I’ve always been a firm believer that the gear is less important than people think. When you realize what a photograph really is, all the technological stuff starts to fade away. Photographs are not about megapixels or dynamic range, but stories and moments.

Personally when I don’t have any of my cameras with me I use an iPhone, because the best camera is the one you have with you!

So I will share with you some tips that helped me along the way when it comes to photographing with an smartphone and honestly these basic notions are transversal to all types of photography.

Composition

Always think about the composition and what you are trying to capture. The heart of a photograph is its composition—the position of different elements in the frame. Never forget the rule of thirds, avoid centering subjects and horizons in the frame.

 

Light

Embrace the light, pay attention to how much light you have and where it’s coming from when taking your photos, early morning and late afternoon light will enhance everyone’s pictures.

 

Good Photos First

It’s important to develop your photographic eye so that you have good photos to edit. No amount of editing will turn a bad photo into a good one. Concentrate on taking good photos before get too involved with post-processing.

 

Post-Processing

Look carefully at the original photo. Ask yourself what could be done to improve and enhance it. Then find and use the best apps that will allow you to perform these edits. My two go-to apps are Snapseed and VSCO. Both apps are very powerful editors and each has its own unique tools.

Original shot on Iphone 6 © Pedro Gaspar

Edited with VSCO © Pedro Gaspar

Develop An Workflow

When you first start using editing apps, the tendency will be to use whatever apps come to mind, this can result in a very disjointed style. So once you’ve found the apps that work for you, you should start to think about the workflow or the order in which you use these apps. For example, first correct exposure, then crop and straighten if necessary,  convert to black and white, then apply a vignette and so on and so forth.

 

Conclusion

The best camera is the one you have with you and there’s no doubt that editing photos with the iPhone can greatly improve your images, but you need to ensure that you’re starting off with a good photo in terms of subject matter, light, exposure and composition.