iphone Photography Articles

Best iPhone 11 Accessories of 2021

Best iPhone 11 Accessories of 2020

 photo bymolchanovdmitry via iStock

Best iPhone 11 Accessories

When I first got an iPhone, I knew I was living in the future. Apple has made an amazing tool and they keep updating the iPhone with new iterations, now up to 11. Apple iPhones have been great for photographers since the included cameras and camera apps are very high quality and full of useful features.

Since these are so good for serious and casual photography, we looked for some iPhone 11 accessories that photographers might like having. Hey! It’s not too early for holiday shopping, right? What does your favorite iPhoneographer want or what would best assist your own iPhoneography?

Octopad

iphone 11 accessories 1

If it’s a camera, at some point you could use a camera support. One of the best iPhone 11 accessories for camera support is the Octopad camera and accessory mount.  

The Octopad is a unique mount that isn’t a tripod, isn’t a clamp, and isn’t a suction cup. It’s a pad that’s weighted on the bottom and has a non-slip material that keeps in place on surfaces that angled up to 45 degrees.

You can add a small ball and socket head or an accessory arm to increase the versatility of this handy tool. For mounting the iPhone 11, you will need an iPhone adapter to hold it on the ball head or extendable arm. 

Some of the things that make the Octopad one of top iPhone 11 accessories are that versatility of placement, the options for holding a camera or other device, and the low price point. You could add a couple of these to your gear bag for around what I pay for iced lattes each week.

Joby GripTight GorillaPod

best iphone 11 accessories 2

My first two iPhone 11 gadgets are a way to hold the smartphone. If you need to be able to mount the iPhone 11 to a tree limb, fence post, chair back, or hat rack, the Joby GripTight GorillaPod is a good choice.  

What makes this device stand out is that the tripod legs double as a grip due to their articulated design. You will need to add a smartphone holder to have it fit your iPhone 11.  

In addition to the grippy legs feature, you can use the Joby GorrilaPod as a regular table tripod or travel tripod. Smush the legs together and it can be a hand grip for smoother video.

Tamoria 3D Oneness iPhone 11 Camera Lens Protector

top iphone 11 accessories 3

The iPhone 11 is a great photographic tool, so treating the smartphone like a camera will become a habit for many. Since I put protective filters on some of my lenses, it makes sense that a protective filter for the iPhone 11 lenses would exist. 

Tamoria 3D Oneness iPhone 11 Camera Lens Protector is the iPhone 11 equivalent of a screw in UV filter. We have been buying screen protectors for ages, a lens protector is one of my top iPhone 11 accessories ideas. 

It is an interesting little tool. It covers both lenses and has cutouts for the mic and the light. The cutout for the light (or flash) even has a black ring to prevent any light scattering from negatively affecting the image or video.

iPhone Headphone Adapter

iphone 11 gadgets 4

For some reason, Apple doesn’t put a headphone jack on any iPhones anymore. Since some of us may already have a favorite headphone we use, this little iPhone Headphone Adapter is worth its weight in music downloads.  

Using the iPhone 11 as a video camera, using a good pair of headphones is essential to monitoring the audio portion of the recording. This adapter does double the work with one socket for 3.5mm jacks and one for Lightning which connects iPhones to other Apple devices. 

For my money, and it isn’t much, about 1 ½ iced lattes to use my previous currency converter, I’ll take a little added versatility and capability in regards to plugging things in to my devices.

Cambond Waterproof Phone Pouch

top iphone 11 accessories 4

A waterproof pouch is very useful for outdoor photographers. Since we end up taking our smartphones almost anywhere, camera protection from the elements can become important in the case of inclement weather which can suddenly come up.

Cambond Waterproof Phone Pouch gives all weather protection and it floats. It’s great for skiing vacations, either at the beach or lake or at a mountaintop resort. Plus, if it rains on me, my iPhone 11 is safe.

Stay tuned for more iPhone fun in future articles. 

