens changes the colors and tones in your image. When you tap the different lenses along the bottom of the screen, the preview image will change to show what effect that lens will have on your image.

When you’ve selected a lens that you like, tap the Film icon (middle icon) beneath the image preview. The film determines the frame or vignette around the edge of the image, and it may also change the tone. Select a film style that you like from the bottom of the screen:

Next, tap the Flash icon (right-hand icon) beneath the image preview. The flashes add a particular lighting effect to your photo. If you want to use flash, select an option from the bottom of the screen, otherwise select No Flash:

You’ll notice that there’s a plus (+) sign for the lens, film and flash options – tapping this icon takes you to the Hipstamatic store where you can purchase new lenses, films and flashes to add to your collection.

When you’re happy with your chosen combo, tap Save at the top right of the screen. On the next screen you can type a name for your combo, then tap Done:

Your new combo will appear in the list of Favorites. To use this combo, simply tap on it and you’ll be taken back to the camera so that you can start shooting:

There’s one more method for selecting a combo of lens, film and flash for shooting. Remember there’s a back view and a front view in Classic camera mode – on the back camera view, tap the Flip icon (curved arrow at the bottom right):

This will switch you to the front camera view as shown below:

To choose a different lens, simply swipe across over the big lens in the middle of the screen until you find the lens you want to use.

To choose a film, tap the Film icon at the bottom left of the screen. Swipe up or down over the rolls of film until you find the lens you want to use:

To see more information about a particular film, including sample images, tap directly on the roll of film – tap Done to exit the film information.

When you’ve selected the film you want to use, tap the camera body on the right of the screen to return to the front camera view.

To choose a flash, tap the Flash icon (second from bottom left) then swipe across the different flash options:

If you don’t want to use flash, select the No Flash option. Tap Done to return to the front camera view.

To purchase more lenses, films and flashes to add to your collection, tap the Shopping Cart icon (second from bottom right). Here you can view featured products or search for a particular item. To exit the shopping cart, tap Done:

When you’re happy with the lens/film/flash combo that you’ve selected, tap the Flip icon (curved arrow at the bottom right) to switch to the back camera view, then start shooting!

3.3 Turn Flash On & Off

When you’re taking photos using the back camera view, you’ll notice a black slider beneath the square viewfinder. This allows you to choose whether the flash fires or not when you take a picture.

When the flash slider is in the middle, the flash will be switched off:

When the flash slider is moved to the left, your chosen flash effect will be applied to the photo, but the flash on the front of your iPhone won’t actually fire:

When the flash slider is moved to the right, your chosen flash effect will be applied to the photo, and the flash on the front of your iPhone will fire to provide more light on your subject:

3.4 Adjust Shutter Speed

At the top right of the camera screen is the shutter speed dial. Adjusting the shutter speed does two things – it changes the exposure of the image (how bright it appears) and affects how movement is captured.

The lower the number on the dial, the slower the shutter speed will be. A slow shutter speed results in a brighter photo, and a fast shutter speed results in a darker image. In the photo below the shutter speed was set to 125 which brightened the image:

You may want to make use of this option to create artistically bright photos or very dark moody images.

If you’re shooting a scene with moving subjects, a fast shutter speed will freeze motion and a slow shutter speed will capture movement as a blur.

3.5 Create Multiple Exposures

Hipstamatic allows you to create interesting double exposure photos. You take two different pictures, and then the camera combines them together. This is a fun technique to use, and can result in some really intriguing fine art and abstract images.

To create this kind of image, slide the Multiple Exposure switch (top left of the camera screen) to the left so that it turns yellow:

Take your first photo by tapping the yellow shutter button on the right. Notice that the Multiple Exposure switch has moved to the right so that only half of the yellow square is visible:

Aim your camera at a different subject or view, then take the second shot. You’ll see the “Multi Exposing” message appear while the app combines the two images together:

To view the double exposure photo in your gallery, tap the square image thumbnail icon at the bottom left of the screen. Tap the yellow bar at the top of the gallery to return to the camera.

Now that you’re familiar with the features of the Classic camera interface, let’s explore how to shoot photos using the Pro camera mode.

4. Shoot With Hipstamatic Pro Camera

Hipstamatic’s Pro camera mode offers an advanced camera app that gives you more manual control when shooting photos.

If you’re currently using the Classic camera mode, switch to the Pro camera interface by tapping the two opposing arrows at the bottom of the screen:

The Pro camera interface looks very different to the Classic interface. It doesn’t have any retro styling, and it has a larger rectangular viewfinder with icons around the edges:

Let’s start using these camera icons to customize the final image. If you’re holding the camera in landscape orientation as shown here, the top right icon allows you to change the Aspect Ratio:

Aspect Ratio determines the relative width and height of the image. Selecting the 1:1 ratio will result in a perfect square image, whereas the 16:9 ratio will be much wider than it is tall.

The next icon on the right allows you to try out different flash options, including Flash On, Flash Auto, and Constant Light:

The icon below the flash allows you to switch to the front-facing camera so that you can take a self-portrait. At the bottom right of the screen are the two opposing arrows which would take you back to the Classic retro style camera.

The icon at the bottom left of the screen allows you to select which lens/film/flash combo you want to use – just like you did when using the Classic camera mode:

After tapping this icon, swipe through the different combos until you find an effect you like, or tap the plus (+) icon to create a new combo. Tap on the combo you want to use to return to the camera:

The “M” icon (to the right of the shutter button as shown below) stands for Manual, and it allows you to fine-tune the camera settings before taking your shot:

When you tap the Manual (M) icon a bar of icons will appear in its place:

The round target icon allows you to adjust focus manually. And the magnifying glass icon lets you zoom in. Both settings are adjusted using a slider at the bottom of the screen.

The +/- icon activates the exposure slider which lets you adjust the exposure up or down for brighter or darker images:

And now for the fun part! The ISO and Shutter Speed (running man icon) settings allow you to control exposure and how movement appears in your photo:

To create motion blur when photographing a fast moving subject, you’ll need a slow shutter speed and a low ISO (a low ISO helps to prevent the image from being over-exposed).

Start by tapping the ISO icon, and use the slider to reduce the ISO to the lowest number possible. Then tap the Shutter Speed icon (running man) and move the slider to reduce the shutter speed so that the scene appears almost too bright.

The reason for this is that the brighter the image, the slower the shutter speed, which equals more motion blur of moving objects.

If you’re shooting in bright daylight conditions, you may find that your slow shutter images appear far too bright. It’s usually better to shoot around dawn or dusk, or on dark overcast days, to capture good quality show shutter photos.

The last manual camera feature is White Balance (light bulb icon) which allows you to adjust the color temperature on a scale from blue to yellow:

White balance allows you to warm up or cool down the colors, either to achieve perfect color balance or for creative effect. Drag the slider left to make the colors warmer (more yellow), and drag right to make them cooler (more blue):

This is a really useful setting for indoor shooting situations where the scene is illuminated by artificial light with a yellow color cast. Simply drag the White Balance slider until you’re happy with the color tone in the viewfinder:

5. Edit Photos In Hipstamatic

Hipstamatic isn’t considered a professional grade photo editor. However it certainly has a lot of user-friendly editing features that allow you to get your photo just right, including the ability to select a different combo of lens, film and flash than you used for shooting.

To access the editing mode, regardless of whether you’re using the Classic camera or the Pro camera, tap on the square image thumbnail that shows the last photo taken:

In your photo gallery tap the image you want to edit, then tap the Edit icon (three circles) at the bottom of the screen:

Swipe across the preset combos at the bottom of the screen, tapping on any that you like to see what effect it has on your photo. Once you’ve selected a preset that you like, use the slider to adjust the intensity of the effect until you’re happy with the final result. Tap Save when you’re done:

If you see the following prompt, tap Modify to allow the changes to be applied to your image:

In addition to the one-tap presets, there are a number of other editing options that you can use to enhance your photo. Tap the Edit icon (three circles), then tap the Adjustments icon (three sliders) located just above the Settings icon.

Beneath your photo you’ll see a row of icons which can be used to fine-tune and edit the image. The first icon allows you to select a different Lens. Changing the lens will alter the colors and tones in your photo:

Use the slider at the bottom of the screen to adjust the intensity of the lens effect.

