The iPhone 3GS can be a brilliant at grabbing great photos on the go, but with a little extra effort and know-how you can perk up your pictures to create truly stunning mobile snaps. Read on, take our iPhone photography masterclass, and get clued up to squeeze the very most out of Apple’s mobile.
Push the button then compose your shot
The iPhone 3GS takes the picture when your finger leaves the on-screen shutter button, rather than when you initially press it. To reduce the effect of camera shake and ensure you get the picture you’re aiming for, compose your shot first with your finger on the button, then remove it when you’ve framed the image correctly. It’ll cut down on wobbles from “prodding” the screen, and should help you get sharper shots in no time.
Use light to your advantage
If you shoot in direct sunlight, you’ll often end up with photos that show the sky bleeding into the rest of the image, or find the rest of the picture looks dark and underexposed. Composing your shot to cut out the sky entirely will reduce the effect, and by concentrating on strong lines you’ll usually deliver far better shots. If in doubt, always shoot with the sun behind you, to make the best use of its natural rays.
Have bright ideas
The iPhone mobile phones’s camera loves bright colours. If you’re after strong, sharp images, seek out bright subjects but try to catch them when the sun’s not too strong, as that could mean your shots lack contrast and look bleached out.
Hold it right
Grab your iPhone 3GS vertically and you’re likely to get quite a lot of camera shake, especially if you take your time to get your image framed correctly. Hold the phone horizontally and use both hands to get a more sturdy grip. Combined with an understanding of the shutter button, the result will be fewer blurs, and better shots.
Understand the focal point
The iPhone 3GS has a very deep focal range which means almost everything in shot appears to be in focus. That can make it difficult to create an image with one object as your main focus. Try using a plain or uncluttered background to make the subject of your photos pop out, and appear as the real star of your shot.
5 apps to super-charge your snaps
Joby Gorillacam, £free
Gorillacam from Joby, the makers of the Gorillamobile iPhone photography tripod, adds a clutch of excellent new tools to your iPhone 3GS photography kit. It’ll give you a grid to line up your shots and compose them properly, a timer for self-portraits, a spirit level to ensure your photos are level, the ability to take a shot by tapping anywhere on the screen, anti-shake and a 3 shot burst mode to capture fast-moving subjects.
Camerabag, £1.19
If you want to add a bit of creativity to your iPhone photography without needing to delve into full-scale editing, Camerabag is a really useful app. Select a snap from your iPhone photo gallery and it’ll allow you to add one of its many filters to it instantly. You can create antique looking shots or an Polaroid-style photo with one flick of your finger.
Photoshop for iPhone, £free
Photoshop for iPhone is a remarkably full-featured miniature version of the Photoshop desktop app. It lets you crop photos so they only include the bit you’re interested in and easily flip and rotate your pictures. Those tools might be basic by desktop standards, but they’re exactly what you’ll need to add more emphasis and power to your pics. You can also take the your iPhone 3GS photos, adjust qualities like contrast, and add an extremely wide range of effects.
Tiltshift, £0.59
The clever arty Tiltshift app mimics a tilt-shift lens to adjust big scenes like citiscapes or images of ships at sea so that they appear to be a miniature scene instead. Take a shot of the area you live in from a high point and Tiltshift will let you turn it into a toy town with a single tap.
Autostitch Panorama, £1.79
If you find yourself faced with an amazing view, taking a series of single photos just doesn’t capture the scene. Autostitch Panorama lets you take a selection of shots and select them to stitch them together into one big shot automatically. The iPhone 3GS will analyse the shots, pulling together the parts of a wide vista into a single image. It’s easy to use and gives you a really nice effect.
