Take Great Shots On Your iPhone!

Discover how to shoot, edit and share better–looking photos on your iPhone

- George Cairns

The iPhone is the perfect device for photographers. It’s a camera that’s always on hand to capture sudden photo opportunities. It’s a digital darkroom packed with tools that can fix problems with color, tone, and composition. It’s a portable gallery that lets you display photos on a high resolution display or share shots via social media. iPhones are also effective photography tools as they draw less attention when you’re taking a photo (compared to using a bulky DSLR camera). As everybody’s staring at phones these days people won’t give you a second glance when you compose your shot. This low–profile provides more opportunities to capture documentary–style street photos, for example.

Traditional DSLR photographers may look down on an iPhone because it lacks the manual controls and mechanical features that can produce particular effects. For example, a DSLR user can choose a wide aperture to create a background blur for a portrait. They can freeze a moment in time using a fast shutter speed, or add motion blur to people and cars using a slow shutter speed. And they can also instantly swap lenses to capture a wide–angle view or use a telephoto lens for a candid close–up.

The iPhone 11 and 11 Pro has narrowed the gap between iPhones and DSLRs because the telephoto and wide–angle lenses give more control over composition. Using the iPhone 11’s Night mode, you can shoot in low light without a flash, and the enhanced Portrait mode lets you add a background or foreground blur to objects. Combined with the photo and video editing tools released in iOS 13, you can use your iPhone to create pro–standard pictures similar to those on DSLRs.

We used an iPhone XR and iPhone 11 Pro for this feature, but you can apply many of our tips, tricks and techniques to older iPhone models.

Camera app options