Learn More:

 



We Recommend


Best iPhone 12 Accessories

Best iPhone 12 Accessories

photo byhsyncoban via iStock

For photographers, having the latest iPhone and iPhone 12 accessories is more like having a great camera that also texts and makes phone calls. Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max are among the best ultra compact cameras available.They are also  fully capable smartphones with features that would shock a sci-fi writer from just a few decades ago. 

The incredible iPhone family are truly mobile computer workstations, so saying they are cameras with phone features was tongue in cheek. There is more computer power in an iPhone 12 than was in the machines that landed men on the Moon (Earth's large, natural satellite) and brought them back safely.

iPhone 12 Photography Features

iphone 12 accessories 1

photo byjavitrapero via iStock

But let’s make no mistake, it really is the camera part of these devices that makes them extremely desirable to photographers and videographers. Fast lenses, large sensors (for a smartphone), image stabilization, RAW files, and advanced video features had us drooling from the moment they were announced.

Just as with our other cameras, having the best iPhone 12 Pro Max accessories can help us accomplish certain processes or make some things better or easier to do. What iPhone 12 photography accessories will help you out? There are a lot of fine iPhone 12 photography accessories, we’re showing 5 for this list.

The Right Case

iphone 12 accessories 2

There are so many cases, it’s hard to choose just one best iPhone 12 case to recommend. For a couple of reasons, I like the Torras Shockproof Case. One reason is that it has an extra level of protection against drops and bumps. It has military grade drop protection, good for 2500+ drops from 6 feet or less. 

The other reason is that this case has a low key appearance. There are a lot of people who enjoy having bright, shiny, or personalized smartphone cases, but as a photographer, I prefer an understated appearance when filming video or taking pictures. 

Learn More:

A Useful Mount

iphone 12 photography accessories 3

OctoPad is one of the most useful iPhone 12 accessories for photography and videography. It is a semi rigid disk of material with a non-slip pad on the bottom and a ball head   on top that can hold a camera or other accessory on virtually any surface even if angled by up to 45 degrees.

With the small size and low cost of the OctoPad, you can use 2 or 3 of them at once, especially useful for videos. In addition to holding the iPhone or other camera without clamps or suction, you can also place a small light or a microphone on it and place it where needed.

iphone 12 photography accessories 4

Hand holding a smartphone or camera while filming video is not the best solution for most videographers since the extra movement caused by our own inability to be rock solid still will show up in our video as a distracting level of unsteadiness. For any video longer than a few seconds, having some support is best.

Using an OctoPad with an iPhone 12 opens up another fun opportunity, long exposures. Since the iPhone 12 has the features, might as well find a way to use them with some low price iPhone 12 photography accessories.

Protective Lens Filter

best iphone 12 pro max accessories

The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Max Pro have very high quality lenses. But, they are still a smartphone and prone to all the abuse we’re used to dishing out on a smartphone. We put them in a pocket, a purse, a car seat, or out on a table or desk. Keys, pens, coins, and forks can seriously mess up a lens front element, even when protectively coated as these iPhone lenses are.

One solution is to use a protective case or sleeve, another is a filter system like the UniqueMe Camera Lens Protector. These filters and others like them are optically neutral and can give active iPhone 12 photographers peace of mind by protecting the fine lenses on this smartphone.

Bright Lights

best iphone 12 pro max accessories 6

Pixel G1s RGB LED Light produces bright, clean light and has variable power and variable color output for matching to existing ambient light levels and colors. It has a built-in rechargeable battery and is actually a little smaller and lighter than the iPhone 12 Pro. 

Sometimes a scene, especially  when filming video, simply needs a little bit more light in order to enable the highest quality recording. You can hold it in your hand since it runs cool, or mount it on the OctoPad listed above.

More Power

best iphone 12 pro max accessories 7 

With all of the videography and photography you’re going to be doing with your new iPhone 12 Pro or Pro Max, you will want to keep it charged up. Apple makes a charger which qualifies as one of the iPhone 12 Pro Max accessories, the Apple MagSafe Charger and Apple 20W USB-C Power Adapter.