The second icon lets you choose a different Film. The film affects the frame or vignette around the edge of the photo, and it may also change the tones in your image:

The third icon is for selecting a different Flash option:

The next icon lets you Crop the image to a different aspect ratio, e.g 1.1. (square), 3:2 (normal 4×6 print ratio), 16:9 (wide angle), etc:

Next up is the Straighten Tool. This is great for leveling horizons and correcting perspective distortion:

The +/- icon is the Exposure Tool. Move the slider left or right to darken or brighten your image.

The next icon is Clarity. This tool can really make your image “pop” and it’s great for adding some grittiness to your photo. Use the slider to adjust the strength of the effect:

Next is the Definition Tool, which is similar to Clarity, but relies more on sharpening contrasty areas such as the places where dark areas meet light areas. This tool is great for sharpening detail in your photo:

Highlights & Shadows lets you independently adjust the brightness of the shadows (dark areas) and the highlights (bright areas):

The next icon is Vibrancy which punches up colors in a more realistic way than simply increasing a photo’s saturation. This tool won’t have much effect if your photo is black and white:

Fade reduces contrast and removes the “punchiness” of an image. I didn’t fade this photo as I wanted to maintain the contrast between shadows and highlights, so I made sure the slider was set to the far left:

The Tone Curves Tool allows you to adjust the shadow, midtone and highlight areas of your photo. Simply press on any of the three white circles and drag them to a different position:

The White Balance Tool lets you change the color tones in your photo. The Temperature slider goes from blue to yellow, and the Tint slider goes from green to magenta:

The Depth of Field Tool offers a lens blur effect. It replicates high-end camera lenses that allow for a beautifully shallow depth of field where the subject is sharp while everything else appears blurred. You can choose a radial/circular blur, or a blur that works in a linear manner:

The Texture Tool adds a gritty textured look to your photos:

If you want to replicate the effect of grainy film, use the Grain Tool to add various amounts of grain to your photos. This effect looks especially good with black and white images:

Finally, the Vignette Tool allows you to darken the edges of your photo. A vignette can help to replicate the look of old camera and lens combinations, and it’s also useful for drawing the viewer’s attention to the main subject:

When you’ve finished editing your photo, tap Done at the top of the screen, then tap Save to save the changes to your gallery.

Hipstamatic: Conclusion

Hipstamatic allows you to create a wide range of image styles, including retro, vintage, and black and white.

The app has two different camera modes (Classic and Pro), so you can choose to shoot using whichever interface you prefer. Both modes allow you to choose a lens/film/flash combo, so you can always create the exact look and feel that you envisioned.

The editing tools within the app allow you to fine-tune the image after you’ve taken the shot, giving you the option to enhance the effects you used – or even completely change them.

With so many different visual combinations offered within this app, you can create really unique images with a wonderful artistic edge.

The post How To Use Hipstamatic App To Shoot Unique iPhone Photos appeared first on iPhone Photography School.

Choosing The Best iPhone Tripod For You

If you don’t already own a tripod, you’ll need to figure out which kind of tripod would best suit your needs.

There are many different tripod systems available for the iPhone – from tiny compact tripods that will fit in your pocket, to full-size professional DSLR tripods.

For an in-depth review of the best tripods out there, read our iPhone tripod comparison article. Below are just a few tripod options that you might want to consider.

The Joby GripTight Micro Stand is one of the smallest tripods on the market. Its super-low profile makes it an excellent option for capturing extremely low angle shots.

The Joby GripTight Micro Stand can be purchased for around $16.

Another tripod system from the same manufacturer is the very popular Joby GripTight GorillaPod. Its bendable legs can be shaped to stand firmly on any flat or uneven surface, and you can even wrap them around poles, trees, bicycle handlebars, etc.

The Joby GripTight GorillaPod costs around $20.

If you’re looking for a sturdy medium-sized compact tripod, the Manfrotto PIXI Mini Tripod is an excellent choice. This is a high quality product, and the adjustable ball-head makes it easy to adjust the angle of your iPhone when shooting.

You can purchase the Manfrotto PIXI Mini Tripod for around $25.

If you think that you’ll need a taller tripod, but still want something that’s lightweight and easy to carry around, the Lollipod tripod might suit your needs. It extends up to almost four feet, but its multi-section telescopic pole allows it to be folded down to a neat compact size.

The Lollipod tripod costs around $55.

If you want ultimate stability, you should consider purchasing a full-size professional tripod. This would be a great option if you also shoot with a DSLR as you’ll be able to use it with both your camera and your iPhone.

There are many different full-size tripods available, but a good place to start would be with Manfrotto as they have a great range of models and they’re known for their excellent quality.

You can expect to pay anything from around $65 for a full-size Manfrotto tripod.

Tripod Grips & Mounts

When purchasing an iPhone tripod, keep in mind that you may also need to buy a separate iPhone tripod mount that attaches to the mounting screw of your tripod.

You can then place your iPhone into the grip, so that it’s held securely in place on the tripod.

There are many different kinds of iPhone grips and mounts available. Two popular makes that you might want to check out are the Glif Adjustable Tripod Mount (shown above) which costs around $30, and the Joby GripTight Mount (shown below) which costs around $20.

Remote Shutter Release

When using a tripod for iPhone photography, you may also want to consider using some kind of remote shutter release. A remote shutter allows you to fire the camera’s shutter without having to physically touch the iPhone.

This ensures that you don’t introduce any camera shake when taking the shot. If you’re shooting a self-portrait, it’ll save you from having to use the camera’s self-timer.

Did you know that the earbuds that came with your iPhone can be used as a remote shutter? Simply plug the earbuds into your phone, then use the volume buttons to fire the shutter.

Another option is to purchase one of many wireless remote shutter options that connect to your iPhone via Bluetooth.

A popular choice is the Muku Shuttr (shown below) which costs around $38.

Now that you have a good idea of the different types of tripod and associated accessories, let’s explore nine different shooting scenarios where a tripod is either essential or beneficial.

1. Long Exposure Photography

Long exposure photography is traditionally associated with DSLR cameras which allow you to keep the shutter open for several seconds, or even minutes or hours.

But you can also create long exposure photos with your iPhone using an app such as Slow Shutter Cam.

Long exposure photography allows you to get really creative with your images. For example, you can capture light trails at night, or convey a sense of movement by capturing motion blur as your subject moves across the scene.

Another extremely popular use of slow shutter apps is for creating beautiful waterfall shots where the water appears soft and silky.

When shooting with slow shutter speeds, it’s essential that you use a tripod in order to keep your iPhone perfectly still for the duration of the exposure.

This will ensure that any stationary objects, such as rocks or bridges, appear sharp in the final image. Remember that you only want the moving subjects to appear blurred in a long exposure photo.

If you’re hand-holding the camera, you’ll end up with camera shake and everything in the photo will appear blurred. So you really can’t capture decent long exposures without a tripod.

You can also use slow shutter apps to create more abstract images, such as these wonderful rotational blur photos.

To create this effect, simply mount your iPhone on a tripod, set the shutter speed to several seconds, then rotate the iPhone to create the rotational blur.

You can create different kinds of rotation effect by varying the speed that you rotate the iPhone. Below is the same scene, but with a slower rotation.

The end result will vary depending on the scene that you’re photographing, the duration of the exposure, and the speed of the rotation.

Be sure to try this technique in different kinds of location, for example, out in nature, in a city at night, etc. You never quite know what the end result will be, but it’s sure to be interesting and unique!

Using a tripod in conjunction with slow shutter apps will open up many new photographic opportunities where you can express your creativity in a whole range of different ways.

2. Night & Low Light Photography

The iPhone performs fairly well in low light, but you can guarantee yourself far better results if you use a tripod when shooting low light or night photography.

When shooting in low light, the camera will need to use a slower shutter speed to capture enough light from the scene.

During this longer exposure, any slight movement will result in camera shake that causes the entire photo to appear blurred.

Using a tripod for iPhone photography in low light will eliminate any camera shake, ensuring that you get a perfectly sharp shot every time.

The less you touch your iPhone while shooting in low light or at night the better. So if you want to capture the sharpest shots possible in low light conditions, be sure to use a tripod.

