I love the convenience of using my phone. It’s always on me, so I don’t have to worry that I may miss something while I run to get my “big camera”. It allows me to capture moments without needing to have the perfect camera settings. When I use my phone I’m way less worried about perfection and way more focused on the moment. And that's what's most important. That's the best thing about having this little camera at my disposal all the time... I can capture each and every moment in just a quick snap. And you don't need the newest iPhone to do this! These images were all taken with my iPhone 5 - no fancy portrait mode here. So use what you have and freeze those memories!
Here are a few tips and tricks that I hope will help you capture
your life in all its glory - on your phone.
Here are a few tips and tricks that I hope will help you capture
your life in all its glory - on your phone.
1. Take a LOT of pictures.
My phone is constantly reminding me that it's running out of storage space because I'm a serious over shooter. I’m always telling my girls “Ok, just one more!”, which really means 10 more… but in the end I’m left with a lot of options and most of the time only a few actually turned out how I really wanted them to. Snap away! You can always delete what you don't want.
2. Use the LIGHT!
If you don't have good lighting your picture will be grainy, blurry, and just not very pretty. Light is definitely something that I focus on the most – I’m always on the look out for a good spot of light, or a killer shadow. But honestly just make sure you have light! If you're in a dark room, get near a window. If your in a shadowed forest, try to have faces be towards the light. If it's nighttime, move closer to the lamp and watch for bad shadows. Although natural sunlight is always best, in my opinion, get creative with whatever light you have. You don't need a lot of light, you just have to know how to work with what's available.
3. No posing!
(Ok, maybe just a little posing) I try my hardest not to make things too staged. I may sit my little one in a pretty spot and ask her to pick a flower or ask my big girl to run to the top of the hill, but I always find that my favorite shots are the ones that happen all on their own. I just make sure to always be alert and ready for that moment that really speaks to me. And those 'look at the camera and say "cheese!"' pictures are totally necessary and adorable sometimes too :)
4. Get creative!
I get easily bored with regular pictures of my girls, so I try to use light to be creative in my shots. Silhouettes are some of my favorites and they’re really quite simple to make with a phone camera. Making sure that you have a bright background (light source) is really important in making that perfect silhouette. Using the VSCO app for one point of focus (your subject) and one point of exposure (i.e the sky) is great for silhouettes as well. If you’re outside, taking the picture just before or right after the sun goes down is the best! And getting low to the ground really gives you that big sky. I’ll totally lay in the grass to get the shot. If you’re inside big window are a great source of back light.
I also love to use pockets of light. They’re a great way to draw attention to something specific, plus it looks really cool! When I take pictures of pockets of light I’ll often use my VSCO app because it allows me have one point of focus and another point of exposure, helping to create that contrast that I really want.
5. Get in the frame!
SO IMPORTANT YOU GUYS! Although I don’t do it nearly enough, I love to get in the frame with my girls. They love looking back on those images and seeing us all together. I’ve learned that anything can be a tripod for my phone. A shoe, a trashcan, a tree stump, whatever will hold that thing in place for you! One fun way that I really like to get in the frame is by putting a timer on, taping my phone to the ceiling above our bed, and going in for the snuggles! It gives such a cool perspective. (Just make sure it's secure and doesn't fall down and almost hit your kid in the face...not that I would know anything about that.)
6. Use an editing app
Things always look better with the naked eye then they do on your screen, so sometimes a few editing tweaks help to make that photo look a little more like you saw it. My go-to editing app is VSCO. (Its FREE!) It offers a lot of great tools for easily adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights etc! I also use Snapseed (also free!) sometimes, because it offers a tool that allows you to edit only specific spots within your photo. For the shots that I try to get in with my girls I use either the timer on my phone or an app called TimerCam (yup, free!) because it has an option for a 30 second timer which is great for getting shots of us farther away.
