Taking Better iPhone Photos: Focusing
Hey ya’ll, welcome back to the blog! When I first started taking iPhone photos, I’ll admit, it was a little tricky. I never felt like I could expose properly or get the camera to focus where I wanted intended focus to fall! All it took was some trial and error, now I want to share a few tips and tricks I picked up a long the way!
Key to taking a great iPhone or smartphone photo is to take control of your focus. First off, make sure wipe off the lens with your shirt or any soft material. Handling our phones as much as we do, the lens tends to pick up grease from our hands and causes images to come out blurry. Simply holding up your phone and hoping it catches your intended focus just isn’t going to happen. Find the subject you want your focus to fall on and touch the screen on that point. This will tell your phone to adjust its focus and could change your exposure. If you’re exposure changes you may need to slightly adjust your angle or move you focus point ever so slightly.
Apps such as VSCO can help to adjust both focus and exposure before taking the picture. You tell the camera where you want your focus point to fall and then move the exposure to the darkest area to bring up those shadows. Sometimes that may make the image too light so adjust accordingly! On my YouTube channel you can watch a quick tutorial on how I use the VSCO app to master controlling focus while using your smart phone!
Finding that even though your focus is actually where you wanted it to be but it’s not quite sharp enough? Have you noticed this tends to happen as your phone ages?! When you go into your chosen app to edit, there’s a setting control called “Sharpen.” If you move this slider up ever so slightly, it will add an extra crispness to your image. Don’t go too far with it because it can start looking fake!
I want to encourage you to not give up on taking iPhone photos! Since we don’t always have a ton of control with our phones it can seem impossible. It’s not! Go out and shoot some portraits or snap a few street style shots to practice. Having a creative block and not quite sure what you should photograph? If you need a little inspiration here are 5 photography ideas that can easily be shot with your smartphone! The more you try these tips and tricks the easier it will become!