3. Close-Up & Macro Photography

If you enjoy take close-up photos with your iPhone, a tripod will make it much easier to capture sharp shots with the right part of the scene in focus.

There are two reasons for using a tripod when shooting close-ups. One is that when you hold your iPhone very close to your subject, any slight hand movement will result in very visible blurring caused by camera shake.

Using a tripod means that you’ll get sharper images because there are no hand movements to blur the image.

The second reason is that the closer the iPhone’s lens is to the subject, the shallower the depth of field will be. Depth of field refers to how much of the image appears in sharp focus from front to back.

A shallow depth of field means that only a small portion of the scene will be in focus. This can result in beautiful blurred backgrounds in your iPhone photos.

So when shooting close-up images it’s essential that you get the right part of your subject in sharp focus.

This is particularly important when using add-on macro lenses, such as the olloclip Macro Pro Lens shown below. With macro lenses the depth of field will be incredibly shallow.

If you’re hand-holding the camera, it’s very difficult to keep the camera in exactly the same position once you’ve set your focus point. Any movement back or forth will result in the wrong part of the image being in focus.

Using a tripod for close-up photography means that you’ll be able to set your focus point much more accurately.

4. Shooting Awkward Angles

A tripod is a useful accessory for those times when you need to shoot the scene from an awkward angle.

For example, if you want to shoot from a very low angle, you may need to lie on the ground so that you can get your iPhone into the correct position.

If the ground is wet, or you’re feeling self-conscious about getting into such a position in public, this may not be the ideal way to take the photo. It can also be difficult to hold the camera still while you’re in this position.

An easier and more comfortable option would be to use a compact tripod to position your iPhone low to the ground.

This is a great option when you want to photograph flowers and leaves from a low angle. Not only does it create an image from a more unusual viewpoint, but it also allows you to use the sky as your background which helps the subject stand out.

Another powerful technique is to photograph a leaf from below with the sun shining through it. The backlighting will reveal incredible color and detail.

Any time you’re shooting from a low angle, consider using a tripod to get your iPhone into a better position while maintaining a perfectly steady camera.

You may also want to use a tripod when shooting from a high angle. For example, if you’re creating flat-lay still life photos where you’re shooting down onto your subject, a taller tripod can be useful as it allows you to position the iPhone directly above the subject.

Once you’ve set up your iPhone on the tripod, you can move the objects around and try out different shots without having to worry about re-positioning the camera each time.

5. Landscape Photography

While a tripod isn’t essential for shooting landscapes, many photographers choose to use one in these situations. So how can a tripod improve your landscape photography?

First of all, a tripod is almost always going to give you a sharper shot than hand-holding the camera. Even in good light when your iPhone will be using a fast shutter speed, it’s likely that your hands will move ever so slightly during the exposure.

The great thing about landscape photography is that the scene is relatively static, so you can take your time when composing your photos. This allows you plenty of time to set up a tripod without worrying that you’re going to miss the perfect shot.

A tripod is also great for helping you to align your iPhone so that the horizon is perfectly level.

A lot of landscape photography is actually done in fairly low light conditions, such as during the golden hours of sunrise and sunset, on overcast days, or during stormy weather when the sky is dark and dramatic.

In these kinds of low light conditions, your iPhone camera will need to use a slower shutter speed to correctly expose the image. A tripod will help you to avoid camera shake.

Another reason to take a tripod with you when you’re shooting landscapes is that you never know when you might come across a beautiful waterfall or river.

If you have a tripod you’ll be able to capture stunning long exposure water shots like the one above.

6. Architectural Photography

Architectural photography is another genre where a tripod can help you achieve better results.

If you’re shooting the interior of a building, it’s likely that you’re going to be working in fairly low light conditions. So a tripod will ensure that you get a sharp shot every time.

Another reason for using a tripod when photographing buildings is that it allows you to capture more unique angles.

Have you ever tried to photograph an ornate ceiling inside a building? If so, you’ve probably found it difficult to keep your iPhone steady because you have to hold your arms up away from your body.

Mounting your iPhone on a tripod allows you to capture shake-free shots when shooting from awkward angles.

Buildings are full of lines and symmetry, and you can make use of these design elements to create powerful compositions.

A tripod allows you to slow down when composing your photo, so that you can align the elements for perfectly straight and symmetrical images.

7. Portraits & Self-Portraits

If you’re shooting posed portrait photos, a tripod can be an extremely useful tool.

Not only will it ensure you achieve sharp shots if you’re shooting in a low light indoor environment, but it also allows you to take your time to set up the perfect composition.

First you can set up the scene how you want it, with any appropriate furniture or props. Then you can mount your iPhone on a tripod and compose the shot exactly as you want it. You don’t even need to have the subject in the frame at this point.

Once you’ve framed your shot with the exact composition that you want, you can bring your subject into the scene and ask them to pose.

With your iPhone on the tripod, you can now take multiple shots with the subject in different poses or with different facial expressions – while all the time maintaining the exact same framing of the scene.

Taking lots of photos one after the other will ensure that you get at least one great shot where the subject has the perfect facial expression and pose.

Of course, you can still take great portrait photos even if you don’t have anyone to model for you. In such circumstances, why not try shooting a self-portrait using yourself as the subject?

Simply frame the shot with your iPhone on a tripod, then either set the self-timer in the camera app or use a remote shutter to take the shot once you’re in position.

A tripod is also perfect for those times where you want to take a group shot and appear in the photo yourself. This means that you no longer always have to be the person behind the camera!

8. Videography

In addition to still photography, a tripod is also a useful accessory when shooting movies with the Video mode in the iPhone’s camera app.

If you enjoy using your iPhone for videography, it’s definitely worth using a tripod to ensure your capture stable footage. There’s nothing worse than watching a shaky video!

In addition to this, a tripod allows you to frame the scene more accurately, follow your subject more easily, and create stunning footage where you slowly pan from one side of the scene to the other.

9. Time Lapse Videos

If you want to shoot a time lapse on iPhone, you’ll need to use a tripod. A time lapse video is a series of hundreds or thousands of photos taken over several minutes or hours. Once captured, the images are automatically edited together and exported as a video file.

Due to the way it speeds up your subject’s movement, a time lapse video can reveal movement that we barely notice with the naked eye.

Good time lapse subjects might include clouds moving across the sky, flowers opening in the sun, or candles burning down.

Busy scenes can also look great as a time lapse video. For example, people shopping, rush-hour traffic, or children running around in the park.

To shoot a time lapse video, ensure your iPhone camera’s shooting mode is set to Time Lapse.

Mount your iPhone on a tripod, point it at the scene you want to capture, then press the red button. Now everything that’s moving in front of your iPhone will be recorded as hundreds of still photos.

When you’re done, press the red button again. The iPhone will then save the photos as a finished time lapse video.

If your video only ended up being a few short seconds, try recording for much longer next time. You generally need to record for at least a few minutes, but preferably longer.

Another fun option is to mount your iPhone on a small table-top tripod, and then place it on the car dash so that you can record your journey as a time lapse.

For safety, make sure that you’re the passenger. Don’t attempt this if you’re the driver as you’ll be distracted.

When you’ve got a good composition, press the red button to start the time lapse recording, and ask your driver to start driving.

Keep the time lapse going for at least a few minutes, and when you feel that you’ve got what you need, press the red button again to stop.

Tripod For iPhone: Conclusion

As you’ve seen in this tutorial, a tripod can be used for a wide variety of photography and videography techniques.

Not only does a tripod allow you to capture sharper photos and more stable videos, but it also opens up new and creative photo opportunities such as long exposure photography, night photography and time lapse.

A tripod also allows you to slow down your image-making, giving you more time to create the perfect composition and explore your create side.

Many people think that using a tripod means carrying around bulky equipment, and that it takes the “mobile” out of mobile photography. However, with the huge range of compact and mini tripods available, this doesn’t have to be the case.

Whether you choose to use a tripod for all of your photography or just in certain situations, it’s definitely worth having one in your iPhone photography toolkit.

The post How To Use A Tripod For iPhone To Shoot Sharper & More Creative Images appeared first on iPhone Photography School.

Street photography was born in the era of black and white film photography. If you’re unfamiliar with the art of black and white street photography, a Google image search of the great Henri Cartier-Bresson will result in a very good visual explanation of the genre.

