How to begin to take the best photos of your life, with the world's most popular camera

1. Beginner
Tips
Jack Hollingsworth’s Beginner Tips
HowToTakethe
BestPhotos OfYourLife
withtheWorld’sMost PopularCamera
1

2. .1
Beginner
Tips
Tap to focus, drag to expose
The mostcriticaltipI can giveyou is ”taptofocus, dragto
expose"(darken,lighten).
Optimalexposureis havingsufficient detailsin bright,
darkandmid-toneareasof thephotos.

3. .2
Beginner
Tips
Bracketing
Shootmorepicturesthanyou thinkyou wantorneed.Way
more!
Pickthebestshot, later,duringtheeditingprocess, not
whileshooting.Shootingand editingaredifferentpartsof
thebrain.
Bracketyour exposures.
Bracketyour camera-angle.
Bracketyour focal points.
Bracketyour lens choice.

4. .3
Beginner
Tips
Different life moments require
different shooting modes
Time-Lapse, Slo-mo, Video,Portrait,Pano,Burst.
Think beyond morethanphotos-only andmorelikea
visual storyteller.I usetheseothershooting modeswhen
it’seasier totellastoryandcommunicate.
Afterall,iPhonephotographyis thenewLinguaFranca.

5. .4
Beginner
Tips
Rule of thirds grid
Use therule-of-thirds– grid-linestocreateoff-centered,
asymmetrical compositions, withunpredictableflairand
style.
Puttingsubjects inthedead center
of theframeis, toooften,boring
and expected.

6. .5
Beginner
Tips
Zoomwith your feetand not your fingers
It’sbettertogetphysically closer
tothesubject thanusing the
digital-zoomin camera.
Digitalzoomis finefor magnificationsbetween2-3X but
notsuitableforanything more.
If you can't physically getclose, shootwide,in capture,and
crop closer,in post-production.

7. .6
Beginner
Tips
Different lenses, different stories
Whenyou change your focal length(lens), you change your
story(narrative).
I tend touse theultra-widelens (.5X)for landscapes,
telephotolens (2X/2.5X)for peopleandportraitsandwide
lens (normal,1X) foreveryday.

8. .7
Beginner
Tips
Camera angles
Think likea cinematicfilmmakerand constantlychange
your camera-to-subjectangles(not justeye-level).
The fivemain cameraanglesare:
eye-level
high-level
birds’eye-level
low-level

9. .8
Beginner
Tips
Auto Enhance slider
If you don’t liketoedityour photos,use thephotoapp’s
‘AutoEnhance’ (magicwand)toedityour photosin a single
tapandin seconds.
Most photos,coming straightoutof theiPhonecamera,
can be improvedby slightediting.

10. .9
Beginner
Tips
Change your default settings for photography
PrepareyouriPhone cameraby togglingoff default
settingsand optimizingyour settingsforintentional
photography.

11. .10
Beginner
Tips
Light
To stacktheodds in your favor,tryphotographingduring
timeswhenlightis optimal,remarkable,inspirational,
beautiful,lyrical.
Learningtowritewithlightis thesecretsauce behind all
photography.

12. .11
Beginner
Tips
Style
Developingastyle in photographyis puttingtheYOUin
your photographs.
Followyour innermuse.

13. .12
Beginner
Tips
Don’t overthink
Just shootthedamnthing.
Analysis leadstoparalysis.
Getintothehabitof leaningintoyour instincts, impulses,
intuitionwhile creatingphotographs.

14. .13
Beginner
Tips
Camera shake and blur
Just likewhenyou use abig camera,topreventcamera
shakeandblur,usetwohands tosteadyyouriPhone
camerawhileshooting.

15. .14
Beginner
Tips
Understand your why
UnderstandingtheWHYof picture-takingwilldriveyour
what,how,when,where,andwhoof thesame.

16. .15
Beginner
Tips
Joie de vivre
Becauseartgrowsoutof theheart,leanintoyour truejoie
devivretodiscoverthecheerful enjoymentand exultation
of photography.