You can use this charger anywhere that has wall power outlets to keep your iPhone and other Apple devices charged up. Unlike our other cameras, you can’t keep a spare battery in your pocket for most smartphones.

best iphone 12 pro max accessories 9 

Well, that’s a good start for the best iPhone 12 accessories for photography. Go to our user forums and let us know what other items you found yourself that qualify for a longer list of best iPhone 12 Pro Max accessories. 

Learn More:

 



We Recommend


How to Take Stunning Long Exposure Photos with iPhone

How to Take Stunning Long Exposure Photos with iPhone

photo bymartin-dm via iStock

Long exposure photos are a great art form and can show a landscape in interesting ways. While it’s a simple exercise to set up a DSLR or mirrorless camera to take long exposures, photographers shooting on an iPhone may wonder how to do long exposure on iPhone cameras. 

iPhonography is the art and craft of making amazing photographs with Apple iPhones. Though a smartphone camera doesn’t necessarily have all of the options and native features of a more traditional camera, there are apps for taking photos and processing them that are able to let you create some of the same style of images you can do with those larger cameras.

Besides regular photos and videos, you can do long exposure on iPhones, macro photography, selective focus portraits, and action photography on iPhones. Before discussing how to do long exposure on iPhones, let’s have a brief tutorial on long exposure photography in general.

Table of Contents:

What is Long Exposure?

long exposure on iPhone

photo byundefined via iStock

What is long exposure, and can you do long exposure on iPhone cameras? The answer to the second part of that question is yes, depending on what iPhone and what camera app you have.

The answer to the 1st part of that question requires some knowledge of general photographic techniques and principles. The Exposure Triangle is the main part of figuring out how to do long exposure on iPhone cameras and any other type of camera.

The three variables that determine exposure are the shutter speed, lens aperture (f-stop), and ISO. Changing any one of the three requires a change of one or both of the others. So, if you want a very long shutter speed, you will need to adjust the lens aperture and ISO a lot to get a very long exposure time.

What Is Long Exposure Used For?

long exposure on iPhone 2

photo byborchee via iStock

There are two main reasons I like using long exposure techniques, motion blur and astrophotography. If you’ve been following Photography Talk for any length of time, you know that I am a huge fan of blurred water effects and of making night sky images.

Blurred water effects can turn a beautiful landscape image into a special work of art. Whether a river, stream, waterfall, or wave-filled ocean, blurred water technique transforms the water into a very different scene. 

We see most water movement in a unique way with our own eyes. We see an endless stream of still images of the water, noticing the individual ‘poses’ of water as well as the entirety of the scene in motion.

Though photography mimics how our brain interprets the information our eyes provide and allows us to ‘see’ and understand what is in front of us, it can’t capture exactly how our eye-brain connection functions.

Photography will capture a stop motion image of the water where individual drops and the larger masses of water will be seen in a freeze-frame style of visualization. This looks neat, but we sometimes want to enhance a scene with moving water in it without having our attention arrested by the camera arresting the motion of the water. That’s how the water blurring effect is often used.

long exposure on iPhone 3

photo byjamesvancouver via iStock

We can also use this same method to blur the motion of clouds in a scene. Which I find interesting since clouds are actually made of water vapor, so cloud blurring is still water blurring. Oceanside scenic images can include water blurring of the waves as well as any blurring of cloud movement. 

The reason I want to use long exposure on iPhone cameras when I’m out doing photography treks without my other cameras is because I’m not always carrying my main cameras. This is why I really do like iPhones and other smartphones with their amazing cameras built-in. Even when I don’t have my camera on me, I always have a high-quality camera on me if I have an iPhone or other high-quality smartphone.

how to do long exposure on iPhone

photo bybjdlzx via iStock

As my second listed reason for using long exposure, astrophotography is a favorite art form for many outdoor photographers. It combines a love of photography with an interest in astronomy, a situation which is true for a lot of landscape photographers and nature lovers in general.