We’ll start by exploring a number of ways to shoot high impact street photos that will look incredible in black and white.

And at the end of the tutorial you’ll learn how to quickly and easily convert your color photos to stunning black and white edits.

1. Shoot In Harsh Sunlight

When you first start learning about photography, you’re often told to avoid shooting in strong sunlight as it can create harsh and unflattering shadows in the scene.

However, in certain situations bright sunlight and dark shadows can create a more interesting and dramatic image. And it works especially well in black and white street photography.

The reason for this is that black and white photos rely on strong contrast between the light and dark areas of the scene.

If there isn’t enough contrast in the photo, it will look washed out or “muddy” when converted to black and white.

Shooting in harsh sunlight enables you to capture bright highlights and dark shadows that are perfect for black and white photography.

One of my favorite techniques is to wait until evening when the sun is just about to set, then look for places where the sunlight streams between two buildings.

Compose the shot so that you include the shadows cast from the buildings as well as the bright area lit by the sunlight.

Now you just need to wait for an interesting person to walk into the light for a dramatic street photo.

Hold the shutter button down to activate burst mode, and fire off a series of shots as the person walks through the frame.

2. Capture Contrast Between Background & Subject

Another way to create contrast in your street photos is to use the color of the background and the subject’s clothing to your advantage.

Photographing a person wearing dark colored clothing against a light colored wall, or vice versa, is an easy way to achieve this.

Remember that you’re going to be converting the image to black and white so the actual colors don’t matter.

For example, you might have a yellow wall and dark green clothing, but when you convert the image to black and white the wall will appear white or light gray and the clothing will appear black or dark gray.

Another way to make your subject stand out against the background is to shoot from a low angle so that you can photograph them against the sky.

Of course, you’ll achieve the most amount of contrast if the person is wearing dark clothing and the sky is bright.

3. Use Buildings And Architecture As Supporting Elements

Buildings and architecture make perfect supporting elements in your black and white street photos because of their strong shapes and lines.

These bold design elements work particularly well in black and white photography, especially when they create contrast in the scene.

Look for interesting architecture that you could use to create a frame around a person on the street. Arches, doorways, windows and bridges all work well as framing objects.

Look for leading lines in architecture that you could use to draw the viewer’s eye into the scene. And keep your eyes peeled for symmetry as this can create really powerful compositions.

Another thing to look for is repetition of shapes or lines that form patterns in the scene.

A repeating row of columns or windows on the outside of a building can be used to create rhythm and flow in your composition.

Once you’ve found an interesting architectural element that you want to use in your photo, all you have to do is wait for someone to walk into the scene.

4. Set Exposure For The Face

Getting the exposure (image brightness) correct is essential for capturing important details in your photo.

If you under-expose the image, the details will appear too dark. And if you over-expose, the details will be too bright.

When you’re shooting high contrast scenes, getting the exposure right can be tricky because the camera can’t capture detail in the dark shadows and bright highlights at the same time.

So what should you do? Well, in most cases the most important part of the scene is your subject’s face. You want to capture the facial expressions and emotions of your subject, so making sure the face is correctly exposed is essential.

If other areas of the scene appear very bright or very dark, it doesn’t really matter. The most important thing is to capture the facial details.

In fact, having very dark shadows that contrast with the brighter face actually creates a striking black and white photo because the face stands out against the darker surroundings.

So before you press the shutter button to take a photo, always check the exposure in your viewfinder. If the subject’s face looks too bright or too dark, adjust the exposure to ensure the face is correctly exposed.

To adjust exposure in the native camera app, start by tapping to set focus on the subject, then swipe up or down on the screen to make the image brighter or darker.

5. Create Dramatic Silhouettes

One instance where you wouldn’t want to set exposure for the subject’s face is when you want to create black and white silhouette photography.

Silhouettes allow you to create dramatic and mysterious street photography because the darkness hides the detail of your subject.

To create a silhouette, you need to have a bright light source behind your subject, so make sure you’re shooting into the light.

After tapping to set focus, swipe down on the screen to reduce the exposure. Your aim is to make the subject appear as a dark shape or outline against the brighter background.

If your silhouette doesn’t appear dark enough, try using the Snapseed editing app to adjust the contrast levels or the shadows and highlights.

Alternatively, use the Brush tool in Snapseed to selectively darken just the silhouetted person without affecting the rest of the image.

6. Capture Interesting Shadows

During the golden hours of sunrise and sunset when the sun is low in the sky, keep your eyes peeled for long shadows cast by your subjects.

Just like silhouettes, shadows add a sense of mystery and intrigue to your photos. Sometimes shadows can even create feelings of tension and fear, especially in a black and white image.

If you shoot from a high vantage point such as a bridge or the upstairs window of a building, you’ll be able to capture wonderful long shadows on the ground.

Alternatively, look for shadows cast onto walls or nearby buildings. The shapes of surrounding objects will often distort the shadow into interesting shapes.

Experiment with capturing both the person and their shadow, as well as just the shadow on its own.

When taking your picture, you may want to reduce the exposure a bit so that the shadows appear dark and dramatic.

If you capture just a shadow on its own, try flipping it upside down in post-processing to create a more intriguing and abstract image.

7. Look For Reflections

Windows offer great opportunities for capturing interesting reflections. And the great thing about converting them to black and white is that it removes any distracting colors, allowing you to focus the attention on the reflected shapes.

In this example of a man sitting in a cafe, it’s the reflections of the opposite side of the street that create more drama in the scene. They also add context to the photo, giving the viewer a glimpse into the cafe’s surroundings.

In the photo below, I captured the man walking down an alley-way, and also his reflection in the window of the building on the right.

In both cases, converting the image to black and white to remove the colorful distractions helped to place more emphasis on the reflections.

Whenever you walk past a window, don’t forget to see if anything interesting is being reflected off the glass. It might not look good in color, but when you convert the image to black and white it has the potential to look great.

8. Include Lots Of Negative Space

Negative space refers to the empty space around your subject, and it can be a powerful compositional tool. It works especially well in black and white street photography when you have dark areas of shadow.

You might think that leaving a lot of empty space in your image will make it boring, but it can have quite the opposite effect.

Composing your photo so that there’s lots of dark shadow around your subject will create an image full of drama, emphasizing the darkness and mysteriousness of the surroundings.

Even if your subject is relatively small within the frame, having a large area of empty space will help to draw the viewer’s attention to the subject.

Try to expose the photo so that the shadows appear nice and dark, but make sure your subject is correctly exposed. If you can’t get the shadows dark enough when you take the photo, you can always darken them in editing.

9. Convert Your Photos To Black & White

There many iPhone photo editing apps that allow you to convert your images to black and white, including Snapseed, VSCO, Enlight and Filterstorm Neue.

There’s also a good selection of dedicated black and white photo apps, including Ansel, Monokrom and Dramatic Black & White.

For this tutorial I’ll be showing you a very simple technique using the native iOS Photos app, but you can use whichever app you like to create your black and white edits.

Start by opening the color street photo in the Photos app, then tap Edit at the top right of the screen:

At the bottom of the Edit screen, tap the icon that resembles a clock:

Tap the B&W option (ensure you tap on the B&W text rather than the arrow as the arrow opens the advanced options that we don’t need here):

Use the B&W slider at the bottom of the screen to scroll left and right until you get the particular black and white look you prefer:

This part is subjective and depends on the particular image you’re working on as well as your own tastes and preferences.

When you’ve dialed in your favorite black and white look, tap Done at the bottom right of the screen to save the edit to your photo library:

If you wish, you can of course make further adjustments to exposure using the Light option in the editing tools.

If at any point you want to revert the photo back to the original color image, open the photo, then go to Edit > Revert.

Black & White iPhone Street Photography: Conclusion

You’re now ready to get out on the street to shoot some great photos, and come back home for a dynamic editing session!

Black and white street photography has a long history, and I hope that these tips have encouraged you to see it as an intriguing art form.

By taking advantage of strong sunlight and surrounding elements in the city, you can create stunning high contrast black and white urban photos with strong visual appeal.

Remember that black and white photos tend to look best when you have a high contrast scene, so make use of light and shadow or a contrasting background and subject.

