Hi everyone!
My dad, Mark Whitcombe, is a keen iPhone photographer, and I’ve roped him into writing a few posts about phone photography for the Better Pictures Project. (He loves his iPhone camera so much that he’s lent me his DSLR for the last 2 years – Thanks, Dad!)
Pics from his Twitter Feed…
I know that many of us use our phone cameras more than “real” cameras – I certainly do! With that in mind: What would you like to know about iPhone photography? Is there anything you really struggle with, like lighting, exposure, white balance, focus or editing?
Leave your questions in the comments!
Crafting A Rainbow 
I use my iPhone a lot! I like that you can change the focus & lighting by touching different places on the iPhone screen – so you can combat bad lighting to a degree. My Papercut Guise Pants photos were taken on an iPhone as when I got out the camera it was flat!
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This is perhaps the most important tip!
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I’m going to go back and look at the pics from that post! 🙂
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Just saw in the previous comment you can change the focus and lighting. Didn’t know you could do that. So, could you run through all the things you can change when taking a photo to make it better please other than the zoom function?
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Yes! I’m sure we/he can answer that!
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Honestly, what I struggle with the most is that I have an Android phone now, and all of the good information and photo apps seem to be for iPhone!
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How is the camera on your Android?
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I feel like it’s not great, and that my pictures often come out too dark and/or blurry. Though that could be that it’s a lot less intuitive than my old iPhone camera, and I just don’t know how to use it properly. It did help when I figured out that the screen is auto-set darker and I can turn that off to see what they actually look like. Also, I wasn’t trying to shoot pics of a constantly flailing baby when I had the iPhone.
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Becky, I have an Android, too (Galaxy S3). It has a lot of the same settings as my old regular digital camera and I tend to get better photos with the phone than my camera (probably because it’s slightly newer tech). I’ve also found that my phone takes better pictures than an iPhone when I’m with friends in a low light setting.
As for focus, I usually just touch the screen where I want to focus and then hit the shutter button (often with my knuckle so I don’t drop the phone). Email or direct IG/tweet me if you have any specific questions and I’ll try to help you. There are tons of buried settings in the phone camera. I’ve recently been playing with panoramic shots just for fun.
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Thanks, Brooke! I do use the screen tap to focus, but often .
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Thanks, Brooke! I do use the screen tap to focus, but often have trouble getting it to work (probably because I’m trying to focus close-up on a constantly squirming kid). If I come up with any specific questions, I’ll let you know!
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Let’s broaden this to all mobile photography — though my examples will be iPhone-based.
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I would love to know more about how to adjust pre-photo so that there’s less editing after the shot.
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Amen to that. That is definitely my goal when I’m using any camera! A stitch in time saves nine, right?
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I would like to know about adjusting for lighting. All the photos I take in my sewing area are really yellow and I know it is from the horrible lighting and wonder if I can correct for that prephoto.
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That’s a good question – I’m sure Dad will know!
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This is great! I bought an Iphone a couple of months ago, but it was defective (happens I guess). I spent yesterday at the Apple Store getting that resolved. Since I’m a new user, I would be interested in any of the adjustments to photos. I’m wondering if it is possible to use a tripod to take “selfie” pictures that show a few view. (Those mirror pictures are terrible, but there may be a way to adjust them.) This is great that your dad is helping with this part. The pictures in the blog post are impressive. I’m looking forward to reading future posts. Thanks, Mark.
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Ugh, defiective phone? So frustrating! Hope it’s all sorted now! 🙂
A tripod is definitely an option – even a remote! We can cover that for sure.
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um, EVERYTHING. everything about shooting people & detail! my phone has way more MP than my old canon g12, and i’m starting to think i should use it for blog photos. but, we can’t seem to get people shots right!
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Wait – do you not have a DSLR? Ruggy is really working magic if you don’t. (I just looked up a Canon g12, and it doesn’t look like it has exchangeable lenses…?)
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I feel the same as Marcy ^^ . I want to learn everything – like how did your Dad get those photos to look so good?? Wow! I’m really looking forward to these posts as I always have my iPhone with me.
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Seriously, I don’t know how he gets such good phone pictures. You should see his macro shots of bugs and little parts of flowers. So good! (He got into photography originally when he was studying botany at university, so plants and nature are still favourite subjects.)
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Better selfies, and everything else besides! I’ve only just learnt that you can use the volume control to take a shot. I’m certain that I’m missing much, much more.
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Ooh, yes, that’s a good trick!! Hopefully we/he can teach you some more handy tips!
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Oh, this will just what I am struggling all the time! Maybe I will be able to take good pictures for my blog one day, too? Thank you!
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I have a Nokia Lumia (it’s a Windows phone), and they’re AMAZING cameras, IF you know how to use them! When we went to Ireland it’s all I took to minimize packing, and while I was there I learned how to adjust the brightness, but it has all sorts of other adjustments too that I don’t understand how they work. For example, I have a shutter speed adjustment that is basically infinite, but the main “spots” are 1/800, 1/4, and 4s–but I have no idea what they mean! Same with ISO (sensitivity)–what do I do with it? I’ve played with the white balance too, but it seems like auto works the best for everything I’ve tried.
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I too use an android phone and would just love to take better pictures with it. I agree with the yellow and getting details. I don’t know how some people get such great photos with a phone!!! g
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I am also using an Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S5) and I think that it takes much better pictures than my DSLR. It has the same MP and you can use the selective focus option to simulate using a shallow depth of field. There are a couple of things that I really struggle with though, macro and focusing/sharp pictures in low light. I have tried to change the ISO but they are still a bit rubbish. Any help would really be appreciated. I love the camera on this phone and take it everywhere. Xx
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