5 Tips for Using the iPhone 4s as Your Go-To Point and Shoot

Like many others, I rarely use a traditional camera anymore because I love my iPhone 4s.  After all, even photo guru Annie Leibovitz recommends the 4s as the "snapshot camera of today."  The 8 megapixel camera is superior to any iPhone camera before, and you can even do some simple editing of the pictures right in the iPhone.  Over the past several months, I've learned a few tricks to get the best shots on my iPhone 4s, so I thought I'd share.  All photos were taken with the default camera app.

1. To Zoom or Not to Zoom?
The 4s does have a digital zoom, and it's not bad, but I don't recommend zooming too much, as the picture quality lessens along with the pixels.  To quote our experts this week, "zoom with your feet" as much as possible before you zoom with the camera.  Remember, you can always crop the photo to get the shot you really want once it's uploaded to your computer.

I used the digital zoom to take this photo of the Sedona red rocks without the road, cars and telephone wires that were in the foreground when I was standing across the street.  It was just enough of a zoom to eliminate what I didn't want, and still keep the quality of the photo intact to give me what I did want.  

2. Flash: Yes, No, or Auto?
Unlike its predecessors, the iPhone 4s includes an optional flash.  I use this word "flash" loosely, as it is nowhere close to the flash on a regular camera, and there is little you can do to control its intensity. It also creates a delay in taking the picture.  Because of this, I prefer to keep my flash turned off.  In most cases you can get a decent picture with good natural color with the flash off.  When I'm in a dark room, I'll use the flash, but it can be tricky, and your pictures can look gritty and washed out.  It's best to be close to your subject to get the best result.

I was positioned fairly close to these talented ladies and made sure to tap the screen on the faces of those closest to me before taking the picture.  This helps the camera to focus and seems to help the flash too.  As you can see, the effect is still not as good as a traditional camera, but it's not bad in a pinch, and better than the next pic.

I was farther away when I took this shot, and did not use the tap-screen focus trick.  The result is a more washed out flash photo on the iPhone 4s.

3. Focusing on the Subject
A lot of people don't know that you can make your iPhone pictures better by focusing before you shoot.  Yes, I said focus.  On the iPhone (all versions), if you tap the screen directly over the subject you want to focus on, the phone's camera will listen and adjust!  You will also notice that the light adjusts as well as the phone recognizes the point of your focus.  This is especially helpful in areas where the light is behind the subject, or if you want to create an effect where you want the objects in the background to be slightly blurred, just like those you may have taken with your 35mm camera back in the day.

Photo taken during the editors' meeting at the Arizona Republic.  The focus is clear.

4. How do you capture the action?  
When the action and light is changing rapidly, you need to shoot in the same way: rapidly.  This is really no different than you would shoot the same action with a traditional camera.  People typically take a photo on the iPhone and then look to see how it turned out, but this isn't always how you will get the best shot.  Fireworks are especially tough since the timing is tricky.  In this situation, try taking as many pictures as you can in rapid succession, without looking at the screen.  You're bound to capture something good! 

I took this picture at Chase Field after the baseball game we attended.  While I was not seated in the best location for an ideal shot, and the photo could certainly be cropped, you get the idea how I captured the light.  There were a whole lot of pictures that led up to this one.

5. Sometimes it's good to shoot into the light.  
We've heard our experts tell us to use the light that is available when photographing our subjects.  Obviously, when the subject is a person, we want the light behind us or to the side to avoid the silhouette effect.  However, you can shoot some really beautiful landscape portraits by shooting into the light.  You can even get creative with a person in the foreground, as long as the light is not directly behind the subject. 

Photo taken during our Pink Jeep tour in Sedona.  Note the sun and the subject are on opposite sides of the photo, so there is a really nice yellow light illuminating the side of the subject, while the lack of light on the left of the picture creates the needed contrast to keep the picture from being washed out. 

One final note: there are many photo apps available for the iPhone that enable you to get even more creative than the default app allows.  For example, Instagram offers a number of filters to create special lighting effects.  There are many more, and they are often free apps.

I hope this has been helpful to my fellow iPhone fans.

Marlo Spritzer
Southern Lehigh High School
Center Valley, Pennsylvania