Look for architectural elements with strong shapes and lines that will enhance the composition, and keep your eyes peeled for opportunities to capture dramatic silhouettes and shadow pictures.

Look out for reflections in windows that might add visual interest and context to your photo.

And finally, don’t forget to experiment with leaving lots of negative space in your composition, especially when you have large areas of dark shadows.

When you shoot your pictures, don’t be disappointed if the color images don’t look that special. When you remove the color in post-processing, they’ll be completely transformed into stunning black and white street photos.

The post 9 Tips For Incredible Black & White iPhone Street Photography appeared first on iPhone Photography School.

1. Straighten Architectural Lines

Take a look at the photo below of some classic wooden houses juxtaposed with the modern office tower.

At first glance, this picture looks perfectly normal, and could be considered a “finished” photo where no further editing is required.

However, due to the angle that the photo was taken from, the vertical lines of the buildings aren’t straight. Notice how they converge towards the top of the photo.

This is a common problem with architecture photography. When you shoot a building from a low angle, the tilt of your iPhone causes this issue with perspective.

There are several apps that can be used to correct perspective problems like this, including SKRWT and Snapseed, but I like to make use of a straightening app called Genius Scan.

This app is primarily for scanning and straightening office documents, but it also doubles as a photo straightener. It’s easy to use and offers great control for correcting perspective distortion.

Open the Genuis Scan app, then tap the orange “squares” icon to the right of the camera icon.

This will open up your entire iOS photos collection. Select an album, then tap the photo you want to straighten.

Your photo will open with an orange grid on top of it. These gridlines are guides that will help you judge which elements in the picture are perfectly vertical and horizontal.

Use your finger to drag the top right corner of the photo towards the left. Keep dragging until the right-hand vertical orange line becomes parallel to the vertical features of the house.

For example, in this photo, the orange guidelines on the right side of the picture are now lined up with the vertical window frames.

Now do the same on the left side of the photo. In this example you can see that the orange guides are roughly parallel with the vertical aspects of the office tower exterior.

When you’re done, tap Use at the bottom right of the screen. The result will be an architecturally straight photograph.

Tap Save at the top right, then change the Format option from PDF to JPEG. In the Export To option, select Camera Roll to save the image to your photo library.

Below is the edited photo with the vertical lines straightened.

Straightening the lines in your architecture shots will make a big difference to the overall impact of the photo.

However, keep in mind that sometimes you might want to emphasize the height of a building. In such cases, the perspective distortion will actually help to convey this, so straightening the lines would be counter-productive.

Another thing to consider is that stretching a digital photograph will degrade the quality of the image to a certain degree. So when straightening your photos, keep an eye on the image quality of the areas you’ve stretched.

If the quality looks too poor, try straightening the lines just a little bit so that they’re somewhere in the middle between your original and a truly vertical photo.

And of course, when you stretch the photo you’ll lose some parts of the original photo which results in a cropped final image. So make sure the edges of the photo aren’t too important.

2. Add A Blue Color Cast To Dull-Colored Photos

This is a great technique to add drama to dull nature photos. When photographing nature on a dull overcast day, the resulting images can sometimes be boring, especially when the subject matter isn’t vivid to begin with.

Take a look at this photo of an autumn tree at the base of a rock cliff. While the photo has some degree of visual interest, the overall scene is a bit dull and muted.

Now I’ll show you how to use the Pixelmator app to add a beautiful blue color cast to the photo.

Open Pixelmator, then tap the plus icon (+) at the top left of the screen. Tap Photos, then select the picture you want to work on.

When the photo opens, tap the Paintbrush icon at the top of the screen, then tap Adjust Colors.

Scroll across the options at the bottom of the screen until you get to Brightness, Contrast and Saturation. Adjust the Saturation to make the colored section a bit more vibrant.

Scroll across a little bit further to the Red, Green and Blue options. Increase the Blue slider to add a blue color cast to the photo.

When you’re happy with the color, tap Apply. To save the edit, tap the arrow icon at the top right of the screen.

Below you can see the final edit with the blue color cast applied.

The rock face in the original photo was a dull gray, but the blue really increases the visual value of the photo.

If you’re an advanced Pixelmator user, you might also want to experiment with using a mask to isolate the tree so that you can adjust the tree’s colors and intensity independently of the cliff face.

3. Crop Your Portrait Photos

The iPhone has a fairly wide angle lens, and if you get too close to your subject when shooting portraits, their facial features can appear distorted. For example, their nose might appear disproportionately large.

A quick solution to the wide-angle lens problem is to shoot from further away, then crop closer in post-processing.

Obviously the further away you shoot from, the more you’ll have to crop the image. Whenever you crop a photo, you lose pixels which results in a smaller image that can look poor quality if viewed or printed at a large size.

Therefore, you need to find the balance between shooting from far enough away to avoid distortion of facial features, but not too far away that you’ll have to crop too much of the image.

Most photo editing apps have a Crop tool, so when you’ve taken your photo, open it up in your favorite editing app. I’m going to use the native iOS Photos app for this exercise, but you can use a different app if you want.

If you’re using the native Photos app, open the photo you want to crop, then tap Edit at the top right. Now tap the Crop tool at the bottom left of the screen (next to the blue Cancel icon).

Drag the crop handles on the edge of the image to crop away the parts of the photo you don’t want.

If you want to crop to a specific aspect ratio, tap the Aspect Ratio icon located directly above the yellow Done option. Select the aspect ratio from the list of options.

Below is the final image after cropping away the unwanted parts.

You might notice that the color looks a little different in this cropped version. That’s because I applied an iPhone filter in the native Photos app.

If you want to do this, ensure you’re still viewing the editing tools, then tap the Filters icon (three intersecting circles).

For this photo I used the Transfer filter. This filter works particularly well for a fine art color look. Tap Done when you’re ready to save your image.

Please note that when you save your edits in the native Photos app, you’ll no longer see the original in your photos library.

However, you can remove the edits and revert back to the original photo at any time. To do this, open the photo, tap Edit, then tap the Revert option.

4. Create Artistic Black & White Portraits

If you want to turn an ordinary portrait photo into something more artistic, converting it to black and white is a simple yet highly effective option.

Again, there are many editing apps that let you turn an image black and white, but I’ll be using the native Photos app.

This app has a very decent set of tools for creating black and white photos, especially ones that look good with the human face.

Open up your image in the Photos app, then tap Edit at the top right of the screen. Next, tap the Filters icon (three circles) at the bottom of the screen.

You’ll now be presented with a set of filters along the bottom of the screen. The first three are black and white conversion options. Tap on Mono, then Tonal, and finally Noir.

While you may find the first two options suitable for your photo, the Noir option seems to be well suited to fine art black and white portrait shots.

This is most likely due to the fact that the filter really darkens the shadow areas of your photo, giving the image a mysterious or dramatic look.

When you’re happy with your black and white edit, tap Done to save the image. Below is the edited image with the Noir filter applied.

Notice how the shadows now appear dark and dramatic, and the colorful distractions have been removed. The photo now looks like it could be a still from a movie!

5. Add Fake Light To City Lamp Posts

If you’re shooting in the city during early morning or late evening, you can capture the wonderful glow of street lights. But if you’re out during the day, you won’t have the option of photographing this rich, warm light.

A remedy for this is to create a fake lamp illumination using the LensLight app. This technique can be used on any photo that has an unlit street lamp in the scene.

Open the LensLight app, then tap the New button that’s located inside the star icon. Select the street light photo that you want to edit.

On the next screen, you can crop the photo if you like, then tap Done.

Tap the Effects icon at the bottom left of the screen, then tap the Lensflares category.

Scroll across the list of effects and tap on the effect called Sol Invictus.

A yellow/orange orb will appear in the middle of your photo. You can adjust its location by dragging it with your finger, and you can alter its size by pinch-zooming in and out with two fingers.

When you have the fake light over the street lamp, tap the arrow icon at top right of the screen and save the photo to your camera roll.

Below is the edited photo with the fake illumination placed over the unlit street lamp.

Note that you could also use this technique on indoor photos to add illumination to lamps and ceiling lights. And you can use the same procedure for adding sun flare to outdoor images.

