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Tech & Tips

Use your Phone to Photograph the Eclipse

On August 21st at approximately 10:19am (in Vancouver WA) there will be a solar eclipse! To see if the eclipse will be visible in your area click here and enter your city.

Use your phone to photograph the eclipse…. Below is how I plan on capturing the eclipse on my smartphone.

1. Practice First

Start taking some photos of the night sky or moon using the tips below so you feel prepared for shooting in a low light setting.

Ireland at Midnight taken with iPhone 7plus

2. Protect Eyes

Run down to your local store or grab a pair of solar eclipse glasses off Amazon. I bought one for myself, and one to use over my lens. A solar filter will be helpful for toning down the sun as you photograph and can even allow for that ring of light to appear.

3. Tripod

Use a tripod to stabilize the camera. Since it will be low light, shake and movement will easily cause your photos to be grainy or blurry. I would suggest having a tripod and mounting bracket for your phone to remove this risk and allow for flexibility in shooting, such as a timelapse video or burst.

Tech & Tips

Portrait Mode in the iPhone 7 Plus: Pros and Cons

Portrait mode feature is new to the iPhone 7 Plus phones and has been a significant reason individuals choose to upgrade their phone.

The iPhone 7 Plus has two cameras: wide angle f 1.8 aperture and a telephoto f 2.8 aperture. The iPhone 7 plus shoots at 12MP and has 2x optical zoom, 10x digital zoom. The second camera (telephoto) which shoots at f 2.8 is what portrait mode uses. For all the specs on the phone check here. Unfortunately, the second camera is only on the 7 plus and not on other models.

I have an iPhone 7 Plus and have found this phone to be comparable to a DSLR if you are able to have one with enough storage (32GB), the right apps, and a few pieces of tech. I will be coving these in future posts, so stay tuned.

What does Portrait Mode Do?

How To Tips

How to Take a Better Portrait with your Phone.

Everyone wants to be able to take a stunning portrait of their friend, sister and especially their fur babies. Here are 3 basic considerations for taking a better portrait. You can use all or only a few with your next photo session. Let me know how it works out!

1. Choose your background

Selecting a minimal background or one that adds interest is essential for a decent portrait. Things to look for in a background include:

Textures – this could be a classic brick wall, a textured wood or industrial metal.
Objects to frame the subject- This is called using leading lines (which I will talk about in future posts). You can look for a line of trees, the way the light falls in order to bring more attention to the subject.
Removing distractions- This is probably most essential. Consider the focus of the portrait and remove any “busyness” .

2. Position the Subject

While candid shots can be incredible, and often are my favorite to shoot. If your intention is to take a traditional or focused portrait this means posing the subject. How do you pose? Here is a short list of ideas:

Tech & Tips Tips

5 Easy Tips to Improve your Phone Photography

Grab your phone and start taking better photographs today.

1. Look for the Light!

Graveyard in Derry, Ireland 2017 iPhone 7 Plus

In photography, light is your medium. If you ever took a film or even digital photography class you know that light is what you are capturing. The same can be said for phones.

I encourage you to ask yourself the following:

Where is the light coming from?
What type of light is it? (Bright and Direct, Diffused and Soft or blessed Golden Hour light)
Where is my subject ?
How can I move or adjust to the light in my surroundings?

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