Photographer shares three hacks she wishes all parents knew about iPhones

"It turns out the iPhone camera is a pretty powerful machine… you just need to know how to drive it!"

Nadinne Wilkinson

Right now, it kind of feels like everyone is a photographer. Access to a camera has never been so easy; we literally carry one with us every day.

Anyone can take a photo, but to take one with wow factor? That takes practice and knowledge of light, composition, and exposure… plus an understanding of your camera. You can take great photos with an iPhone.

First-time mums take LOTS of photos

When I first became a mum, I felt I had to capture it all… every giggle, every smile, every milk-drunk moment. It was easier to snap away on my phone than it was to get my big girl camera out and I was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of photographs on my camera roll – 20,000 and counting – mostly poor quality, blurry and so many the same.

As a photographer, I was frustrated by this so I set out to learn what my iPhone could really do. I trialled and tested what I knew about lighting, adapting to the capabilities of my phone. I soon realised that it was possible to take great shots; turns out the iPhone camera is a pretty powerful machine… you just need to know how to drive it!

I’ve created a guide to help parents take beautiful photographs with the best camera available; the one they have in their pocket. Here are my top 3 iPhone photography hacks.

1. Don’t expose too much

Exposure is the amount of light you let into your lens. Adjusting the exposure before you take a photo (rather than trying to edit it or add a preset later) will help you take better shots. I almost always reduce the exposure a little, which creates a slightly darker image with more detail.

How? Look through the screen at your subject and tap the part of the image you want to focus on. A yellow box will appear with a symbol of a sun – tap and hold the sun and drag it up to increase the exposure (make it brighter) or drag it down to reduce the exposure (make it darker). Have a practice and see what a difference it can make.

2. Lock it up

Kids have a habit of moving just at the wrong moment, amiright? Typically, each time something moves within the frame of the shot you’re lining up, any adjustments you’ve made – like setting the exposure or focus – will reset and you’ll have to start again. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

To lock your exposure and focus into place, tap and hold on the screen until the AE/AF LOCK symbol appears at the top in yellow. You can then adjust your exposure and focus as desired, and those settings will lock into place – which means that even if something (or someone!) moves while you’re taking the shot, the exposure and focus will stay the same.

Perfect for the kid or the dog that just can’t sit still.

3. Don’t go off-grid

Improve your iPhone pics by turning on your grid. This will enable you to see gridlines when taking a photo which helps you get the horizon line and other key lines (such as a wall or door) straight before you snap. The result is a much more appealing image with straight lines.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at the image below. Taken without the benefit of gridlines, I was standing and my phone was on an angle, tilted slightly towards the subject.

In the next image, I moved back a little and knelt down and used the gridlines to make sure my phone was straight up and down and the lines in the image were straight. I think it’s a much better photograph!

Go to Settings > Camera > Composition and set Grid to ON.

See how much better the one on the right looks?

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Bonus hack

Kids move fast right – you have to be quick to catch the cute stuff! The fastest way to access your camera is to wake your phone up without unlocking it, then swipe left… your Camera app will open straight away.

Practice these tips and you’ll be taking the first steps towards better photographs of your family; photographs that are worthy of printing, posting and sharing far and wide.

As a kid, I loved looking through photo albums; sitting with my mum, looking at the pictures, sharing stories. I’m so grateful to my mother for those photographs.

I hope that passing on a little of my knowledge is a gift to you and that you can pass on the gift of memories to your children in years to come so that one day you’ll sit with them and share stories of your own.

Nadinne Wilkinson is a professional photographer who specialises in newborn and family shoots. She is the author of ‘The Memory Gift’, a guide jam-packed with tips and tricks for taking beautiful photographs on your iPhone, available via the Nadinne Grace Photography website. You can also follow Nadinne on Instagram for more tips.

To see the Kidspot version please click HERE