6. Turn Your Landscape Photos Into Paintings

If you want to add a truly artistic flair to your landscape photos, use an app such as Brushstroke to create beautiful painterly style images.

Even though the painterly effect will distort a lot of the detail, starting out with a good photo in terms of light and composition will set you on the right track for creating a great final image to hang on your wall.

Open the Brushstroke app, then tap the icon to the left of the camera icon to access your photo library. Select the photo you want to edit, then tap the top right arrow to go to the next step.

As soon as you do this, the app starts processing the photo and shows you what it came up with. By default, the app chooses the painterly style of O1 which refers to Oil Painting Option One.

Flip through the other options, such as Washed, Medium, Natural, Hatched, etc. After choosing the paint effect that you like, tap the arrow at the top right of the screen and your painterly image is ready!

From this screen you can save the image, share it to your social media channels, and very conveniently get it printed professionally straight from the app.

Here’s the final result with one of Brushstroke’s painterly effects applied.

While this technique works particularly well on landscape photos, you can of course try it on other photos too.

7. Rotate A Sky Image To Create An Airplane Window Photo

This final tip is a simple and fun editing technique that will create a wonderful optical illusion.

Have you ever been in an airplane when you leave behind the dull gray sky below for a beautifully lit heavenly expanse above the clouds?

Well, you can recreate this beautiful scene far cheaper by staying on the ground! Simply wait for a lovely sunset near where you live, and then take a photo of the sky.

Make sure that you don’t get any land, buildings or trees in the photo. You only want clouds in your shot.

The next step is to open any photo editing app that has a rotate tool. I’m using the native Photos app for this exercise.

Open your sky image, then tap Edit at the top right of the screen. At the bottom left, tap the Crop tool (next to the Cancel button).

Now tap the Rotate tool which is positioned directly above the Cancel button. Your image will rotate by 90 degrees.

Tap the Rotate button again so that your image is turned upside down.

Tap Done to save the image. This simple rotation technique tricks the eye into thinking that you took the photo from an airplane as you were flying above the clouds.

The post 7 iPhone Photo Editing Tricks To Enhance Your Images appeared first on iPhone Photography School.

1. Working Environments

By reviewing the images from great documentary photographers of the past century, such as the National Geographic photographers, one common theme that runs through almost all of the collections is a heavy interest in the “working man and working woman.”

Photographing people at work, or even just working environments without people present, will leave a visual historic legacy showcasing how people worked in this particular era.

Most people around the world spend a quarter or even half of their lives in the act of working. Because of this enormous percentage of time spent, documenting “work” is a valid and fascinating form of documentary photography.

Think about different work environments that you might be able to photograph, for example, construction workers, bus drivers, street vendors, office workers, window cleaners, etc.

Think about how you might go about photographing these workers to tell a particular story.

You could photograph people hard at work, or capture them taking a well-earned break.

You could capture candid shots from a distance or you could approach them and ask them to pose for you.

If you’re lacking the confidence to photograph strangers, an easy way to get started would be to photograph the people at your own workplace.

2. Cultural Items & Events

Whether you’re in a foreign location or shooting in your own locale, keep your eyes peeled for items of cultural significance.

This small fishing boat is painted in the colors of the Acadian flag. In the Maritime provinces of Canada, the French Acadian culture is rich and celebratory.

When visiting the Acadian regions you can often see the flag colors painted on almost everything.

Anything that tells a story about your location is perfect for documentary photography.

Whether it’s a flag or a small items such as this Japanese teapot, it should conjure up images about the culture it belongs to.

Another way to document culture in your photos is to shoot at cultural events or celebrations.

Street parades and carnivals are perfect for capturing the way a particular city or group of people celebrates certain events.

Try to immerse yourself in the celebrations so that the viewer really feels like they were there. Your aim should be to capture the energy and emotion of the event.

3. Built Environments

Another great opportunity for documentary photography is capturing people within built environments.

A built environment simply means any location that was created with machines and construction techniques (rather than natural environments such as forests and lakes).

The value of photographing people within built environments is that the photos give future viewers a glimpse into how people interacted with what was modern in their own day.

Explore different areas within your city to find interesting locations and architecture.

You could capture a single person walking past a building’s facade, or shoot a crowd of people inside a busy building.

Don’t forget to think carefully about your photo composition. Architecture provides you with many great opportunities to make use of leading lines, symmetry and framing elements.

4. Sports Events

Sports photography is already its own photographic genre, so we can’t fit sports solely into the genre of documentary photography.

However, sports photography can certainly be included in documentary photography, especially when the outcome of sporting events have a profound effect (either positive or negative) on the culture of that day.

Try to get as close as you can to your subjects, and use the iPhone camera’s burst mode to fire off a series of shots for the best chance of getting a decent shot of fast moving subjects (just hold down the shutter button).

Try to capture the energy and emotions of the day, and don’t forget to get some shots of the crowd as well as the participants.

5. Street Art

The art forms of street photography and documentary photography are distinct, however the two often mix together.

As a documentary photographer, it’s your job to see things like street art or street signage, and save them for future generations to see and enjoy.

Street art is a rich subject matter to photograph, as the scenes often give us glimpses into that certain society’s mind-sets and thinking patterns.

Street art and signage on buildings is often photogenic enough to capture on its own, but adding a person into the photo can create extra visual interest as well as a stronger storytelling element.

6. Store Windows

Fashion districts in big cities are always rich in documentary content because fashion changes constantly.

When you photograph mannequins wearing the latest fashions, you’re taking a snapshot of fashion history.

How long will it take before those styles become popular again? Thirty years or so from now you’ll find out!

The great thing about store windows is that the clothing and other items have already been arranged in visually pleasing layouts.

So all you have to do is find the best viewpoint and you’ll end up with an amazing shot.

I like to take these kinds of photos at night as the artificial lighting creates a wonderful spotlight effect.

Conclusion

Hopefully you now feel ready to start documenting the history taking place in your own city or in locations you visit on vacation.

Remember, what seems boring and normal to you right now won’t be boring or normal decades from now.

The iPhone is a great documentary tool because it’s always with you.

These kinds of photos are rarely planned –  they just happen out of the blue. So have have your iPhone ready to use at a moment’s notice.

By shooting documentary style photos, you’re literally becoming a documentary historian when you capture daily life scenes. Your hard work will definitely be appreciated in years to come.

The post 6 Ideas For Creating Compelling Documentary iPhone Photos appeared first on iPhone Photography School.

The Photos app has three distinct ways to convert your color photos to black and white.

Whether you want a quick one-tap conversion or full manual control over your edit, this app has plenty of options for getting just the result you want.

In this tutorial we’ll give you step by step instructions for using one-tap filters, simple smart adjustments and full manual adjustment tools to create beautiful black and white iPhone photos.

Let’s start with the quickest and easiest option – the one tap black and white filters.

1. B&W Filters

iPhone filters are perfect for when you want to quickly convert your images to black and white. With a single tap, the color is removed from your photo.

If you’re new to photo editing, filters are a great way to get started as you don’t have to worry about complex settings or adjustments.

When you’ve opened the Photos app, tap on the color image you want to convert to a black and white photo, then tap Edit at the top right corner of the screen:

At the bottom of the screen, tap the Filters icon (three interlocking circles):

You’ll now see a list of preset filters at the bottom of the screen. Each filter alters the appearance of your photo in a different way. We’re only interested in the black and white filters (Mono, Tonal and Noir):

Tap the Mono filter to see an average and very good black and white option:

Now try the Tonal filter. This one gives you a black and white image with less contrast than usual:

In most cases black and white photos look best with higher contrast levels, but the Tonal option has its place for subjects that are meant to feel lighter and happier.

Finally, the Noir option has the most contrast. It does a great job of creating a high contrast look, yet not so much that the image becomes “muddy” and heavy looking:

The Noir filter is usually the one chosen for fine art style black and white conversions.

Once you’ve chose the filter you like, tap Done at the bottom right of the screen. The image will now appear black and white in your photo library:

If you ever want to convert the image back to color, just open the image, then tap Edit at the top of the screen, and tap Revert.

Here’s the black and white edit that I created using the Noir filter:

The high contrast black and white conversion brings out the natural contrast and detail in the scene.