Astrophotography is an interesting craft, too. The huge, dark expanses of the night sky are punctuated by intensely beautiful and brilliant points of light or softly glowing ephemeral wisps and clouds of glowing luminosity. You can do this type of long exposure on iPhone cameras, too, though it does have some challenges.

A major challenge for astrophotography is that large space of dark with light sources embedded within it. And that’s what makes astrophotography so hard to understand at times. We’re basically capturing light sources instead of objects lit by a light source. This is true of nebulae and planets, too, since these are behaving as light modifiers and reflectors, besides all of the stars emitting their own light.

how to do long exposure on iPhone 2

photo byCHUNYIP WONG via iStock

Some other reasons for wanting to do long exposure on iPhone cameras are low light situations such as concerts, stage shows, weddings, sunset, twilight, Blue Hour, Golden Hour, indoor scenes, and street photography.

Learn More:

How Long-Exposure Photography Works

how to do long exposure on iPhone 3

photo bypetesphotography via iStock

We know what long exposure photography accomplishes, now let’s see how it works. 

In order to get long exposure effects such as blurred water or clouds, we have to be able to keep the shutter open for an appreciable amount of time, generally in the range of full seconds or even minutes instead of fractions of a second.

The way to achieve a very long shutter speed is tied up with our Exposure Triangle. If we simply increase the time the shutter is open without somehow adjusting the other two legs of that triangle, we’ll get overexposure to the point of not seeing anything in the image.

Stopping down the lens and lowering the ISO or sensor sensitivity will get us only so far if the scene has an average brightness level. So, special light attenuation filters, neutral density filters, are used to lower the light intensity of what is coming through the lens and into the camera.

beginner photography tips

photo byKoldunov via iStock

Density, in a photographic sense, is darkness. Neutral means having no color cast, no tint. So a neutral density filter is often a dark gray filter. Neutral density (ND) filters are rated by how many stops (or steps) of exposure it is able to attenuate the existing light level. 

Each full change of shutter speed, f-stop, or ISO is a full stop change of exposure. Each stop changes up or down by either halving or doubling the value. A lens aperture or f-stop of f/4 allows half of the light of f/2.8 but double the amount of f/5.6, for instance. Same with a shutter speed of 1/125th compared to 1/60th or 1/250th, and ISO values of 100 compared to 50 or 200. These are calculations and values we’re used to as photographers, so it is easy to apply it to ND filters.

Some of the most common ND filters are 3-stop, 6-stop, and 10-stop densities. To give examples of how that enables long exposure photography, an exposure of 1/125th at f/5.6 and ISO 400 can be changed quite a bit. 

To start, we would change that ISO to a lower sensitivity such as 100, which gives two stops of difference, allowing a shutter speed of 1/30th. If we also stop down the lens aperture to f/16, that’s an additional 3 stops of difference, yielding us a shutter speed of 1/4th of a second. 

That still isn’t long enough to give us those awesome blurred water effects, though it would just blur moving water a little bit. We need full seconds for true blurred effects. So, we add the ND filters. 

A 3 stop filter with the situation outlined above would result in 2 seconds, a 6 stop filter gets us to 16 seconds, and a 10 stop filter gets us all the way to 256 seconds or 4 mins and 16 seconds. The 6 and 10 stop ND filters are thus extremely valuable for blurred water long exposure effects.

beginner photography

photo byda-kuk via iStock

Astrophotography won’t require that we use ND filters, but the exposure times may be just as long or even longer. A lot of astrophotography is done with multiple exposures, either bracketing or stacking. Bracketing can need some very long exposure times. Image stacking also uses up a lot of time, and then we blend them together with post-processing software.

Any way you look at it, long exposure photography calls for  keeping the shutter open for a long time. Even if we’re simply shooting a street scene or concert in low light and not seeking the special effects of blurred water or astrophotography, the ability to have longer shutter speeds and perhaps special metering modes is very important.

Can iPhones Take Long-Exposure Photos?

iphone

photo byCatLane via iStock

Now that we’re all on the same page concerning the needs and desired results of long exposure photography, the question we’re all wondering is, can we do long exposure on iPhone cameras?