17. .16
Beginner
Tips
Airdrop
ActivateyourAirdropfeatureto
beable toshare,onthespot,
your photosand videoswith
otheriOSusers.

18. .17
Beginner
Tips
iCloud
Use iCloudtosafely and securelystoreyour precious
memories.

19. .18
Beginner
Tips
Shoot now, edit later
Letthephotos you takemarinate
fora while.
Shootnow,editlater.
I tend toletmy photossit, onmy cameraroll,forafew days
beforeIreturntocull, curateandeditthem.

20. .19
Beginner
Tips
Orientation
Use theimage orientation– horizontal(landscape) or
vertical(portrait)–thatbestcomplements thesubject you
areshooting.
Why notshootyour subjects and objects bothhorizontally
and verticallyso you haveoptions
whenediting?

21. .20
Beginner
Tips
Aspect ratio
Anaspect ratiois theproportionalrelationshipbetween
an image's widthandheight.
Itis thefinal ”shape” of theimage:
4:3 (standard)
1:1 (square)
16:9 (video)
I alwaysstartwith4:3 thenvary
fromthere.

22. .21
Beginner
Tips
Printing
You haven’treallycompletedthecreativecycle untilyou
havefreedyour photosfromyour iPhone camerarolland
printedthemon paperforkeepsakeandgiveaways.
Don’tforgettoprintyour photos!

23. .22
Beginner
Tips
Two apps to rule them all
Itis bettertomaster justa handful of camera,editing
and sharingapps thanbemediocrein many.
Appsshould refineandnotdefine yourstyle.
FirstlearnthedefaultApple
cameraand photosappbefore
you exploreothers.

24. .23
Beginner
Tips
Less is more
Don’toverdousing your adjustmentsliders forediting
effects.

25. .24
Beginner
Tips
Lipstick on a pig
Noamountof post-productionprocessing, presets,filters,
effects or trickeryis goingtomakeabad photographa
goodone.
Puttinglipstickon apig doesn’tchange a thing.

26. .25
Beginner
Tips
Shoot-to-share ratio
Shootway morethanyou share.
For example,your shoot-to-shareratioshould behigh (10:1
vs, say, 10:5).
My currentshoot-to-shareratiohoversaround100:1(I
share/use 1of every100photosI shoot)

27. .26
Beginner
Tips
Your own voice
Attheend oftheday, theonly voice inphotographythat
reallymattersis your ownvoice.

28. .27
Beginner
Tips
Create albums
Shortlyaftershooting,begin tocurateyour bestorfavorite
photosintodedicatediPhone albums foreasy retrievaland
access.

29. .28
Beginner
Tips
Check-in but don’t check-out
It’sgood ideatocheck-in butdon’t check-out.
Doubletaporpinch-zoom your photo,afteryou takeit,to
check criticalfocus, thenbacktoshooting.

30. .29
Beginner
Tips
Clean your lens
I knowthis may sound oversimplified butalwaysclean
your iPhonelenses ofsmudges, dirtand dust.
Itmakesadifference.

31. .30
Beginner
Tips
Check before shooting
The twothings Ialwayscheck
beforeheadingouttodo any kind
of iPhonephotography:
DoI haveenough iPhone
storageavailable?
DoI haveenough power
(batterycharge)?

32. .31
Beginner
Tips
Natural, simple, practical
I tend tokeepthingsas natural,simple and practicalas
possible.
I onlyuseattachmentaccessories
if theaccessories enhance and/orelevatewhatI am
photographicallytryingtoaccomplish.

33. .32
Beginner
Tips
Portrait mode
Portraitmodeis notjust forshootingpeople andportraits.
Itcan also be effectivelyused withinanimatesubjects and
objects tocreatea depth-effect,likean
out-of-focus background.

34. .33
Beginner
Tips
Have fun
Most importantly,havefun.
Lettheartpartnaturally
and organicallyflow outof
theheartpart.

35. Beginner
Tips
Thank you
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