It's kind of mind-blowing how far mobile photography has come over the years.
I remember being impressed with the grainy photos my old LG flip phone took back in the day.
Now I have an iPhone X that serves as my daily camera, and it's a pretty powerful rig if you ask me.
Since many of us use iPhones as a camera as much a phone, I figured a few iPhone photography tips are in order.
Look for Reflections
This is an old landscape photography trick that you can use to brighten a dark foreground.
Since water reflects light, it's an ideal tool to overcome dynamic range issues when you photograph a landscape (or any other subject) that's dark with a bright sky above it.
However, when shooting with your iPhone, reflections serve another purpose - developing your creative eye.
Since your mobile phone allows you to be mobile, use your feet to search out interesting reflection opportunities.
That might involve a mirror, a puddle, a shiny surface like marble...you name it.
Reflections allow you to experiment with light, shadow, and symmetry, each of which can add an interesting vibe to your iPhone photos, as seen in the shots above.
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Improve the Lens Quality
Don't get me wrong - I appreciate the fact that my iPhone X has a telephoto and a wide-angle lens.
And while the native lenses in iPhones and other smartphones have gotten much, much better over the years, there's still room left for improvement.
That's why I have iPhone lenses from SANDMARC.
Admittedly, smartphone lenses in the past left a lot to be desired.
But the lenses from SANDMARC demonstrate that the technology has come a long way.
For starters, the build quality of these things is incredible. This isn't some flimsy clip-on lens with low-grade glass.
Instead, when you pick up these lenses you immediately get a sense for their quality of construction. What's more, the glass in these things is multi-coated which helps minimize unwanted artifacts like flare and ghosting while maximizing the sharpness and clarity of the images you take.
I also appreciate the versatility of these lenses, particularly when it comes to how I mount them to my phone.
On the one hand, I can simply clip the lenses onto my iPhone X. It doesn't get much easier than that!
On the other hand, SANDMARC has developed a phone case mount to work with their lenses. It's the world's thinnest phone case mount, so you don't have to worry about some big, bulky case taking up room in your pocket.
There's wide-angle, fisheye, and macro lenses available, which you can get individually or in a kit. There's a telephoto lens coming soon as well.
That gives you tons of opportunities to expand your mobile photography game and get more creative with the way you shoot photos.
But don't take my word for it...see what SANDMARC iPhone lenses are all about in the video above.
Learn More:
- Get the Specs and Pricing on SANDMARC iPhone Lenses
- Essential Tips for Better Photos With Your iPhone X
Hang Back From the Action
A lot of photographers (myself included) talk a lot about the value of filling the frame with your subject.
And though that's a very valuable tip, there are times when taking a step back from the action and capturing the larger scene is beneficial, too. That's especially true if you're shooting with a SANDMARC wide-angle lens or fisheye lens, which give you a 2x and 5x wider capture, respectively.
By giving yourself (and your subject) some space, you can find interesting ways to frame the shot.
Likewise, you can search for ways to incorporate lines, textures or patterns into the foreground to help draw the viewer's eye into the photo.
The more real estate you have in the photo, the greater your ability to show your subject in context. That helps the viewer to better understand what they're looking at and helps you tell a more potent story about the subject, too.
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Shoot...a Lot
You have your phone with you virtually all the time, right?
That means you have a camera with you virtually all the time as well.
Given that fact, there is no excuse for not taking tons of photos. And the more photos you take, the more skilled you'll be as a photographer!
Take three minutes here and five minutes there to snap some photos. It doesn't even have to be of something especially important or iconic. Just take photos and practice seeing light, framing your shots, composing your images, using interesting perspectives, and so on.
You might be pleasantly surprised at how quickly you start to see improved results.
Editor's Tip: If you're having difficulty finding the motivation to shoot a lot of photos, check out these inspirational photography quotes to get your creative juices flowing again.