The answer is Yes. No. Maybe, it depends…

Basically, every iPhone has a good camera in it. They have high-quality lenses, good sensors, and very capable camera apps built-in. These camera apps and the hardware in the iPhone itself just keep getting better and more fully-featured. As for those general low light situations such as weddings, concerts, street photography, all of the iPhone models will do a pretty good job, with the newest ones being better.

Astrophotography and blurred water effects may or may not be supported by your particular iPhone. Check your phone camera settings to see if it allows manually setting very long exposure times. 

For older models of iPhones, you may need to download a different camera app that offers more control, such as manually setting those long times. Some of those apps may be free, but most of the better ones require some payment, though the dollar amounts are pretty small.

How to Shoot Long Exposure on iPhone

iphone 2

photo bySeremin via iStock

Answering the questions above will point you in the right direction for how to shoot long exposure on iPhone cameras. The newer iPhones and many of those replacement apps for older iPhone cameras have image stabilization enabling handheld shooting at slightly lower light levels, such as what will be found at concerts and in street photography.

The very long exposure on iPhone cameras for blurred water and clouds or astrophotography will put all of us completely out of the range of any image stabilization software. The exposure times for these images are full seconds, minutes even. 

iphone photography

So, in order to take a long exposure on iPhone cameras of those types of images, we will need to have some form of camera support. For a full-size camera, we would probably take out our tripod. Since the iPhone is a super-compact camera, we can use a tripod alternative such as theOctoPad

OctoPad is an ingenious device for camera support. It’s small and easy to transport yet can keep our camera or smartphone rock steady. It is a stiff disc of stuffed material with a non-slip pad underneath and a ¼-20 screw mount ball head on top. 

It can hold your camera on almost any surface indoors or out at up to a 45-degree angle. Place your OctoPad and iPhone down on the brick wall, tree stump, car hood, or whatever is there, and then adjust the ball head to point the iPhone in the right direction. You can now take a long exposure on iPhone cameras of up to several minutes with no camera movement at all.

You can also find some very practical filters and filter holders for many of the newest iPhone cameras, so you can add those ND filters in order to take a long exposure on iPhone cameras.

Long Exposure on iPhone Camera Post-Processing

iphone photography 2

photo byPoike via iStock

After all of your hard work setting up and taking the long exposure on iPhone cameras, now you need to post-process it properly to get the best results. Since the newer iPhone cameras actually have RAW image file capability, this is pretty much just like using your larger cameras. 

A lot of current post-processing programs can handle these RAW files in addition to the JPEG files of older images using long exposure on iPhone cameras.

Plus, Apple has some very full-featured post-processing and special effect programs of their own. Some are included in the newest iPhones, while others are available as downloadable apps.

Yes, you can take long exposure on iPhone cameras. Check out your personal iPhone for what is already available, download apps and buy a support, and then go out and take a long exposure on iPhone. 

Photography Gear We Recommend

Learn More:



We Recommend


Top 5 iPhone Photography Accessories for 2021

5 Top iPhone Photography Accessories for 2020

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

Smartphone photography has grown so much in the past few years. Led by Apple, iPhoneography is a well established genre in the world of photography. 

Much the same way users of other cameras do, many of us are looking for iPhone photography accessories and other smartphone photography accessories to enhance our photographic experience.

5 Top Smartphone Camera Accessories for 2020

Using the right photography accessories, photographers can engage in a lot of techniques and methods. Some camera accessories let you make long exposures, some are artificial lighting, others may be related to the A/V capabilities of modern cameras including smartphone cameras.

OctoPad Camera Support 

octopad 1

Think of this patent-pending unique small camera support as the alternative to carrying a tripod. Mobile devices are meant to be mobile. But sometimes that mobility puts us in a situation where we need to support or iPhone camera with something other than our hands.

Photographers have been making use of some form of camera support since the inception of photography for the masses in the mid-1800s. Tripods were designed into extremely useful and very portable devices. 

