Learning to shoot with your iPhone – the possibilities are endless!

Do you want to learn to shoot great pictures with your iPhone camera? Do you want to learn to create spectacular images quickly and easily? With some basic photography skills and the help of some really fun apps, I’m here to tell you that the iPhone is a great camera. I’m a professional photographer, teach on location workshops in beautiful places and online classes with BPSOP. There is a new Craftsy iPhone class coming out this month, and here is a sneak preview of some of the things you will learn.

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Basic photography composition

First and foremost, basic composition and photography rules apply if you want to get the best quality image from your iPhone. The most helpful composition tip when using any camera is the rule of thirds. This basic composition aid will take you into the realm of amazing pictures fast. You can even shoot a trash can and it will look great using this tool (but we like to get WAY more creative!)

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New fun features of the native camera app.

The native app (the camera app that comes with the phone) has a new feature in the iPhone 6s called Live Photo. Basically Live photo takes a 3 second video along with your picture. You don’t need to do anything technically, just be sure this feature is turned on. There’s a little button in the top of the screen on the iPhone 6s that allows you to toggle it on and off. You can get creative with this feature, but you need to think about it a bit first. Some of my favorites that I’ve done with this feature are my dog playing with a stick on the beach. I caught the still image as he was jumping in the air, but the 1.5 seconds before and after showed him jumping and running after the stick. A moment in time caught in a 3 second video!

My Favorite Shooting App

My favorite app to shoot with is called Camera+. I like Camera+ because it separates your focus and exposure points allowing you to create the sharpest and best correctly exposed images. You can save these images to your iPhone camera roll and edit them with other apps. It also saves in the more editing friendly TIFF format.

How to pick and choose the best features in the apps

I use a variety of different apps but I don’t use every feature in every app. i like to pick and choose the features of each app and use different apps for different purposes. It’s fun and easy to pick and choose and get great results from using a variety of apps. In the BPSOP class, I go over 10+ apps, and talk about combining effects with several different apps.

Learn the importance of editing.

My favorite editing app is Snapseed. Editing is the secret of good pictures. While you might be able to create something nice right out of the camera, it is only really going to pop if you add some saturation, exposure control and sharpening to the image. Once you start editing, you will see how important this is and use it regularly to create great images.

This image of half dome in Yosemite was edited in Snapseed’s black and white filter. Snapseed has a variety of fine tuned adjustments and my favorites are brightness, ambiance, saturation and shadows. Using these techniques will make all the difference in the quality of your images.

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If you’d like to learn more about how to create incredible imagery with your iPhone, join me in my next iPhone Photography Class at BPSOP.

We also teach in person group and private photography classes in California and are taking a group to Yosemite in the Fall just to shoot with their iPhone! How fun is that? Learn more information about this trip at www.JansenPhotoExpeditions.com.

“I just wanted to thank you for another wonderful class. I have to confess that each week when I read the new assignment, my first reaction was mild panic and a deep certainty that I would not be able to produce anything worthwhile that fit within the parameters you had set. But before I knew it, the ideas started to flow, and I quickly became obsessed (no, that isn’t too strong a word!) with exploring the possibilities. I can honestly say that the photos I produced in response to your assignments are among my favorites. Thanks for bringing out a creative side I didn’t know I had!”

Barbara Geiger
Understanding Color

“Thank you so very much for this course! It’s allowed me to take the blinders off and present my images for what I want them to be without being a slave to the “reality” of the camera. I would also add that in conjunction with your printing course, this has been the most useful course I’ve ever taken. Your notes are more than comprehensive and your comments and critiques are direct, clear, and always directed to the improvement of the art.”

Bill
After the click

” I want to thank you for this class and for your patience and availability to answer all of my questions. I have learned very much through this class. I have used LR in the past, but mostly for editing images. I now have a better grasp in the organization of my images, an even better understanding of editing images, and an understanding of the value of presets. I still have a lot to learn, but this has put me on the road to be able to improve my photography. Again, thank you! ”

Dale Yates
Lightroom Quickstart

Classes Starting Soon!