Welcome to our first BlogHer University: Focus on Photography lesson. Today we'll be discussing the iPhone camera, how to get the most out of it, and what other camera apps exist to help you capture the best photos.
Chances are you use your phone's camera regularly, but you're not using it to its full extent. The truth is that the iPhone camera has greatly improved over the years and now offers you handy and helpful ways to photograph your world. It's really easy to use once you understand a few of the basics.
Notes: I took all example photos in this post with an iPhone 6 and the latest iOS (8.3). None of my example photos are edited in any way as this lesson focuses on the camera itself, not on any post-processing. We'll discuss how to make your photos look better with native editing tools and apps in a future lesson.
Native Camera App
With the iOS8 update of the iPhone, your camera already comes equipped with a number of helpful and handy things. Photographers everywhere rejoiced when they realized they now could control more aspects of their photography without downloading or purchasing other apps.
Most important? Manual exposure adjustment.
In previous versions of iPhone software, when selecting a spot to focus, you also selected where to base the exposure of the photo—by default. You couldn't separate the two functions. Now you can.
Simply tap and hold the area you wish to focus on in your photo. A yellow box will appear with a sunshine icon to show where you've selected.
You can leave it this way if your picture seems lit properly, or simply slide up for a brighter image or slide down for a darker one.
Voila! This feature will help you achieve better focused images along with the right lighting for the mood you wish to show in your photograph.
Next up: Self-Timer
Again, prior to this update, the native iPhone camera app did not come with a self-timer. Those wishing to share their outfits, to take a family photo including themselves, or to capture a great image on a tripod without bumping it needed to download a separate app.
No more! It's easy to use.
Simply tap the timer button on the top of your camera and select 3 or 10 seconds. Of note, if you're needing to run into position for a selfie or a family photo, do yourself (and everyone) a favor and select 10. Selecting 3 is more efficient when tapping a camera on a tripod.
And voila! A photo of more than just the inside of your arm.
Additionally, the editing tools in the native Photos app also do more with the most recent updates. You can adjust light (including exposure, highlights, shadows, brightness, contrast, and selecting a black point), color (drain color or make it really pop), or make the photo black and white (from muted to dramatic).
All these things together make for a great camera app, especially considering you don't have to download anything extra or pay for anything.
But... there's always something new and interesting out there.
Camera Awesome
The name itself is, well, awesome. Camera Awesome brings some great functionality to the game for a free app. Of course, it also does all the same things your native camera can do, but it takes it a few steps further.
Instead of just a normal burst of photos, you can select between quick and slow burst. The slow burst would work best for any stop motion projects you might create. On that same train of thought, this app adds a timer with an interval in addition to the normal timer. You can set it up to take the photo at set times (default is 5 seconds apart) and it will keep taking photos at that interval until you press the button again.
My favorite feature on Camera Awesome is Big Button. I find it most beneficial when I'm trying to take a photo on a windy day or struggling to find the focus I really want. Instead of finding the focus and then moving around to tap the camera button, you just tap on the BIG BUTTON on the screen.
Pretty picture, easily achieved.
Camera Awesome feels like a great, starter step up for an iPhone photographer looking to learn more about photography and create better pictures—without spending extra money.
Camera+
The Camera+ app ranked as my favorite camera app for a long, long time. It gave us timer functionality before Apple decided to do so. Again, it boasts all of the functionality of the native camera but gives photographers a bit more for the money ($2.99).
My favorite feature in this app is definitely the Macro function. In photography, macro simply means a photo taken very close to get detail you wouldn't see from further away or even zoomed in. It's crisp and clear and makes little things look big. Prior to using this app for the macro functionality, I used magnetic, removable lenses on the outside of my phone's camera lens to get a clear, close picture.
In Camera+, you simply tap the + button, select Macro, and then get CLOSE to your intended subject.
Same flower, but the wind blew many seeds away in between a screen shot and a focused macro shot!
This app also provides extensive editing options, allowing you to adjust everything from clarity to exposure and, of course, offers a number of filters. Instead of editing in two or three separate apps (which we'll talk about later in this course), you can hang out in one app and make your image look absolutely amazing.
Camera+ still ranks high on my best photo apps because it feels like an all around great camera.
Manual
If you know a thing or two about a DSLR camera, maybe you feel frustrated with the super basic way many apps approach photo exposure. If you're looking for an app that allows you to adjust ISO and shutter speed in the same manner you do on a big camera, Manual is the app is for you. ($2.99)
While the native app and all others shared today allow you to adjust how bright or dark your photo is, Manual lets you specifically select ISO (34-1500) and shutter speed (S0"5 to 1200). Additionally, you also have complete control of manual focus with this app, simply by moving the slider left to right. It's really quite handy and helpful.
These tiny (or large!) adjustments will make photographers used to shooting in mobile feel at ease.
Now that you've read through how to use your camera to get great photos, go play with it. The more your use your native app or the other camera apps available to you (of which there are many more than listed here), the easier capturing a beautiful photo will feel.
Assignment: We're asking you to work with any of these apps (native or downloaded, even if wasn't discussed here today) in any way you see fit this week. Capture something new or photograph something tried and true using any of the tips and tricks I've discussed here today. You can also follow along with our #NaBloPoMo prompts.
Feel free to leave a link to your photo here OR tag them with #NaBloPoMo on Instagram and Twitter. We'll round up our favorites this Friday for a Master Class featuring YOU!
BlogHer Editor Jenna Hatfield (@FireMom) blogs at Stop, Drop and Blog.