Most importantly... photos are wonderful. Amazing. Incredible little moments captured. But make sure you're not so caught up in capturing these moments on camera that you forget to really experience them yourself. Be in the moment - and bring your phone out to capture it every now and then :)
My phone is constantly reminding me that it's running out of storage space because I'm a serious over shooter. I’m always telling my girls “Ok, just one more!”, which really means 10 more… but in the end I’m left with a lot of options and most of the time only a few actually turned out how I really wanted them to. Snap away! You can always delete what you don't want.
2. Use the LIGHT!
If you don't have good lighting your picture will be grainy, blurry, and just not very pretty. Light is definitely something that I focus on the most – I’m always on the look out for a good spot of light, or a killer shadow. But honestly just make sure you have light! If you're in a dark room, get near a window. If your in a shadowed forest, try to have faces be towards the light. If it's nighttime, move closer to the lamp and watch for bad shadows. Although natural sunlight is always best, in my opinion, get creative with whatever light you have. You don't need a lot of light, you just have to know how to work with what's available.
3. No posing!
(Ok, maybe just a little posing) I try my hardest not to make things too staged. I may sit my little one in a pretty spot and ask her to pick a flower or ask my big girl to run to the top of the hill, but I always find that my favorite shots are the ones that happen all on their own. I just make sure to always be alert and ready for that moment that really speaks to me. And those 'look at the camera and say "cheese!"' pictures are totally necessary and adorable sometimes too :)
4. Get creative!
I get easily bored with regular pictures of my girls, so I try to use light to be creative in my shots. Silhouettes are some of my favorites and they’re really quite simple to make with a phone camera. Making sure that you have a bright background (light source) is really important in making that perfect silhouette. Using the VSCO app for one point of focus (your subject) and one point of exposure (i.e the sky) is great for silhouettes as well. If you’re outside, taking the picture just before or right after the sun goes down is the best! And getting low to the ground really gives you that big sky. I’ll totally lay in the grass to get the shot. If you’re inside big window are a great source of back light.
I also love to use pockets of light. They’re a great way to draw attention to something specific, plus it looks really cool! When I take pictures of pockets of light I’ll often use my VSCO app because it allows me have one point of focus and another point of exposure, helping to create that contrast that I really want.
5. Get in the frame!
SO IMPORTANT YOU GUYS! Although I don’t do it nearly enough, I love to get in the frame with my girls. They love looking back on those images and seeing us all together. I’ve learned that anything can be a tripod for my phone. A shoe, a trashcan, a tree stump, whatever will hold that thing in place for you! One fun way that I really like to get in the frame is by putting a timer on, taping my phone to the ceiling above our bed, and going in for the snuggles! It gives such a cool perspective. (Just make sure it's secure and doesn't fall down and almost hit your kid in the face...not that I would know anything about that.)
6. Use an editing app
Things always look better with the naked eye then they do on your screen, so sometimes a few editing tweaks help to make that photo look a little more like you saw it. My go-to editing app is VSCO. (Its FREE!) It offers a lot of great tools for easily adjusting the exposure, contrast, highlights etc! I also use Snapseed (also free!) sometimes, because it offers a tool that allows you to edit only specific spots within your photo. For the shots that I try to get in with my girls I use either the timer on my phone or an app called TimerCam (yup, free!) because it has an option for a 30 second timer which is great for getting shots of us farther away.
Most importantly... photos are wonderful. Amazing. Incredible little moments captured. But make sure you're not so caught up in capturing these moments on camera that you forget to really experience them yourself. Be in the moment - and bring your phone out to capture it every now and then :)
But despite all this... I STILL get my big camera out. I still know that they quality of my camera far surpasses that of any phone. I still make sure to hand off my camera to someone and get in the frame. AND I still hire another photographer to take my own family pictures.
It's so important you guys. You'll never regret it.
If you're interested in having me capture your family memories (on my fancy big camera!)
let's talk! I would love to be apart of this time in your lives.
It's so important you guys. You'll never regret it.
If you're interested in having me capture your family memories (on my fancy big camera!)
let's talk! I would love to be apart of this time in your lives.
Some of this text was taken from my featured blog post over at Dear Photographer .
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