What makes the OctoPad one of the best iPhone photography accessories is that it is small, easy to use, inexpensive, and it really holds your smartphone camera securely in many situations.

octopad 2

It is a non-slip, weighted pad that can be placed on nearly any surface, and it has a ball and socket head. You can attach any number of mounting adapters to it, including a smartphone holder. It’s not a suction cup, the weight and the non-slip material is what holds it in place.

octopad 3

Since the cost is very budget friendly, you could combine several together to accomplish what you need to do. As an example, if you are filming remotely for your YouTube channel, use an OctoPad for your phone to free up your hands, one to hold a microphone close to your subject, and another OctoPad for your auxiliary light source.

Learn More:

Hakutatz Portable LED Light

hakutatz 1

A primary concern for many of our potential images is the lighting. We need to make sure we have enough light and that the light is placed where it needs to be. The Hakutatz battery powered portable LED light is one of the photography accessories iPhoneographers should be aware of.

This portable light is one of the best iPhone photography accessories to have for several reasons. It’s battery powered and portable, it emits low heat, is energy efficient, has very bright LED bulbs, it has multiple color options, and it can be controlled by our smartphone with an app.

hakutatz 2

With one or more of these awesome lights, we can have complete control over our smartphone photography. Even though our smartphone cameras are amazing, the lenses are slow by their very nature. So, we often would get better results for still images and video by adding an artificial light source.

The multiple color capability of this small LED light is for more than special effects. With the smartphone app, we can dial in the proper color temperature to match the ambient light. This allows for our artificial light to blend in perfectly with the entire scene.

hakutatz 3

Great photos need great light, and despite the incredible advances in the cameras and software on iPhones, the tiny flash just doesn’t cut it.

That’s why the Hakutatz pocket-sized LED light is one of the most useful smartphone camera accessories we could find.

Bamoer 22x Telephoto Lens Kit

bamoer 1 

Our smartphone cameras have high-quality lenses, but they are limited compared to interchangeable lens cameras. Several manufacturers have figured out ways to add extra lenses to smartphones. Many of these lens kits fit Samsung, iPhone, Google, and other brand smartphones, making them great smartphone photography accessories. 

There are several good choices, but I liked the Bamoer 22X Telephoto Lens Kit for its huge range of focal length alternatives to our built-in lens. 

bamoer 2 

The most noticeable item in the kit is that super telephoto attachment. Magnifying 22X is the equivalent of using a 1,100mm lens on a 35mm full frame camera. That’s a whole lot of telephoto. Using the included small tripod or a mount like the OctoPad is essential for that much telephoto power. 

Lenses also included in the kit are a macro for ultra-close focusing, an ultra-wide angle, and an extreme wide-angle 180-degree fisheye lens. As smartphone camera accessories go, this choice will expand your photographic options quite a bit.

Wireless Lavalier Microphone 

mic 1 

YouTubers, vloggers, and anyone else using their smartphone for video recording will benefit from a remote mic. One of the easiest to implement is a wireless lavalier mic system

mic 2

Using this will improve the audio quality of your recording immensely. Other options to consider are lightweight shotgun mics that you would use from camera position.

Audio is a vital part of any video we shoot, so this idea fits perfectly with the best smartphone camera accessories we may consider. 

Learn More:

Anker PowerCore 10000 Portable Power Pack

anker 1

All of these smartphone photography accessories and iPhone videography gear tend to draw a lot of power, draining our phones batteries. If not actually functioning by means of our phone battery, the increased amount of time we spend using all these cool gadgets means we use more power.

anker 2

Therefore, an external, extra source of electronic power can really come in handy. One of the better models we found is the Anker PowerCore 10000. It operates with many different mobile devices, allowing you to stay out in the field longer, making movies or capturing images. 

Other iPhone Photography Accessories

We included the top 5 that can give you the most versatility in your smartphone photography. Other accessories you might find useful are bags, waterproof cases and sleeves, remote controls, and awesome editing apps. 

Adapting one or more of these items to your iPhoneography will enhance your photographic experience and could enable you to take your photos and videos to the next level!


 



We Recommend