2. Smart B&W Adjustment Slider

The second editing option we’re going to explore has has a bit more flexibility than the simple filters that you just experimented with, yet it’s still very easy to use.

Here’s the original color image of a Japanese snow monkey that I’m going to convert to black and white:

Tap Edit at the top right of the screen, then tap the Adjustments icon that looks like a clock/dial (to the right of the Filters icon):

You’ll now see three options – Light, Color and B&W. Tap the B&W option at the bottom left (don’t tap the arrow – tap on the text that says B&W):

You’ll now see a black and white slider at the bottom of the screen:

This adjustment slider takes the power of complex RGB color channel mixing down to a simple and fun slider.

Converting images to black and white using color channels basically allows you to control the brightness of different colored areas when converted to black and white.

If I swipe towards the right of the slider, the image becomes black and white, and the monkey’s face starts to lighten up. This is because at certain points along the slider the red colors are being boosted, but most of the other colors are remaining the same:

Think of this slider as a method of enhancing only certain colors, while others are not affected. The colors are still in the picture, but sort of “underneath” the black and white conversion.

Now let’s try taking the slider to the extreme end. As you can see, the monkey’s face becomes very dark:

This is because underneath the black and white conversion, the app is taking everything that was originally a red color and making it darker.

While this location along the slider isn’t very appealing for this particular photo, it may be good for other types of photos to have just the red portions turned dark when converted to black and white.

Now, let’s go to the left side of the slider. As you can see, a little bit more light is coming back into the monkey’s red face:

This is a decent photo, but still a little dark, so let’s scroll again until we get to the optimal amount of facial luminosity (brightness):

When you’re happy with your edit, tap Done at the bottom right to save the black and white image to your photo library.

Did you notice that in our experimentation of lightening the monkey’s face, the snow still retained much of its detail?

This is the value of the Smart Adjustment slider. It allows you to brighten only certain aspects (based on the original colors) of your newly created black and white image.

3. B&W Manual Adjustment Tools

If you want even more control over your black and white edits, the Photos app offers a range of manual adjustment tools for fine-tuning the results.

Select the color photo you want to turn black and white, then tap Edit:

Tap the Adjustments icon that looks like a clock/dial at the bottom of the screen:

Now tap the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the B&W option:

Beneath the B&W option you’ll see four settings – Intensity, Neutrals, Tone and Grain:

The first option you can experiment with is the Intensity slider, so tap the Intensity option:

The job of the Intensity slider is to adjust the sections of your black and white image that previously had colorful areas, but it almost ignores sections that are neutral toned.

Scroll the slider left and right until you get the black and white look that you feel best shows off your photograph:

When you have the Intensity where you want it, tap the Menu icon that has three horizontal lines stacked on top of each other above the slider. This takes you back to your adjustment options:

Now you can adjust the Neutrals option. Neutrals tends to adjust areas of the photo that didn’t have much color to start with (mainly areas of white):

In this particular image there was no need to alter the Neutrals option, so the slider was returned to the normal mid-point.

Tap the Menu icon with the three stacked vertical lines to return to the adjustment options.

Next we’ll try out the Tone options, so tap Tone in the list of B&W adjustments:

The Tone option is similar to a Contrast adjustment that affects the brightness of the shadows and highlights. If you move the slider to the extreme left and right, you’ll see what this option does to your photo:

When you’re happy with the Tone setting for your image, tap the Menu icon above the slider to return to the adjustment options:

The final B&W option is the Grain adjustment. This effect mimics traditional high ISO black and white film by adding a grainy quality to your image. For example purposes, here I’ve take the grain effect to its maximum:

If you want to add grain to your photo, dial in the desired amount using the slider, then tap the Menu icon to return the adjustments screen.

If you want to make any final adjustments, you can do so by tapping the setting you want to change. When you’re happy with your black and white conversion, tap Done to save the image to your photo library.

Conclusion

I hope you’ve enjoyed exploring these three different methods for creating black and white edits in the native iOS Photos app.

These options provide editing tools for beginners and more advanced iPhone photographers.

The B&W filters allow you to convert your image to black and white with a single tap.

The Smart B&W Adjustment slider gives you more control over the brightness of certain parts of your black and white conversion.

And the B&W Manual Adjustment tools give you full control over the black and white settings. This is great for fine-tuning your image to create the precise look and feel you desire.

Discover more about what kind of subjects and scenes work well for black and white photography in this tutorial: How To Create Incredible Black & White iPhone Photos.

If you’ve enjoyed using the Photos app to create black and white images, check out this tutorial that shows you how to use the full range of photo editing tools: How To Edit Photos On iPhone Using The Native Camera App.

The post 3 Black & White Editing Techniques For Stunning iPhone Photos appeared first on iPhone Photography School.

How Color Temperature Affects Mood

As humans, we subconsciously react in different ways to different colors. And you can use this to your advantage in your iPhone photography.

By choosing to shoot subjects of a certain color or in certain types of light, or by adjusting the color temperature in post-processing, you can convey dramatically different moods in your photos.

In other words, you can use color to influence how a viewer feels when they look at your photo.

Of course, there are many different colors that you can photograph, but in this article we’re going to focus on the two extremes of the color temperature spectrum.

Color temperature refers to how “warm” or “cool” the colors are. At one of the spectrum are the cool blue colors, and at the other end are the warm reds, oranges and yellows.

Cool colors tend to evoke feelings of calm, peace and tranquility, or maybe even melancholy and loneliness. They can also enhance the feeling of coldness in a scene.

Warm colors are more inviting and stimulating, creating a mood of happiness, excitement or optimism. They can also enhance the feeling of warmth in a scene.

So let’s take a look at four different ways to use color temperature to create different moods in your iPhone photos.

1. Photograph Warm Or Cool Colored Subjects

A simple technique is to use the color of your subject to convey a particular mood.

Take a look at the two photos below and think about how they make you feel when you look at them.

For most people, the vibrant orange flowers against the dark orange wall will evoke feelings of happiness. The warm colors conjure up a mental image of sitting outside on a warm summer’s day.

By contrast, the cool blue tone of the pebbles tend to create a calmer, more tranquil mood. They may even evoke a feeling of melancholy and loneliness.

The cool colors make you think of a cold winter’s day, perhaps taking a lonely walk along a deserted beach.

Of course, everyone will interpret each image differently, but in general you can expect warm colored subjects to evoke different feelings from cool colored subjects.

Below are two more examples – this time of different colored walls. Again, take a look at them and think about how they make you feel. What kind of thoughts pop into your head when you look at them?

Another way of photographing a blue colored scene is to shoot around water, capturing the blue color of the water and the blue color of the sky.

Photos like this tend to have a very calming effect on the viewer, evoking feelings of peacefulness and tranquility.

2. Shoot In Warm Or Cool Colored Light

As well as using the color of your subject to evoke certain feelings, think about the color of the light that you’re shooting in too.

Throughout the day the color temperature of the light changes, and you can use this to your advantage to create certain moods in your photos.

When the sun is below the horizon, early in the morning and late in the evening, the color temperature of the light is very cool. Shooting at these times of the day will add a blue color cast to your photos.

When the sun is just above the horizon, just after sunrise and just before sunset, the color temperature will be very warm. This adds a beautiful orange color cast to your photos.

The mood in these two photos is very different, and it has a lot to do with the color temperature of the light.

Use cool blue light to add a tranquil or melancholic mood to your photos. And use warm light to create feelings of happiness and optimism.

3. Capture Warm & Cool Colors In A Single Image

Another way to create really vibrant and engaging photos is to capture both warm and cool colors in a single photo.

Blue and orange/yellow contrast wonderfully. If you’ve ever studied color theory, you’ll know that these colors sit on opposite sides of the color wheel.

Contrasting colors are really eye-catching. They can create feelings of tension and energy in a photo, and you can use them to create incredibly dynamic compositions.

One of the easiest way to capture these contrasting colors is to find a warm colored subject, such as a yellow building or the orange colors found in nature during fall, and then include blue sky or water within the composition.

This is such a simple technique, but it allows you to create stunning photos in many different locations.

4. Warm Up Or Cool Down Colors In Editing

Many photo editing apps and photoshop apps allow you to easily alter the color temperature in your photos.

For example, the Snapseed app has a Warmth option within the Tune Image tool, and the native Photos app has a Cast slider within the Color editing option.

Different apps give this tool different names, e.g. Warmth, Temperature, Cast, White Balance, etc. but they all do the same thing.

They allow you to warm up the colors in your photo by adding a yellow or orange tint, or cool down the colors by adding a blue tint.

You can use these tools to enhance the original colors in the photo, or to completely change the mood of the original scene. Let’s look at some examples…

When you take a photo during the golden hours of sunrise or sunset, are you often disappointed that the colors don’t look as warm as they did in real life?

In such cases, all you need to do is adjust the color temperature towards the warm end of the scale in post-processing.

If you’re shooting during the blue hour while the sun is below the horizon, you might want to enhance the natural blue hue of the light by adjusting the color temperature towards the blue end of the scale.

This can help to emphasize the coolness of that time of day, and it works especially well on photographs of water.

As well as using color temperature to enhance the natural color of the light, you can also use it to completely change the mood in your photos.

Here’s a fairly ordinary photo of a tractor in a field. It was taken in the middle of the day when the color temperature is fairly neutral.

Below is the edited version of the photo. The color temperature has been warmed up, and also a sun flare has been added to the top right corner using the LensLight app.

These simple changes give the image a whole new lease of life. The warm colors conjure up feelings of a summer’s day. The photo has more energy, and it elicits a much happier mood than the original image.

You don’t always want to create happy warm photos though! Sometimes you may want to evoke a more tranquil or negative mood in your viewers. In such cases, you’ll need to edit them to add a cool blue cast to the scene.

Below is a nice long exposure photo of a waterfall.

But what if we play around with the color temperature in post-processing? By adding a blue tint to the photo, it takes on a more sombre mood.

With this edit I also darkened the shadows to make it appear that the photo was taken in low light. Adding a blue tint and darkening the image is a great way of giving the impression that the image was taken at night.

While warm tones elicit a positive emotion, cool tones can add an emotional coldness to your photos. Take a look at this photo snapped during a rare snowstorm in Tokyo.

The street lights have given this image a slightly warm tone. But by adding a subtle blue tone to the photo we can change the emotional content of the final image as shown below.

Cooling down the colors slightly has changed the emotional weight of the picture from warm and welcoming to a sense of distance or loneliness.

Cool color temperatures are often a good option with photos of snowstorms, especially if you capture a lone person standing within the scene or running to get cover from the snow.

Not only do the cool tones emphasize the coldness of the weather, but they also create a feeling of loneliness.

Conclusion

As you’ve seen from the photo examples in this tutorial, warm colors evoke very different emotions compared to cool colors.

You can use this to your advantage in your photography, allowing you to create different moods in your images. A simple shift in color temperature can present a particular emotion or mood to your viewer.

Whether you choose to photograph warm or cool colored subjects or light, remember what kind of emotions they’re likely to create.

Cool colors tend to evoke feelings of calm, peace, tranquility, melancholy or loneliness. They also enhance the feeling of coldness in a scene.

Warm colors are more inviting and stimulating, creating feelings of happiness, excitement or optimism. They also enhance the feeling of warmth in a scene.

Capturing both warm and cool colors within a photo is a great way of creating a vibrant and eye-catching image. The contrasting colors add a very dynamic and energetic feel to the photo.

Finally, don’t forget that you can use editing apps to adjust the color temperature in your images. You can enhance or completely change the mood of a photo by warming up or cooling down the colors.

Remember that there’s no right or wrong when it comes to color temperature. It’s entirely based on the emotion that you want to convey. I hope you have a great time exploring the fascinating world of color temperature!

The post How To Use Color Temperature To Create Mood In Your iPhone Photos appeared first on iPhone Photography School.

Take a look at the photo below of a Japanese garden. There’s an electrically powered Japanese style lantern hanging on the wall, but it’s not switched on.

Even if the lamp was switched on, you wouldn’t be able to see the light because it was a very bright day outside when the photo was taken.

To make the photo more visually rich and dramatic, I decided to use the LensLight app to add a digital illumination to the lamp. The resulting image is shown below.

With the lamp illuminated, the whole scene takes on a new and mysterious atmosphere.

Is This Cheating?

Before we begin, let’s take a quick look at the ethics of altering reality in your photos. You may ask yourself, “Am I cheating by adding something that wasn’t there to begin with?”

A generally accepted ethic in professional photography circles is that documentary style photography should be as close to reality as possible, but photography that you consider artwork (that which you would hang on your wall at home) has no ethical limits imposed on it.

In other words, if you’re creating art with your iPhone photos, you have just as much freedom as a painter or illustrator to distort or interpret reality.

So let’s get started and add some fake illumination to your iPhone photos!

Step 1: Open Image In LensLight

For this exercise you’ll need to have the LensLight app installed on your iPhone. If you don’t already have it, you can download it from the App Store for $4.99.

If you’re searching for the app in the App Store, it’s officially called LensLight Visual Effects and the company is called BrainFeverMedia.

You’ll also need a photo on your iPhone that contains some kind of lamp or wall light. It could be an exterior photo of a building with a lamp on the outside, or a street scene with a lamp post.

Alternatively, you can click here to download the photo shown below.

Once you know which photo you want to edit, open the LensLight app from your iPhone’s home screen:

When the app opens, tap the New option in the blue star. If it’s the first time you’ve used the app, you’ll be asked for permission from iOS for the app to access your photo collection – it’s safe for you to say Yes to this request.

You’ll now see a thumbnail list of photos that are stored within your iPhone’s photo library:

Tap on the photo you want to edit, and you’ll then be taken to this screen which allows you to crop your photo prior to editing:

Feel free to crop the photo if you like. When you’re ready to move on, tap Done at the top right of the screen.

Step 2: Add A Light Effect To Your Photo

You’ll now see a screen with the following options at the bottom: Effects, Edit, Mask, Layers and Filters. Tap Effects at the bottom left of the screen:

On the Effect Categories screen, tap the first option titled Lensflares:

This will take you to a new screen that has your photo at the top, and various light effects at the bottom:

At first glance you’ll only see 16 light effect options, but with a swipe of your finger from right to left you’ll be shown a few more options:

On the second row from the top, you’ll see a light effect called Sol Invictus. Tap on that option, and you’ll be taken to a new screen with the light effect placed approximately in the middle of your photo:

You can now move and resize this ball of light within your photo. Simply use your finger to drag the light around the screen, and pinch-zoom in and out to change its size:

Now that you have a good idea of how to manipulate the size and location of the fake illumination, place the light effect on the un-lit lamp in your photo.

Once it’s in position, you may need to resize it again to fit the type of lamp that you’re illuminating. Try to choose a light diameter that looks as realistic as possible:

Now your lamp should be looking great… but we’re not done yet! At the bottom of the screen tap the Edit icon which will bring up some new editing options:

We’re going to be using the color wheel, so swipe across slightly so that you can see the full color wheel:

To add more warmth to your fake lamp-light, use your finger to drag the circle’s mid-point marker to the upper right side of the color wheel – into the orange area:

Did you see the lamp light in your photo become warmer? When you’ve dialed-in the amount of lamp warmth that you like, tap the up-arrow option located at the top right of the screen. This will take you back to the editing options.

We’re done editing now, so tap the up-arrow one more time to open up the Save options. Tap the Save option at the top of the list:

On the next screen you should see the following words printed under the Save option: “Saved to Camera Roll.”

You’re now free to exit the LensLight app. The photo will be stored in the photo library of the native iOS Photos app. Here’s what the final image looks like:

And that’s it! You’ve successfully added fake illumination to a lamp in your iPhone photo.

Once you’ve added light to your photo, you might want to experiment with another visual option and try converting the image to black and white:

Of course, there are many different light effects in the LensLight app, and they can also be used for adding a lens flare effect to the sun.

But the technique is the same no matter what photo you’re working on – simply select the light effect you want to use, move and resize it into position, then make any final edits to the warmth, etc.

The key is to experiment with different photos and light effects until you achieve the mood you were hoping for. Have fun adding drama to your iPhone photos!

The post How To Use LensLight App To Add Fake Light To Your iPhone Photos appeared first on iPhone Photography School.