How to Take Bright & Beautiful iPhone Photos

One of the most common questions I have received since becoming a blogger is, "What type of camera do you use?" ...the truth is that I do not own a camera. About 98% of my photography is taken from my trusty iPhone. B recently purchased a camera for himself which I have used a little, but I feel more comfortable with my iPhone. Over the years I have learned what works and doesn't work when taking iPhone pics.

This is an exhaustive list of my process and I hope it helps you!

STEP 1: CLEAN YOUR LENS
That's right, clean your iPhone lens. Think about all the dust, grit and grime that can get on your lens from tossing your phone in your purse or pockets. If you notice your photos are grainy and cloudy BEFORE snapping your shot a dirty lens is more than likely the culprit

STEP 2: FIND THE LIGHT
Lighting is super important when taking iPhone pics. I cannot stress how important this is.. it's super important! If at home and you want to take a flatlay picture find a window to take your pics nearby. Look at the difference in the pictures below. The first was taken in my kitchen that doesn't get much natural light.

On the second picture I moved the tray over to a window and snapped a photo. It made a huge difference in the colors

Now you don't want that bright harsh mid-day light...that light isn't great for pictures. You should take your pictures in the beginning or end of the day. If you like cool-toned photos (blueish-tinted) snap your pics in the morning and for warm-toned (yellow and orange tinted) photos take your pics close to sunset.

The main thing to remember is that natural light is king. Incandescent light is the enemy.

STEP 3: ADOPT PHOTOGRAPHER'S TECHNIQUES
RULE OF THIRDS
When taking photos on an iPhone you will notice the grid with 9 squares. I like to use this grid when deciding where I want the object to be in the photo. I like to playing around with putting my focus object on one of the points where the bottom horizontal and vertical lines cross. This is known as the rule of thirds. I'm not an expert on this so I'll let Wikipedia teach you the full on course.

Even if you don't initially take your photo like this, you can always crop your pictures to give this effect. I edited this photo I took of my friend at sunset.

Look at the before:

After cropping this photo to meet the rule of thirds techniques the picture looks way more interesting.

Do note, even with this tip, I do love a centered focused picture. This is just something to try when wanting to add some interest to your photos.

LEADING LINES
This is a technique where lines are used to draw the viewer's eye to the main focus of a photo. I find this is easier to do when out and about as oppose to doing interior photography. In this photo, that my friend took of me from her iPhone, we are using the lines of the side walk to draw your eye up to where I am standing.

Leading lines composition really make for beautiful and interesting pictures. Try this the next time you are out and about.

STEP 4: BE AWARE OF THE BACKGROUND
There's nothing worst than seeing a potentially pretty photo that only failed because of the background. Remove all items from your lens' view that clash with your photo. If there is something that you cannot remove, consider using a blur for the background.

STEP 5: USE THE FOCUS FEATURE
Your iPhone will auto focus for you on the image it thinks you are trying to capture. However, there may be times where you want to focus on a background image. To change the focus simply tap on the screen where you want the camera to focus. Here you can see I am taking the same picture but the focus is different based on me tapping the screen in different areas.

Here I tapped on the sky

and here I tapped on my knee

Holding my phone in the same location but tapping on different focus areas created two totally different pictures.

STEP 6: USE THE BURST
The burst feature is great to use when you have a moving object such as a kid or when taking pictures outside on a windy day. Simply hold down the shutter button when taking your pictures. Keep in mind this option takes about 10 pictures a second, so the longer your hold the button the more pictures will have. Afterwards go back through your photos and find your best shot.

On this burst shot, you can see our best photo is the last one, bottom right corner.

STEP 6: HOLD STEADY

Shaky hands will produce terrible pictures. Even if you move a little when taking a picture on an iPhone the photo will come out blurry. When taking your pictures hold still, even after you have snapped your photo hold still for another 2-3 seconds. I noticed when I move right after taking a photo it isn't as clear as when I remain steady for a few seconds.

STEP 7: EDIT YOUR PHOTO
I listed editting last because the goal is to take a good picture BEFORE needing to edit.

BRIGHTEN & CONTRAST
If you follow the 6 steps above your photo will need minimal editing. The main editing functions I use on every photo is brightening and contrast. The amount of contrast and brightening that I use depends on the look I am going for, but I always make sure that my contrast is greater than my brightening.

If you want a photo full of color, turn up the contrast higher. I mostly post my photos to Instagram and can do all the editing in the app, but I wanted to kick it up a notch so I downloaded VSCO. I prefer their contrast better than Instagram.

STRAIGHTEN
Most of the photos I take require some straightening. Using the grid function I mentioned earlier I find a straight edge in my photo to line up with the grid. Also, sometimes my images will look slightly curved or leaning to the left..not sure if it's because I'm a lefty or not.

I will use the horizontal or vertical straightening (available in Instagram or most photo editing apps) to straighten out my photo. As you can see here I had to use quite a bit of horizontal adjusting.

Notice on the picture on the top, the edge of the fireplace is crooked (slanting downwards) and also the fireplace on the left side looks distorted. I correct this by adjusting the horizontal aspect and straightened the edge of the fireplace with the grid. I layer these updates on top of the brightening and contrast.

CROP
The crop feature is your friend. I snapped some pictures while B did our daughter's birthday photoshoot. She wanted to wear her favorite boots which were pretty scuffed up. It was her birthday so we figured we would just let her wear them. That's where the handy crop comes in. I cropped out the toes of her boots.

of course I did my brightening/contrast and straightening and the picutre was perfect.

Read: 8 Ways to Make your Child's Photo Shoot a Success

STEP 8: POST AND ENJOY
The last thing to do is post your photo!

Check out the total transformation of one iPhone photo that I shared on my Instgram. Here I wanted the focus of my photo to be this flowers while still showing a little background. Also I wanted to hide the damage to my dining room table as much as I could.

I started by placing my floral arrangement in an area that had tons of natural light.

Next I boosted the contrast to bring out the pretty pink color of the roses.

Then I adjusted the horizontal perspective and straaightened up the photo.

Then to get rid of the paper I didnt want to show in the background I cropped my photo on the left side and on the bottom a bit.

Using the tilt shift function I blurred the background so the flowers in the foreground would pop.

..and lastly I brightened my photo.

Take a look at the before and after

I hope these tips have helped you. Share with me on Instagram, FB, or Twitter the photos you have taken using my suggestions through the hashtag. #BBGDTipsWork

Style Crush: TRYP Wyndham - Puerto Rico

Welcome to the Style Crush Series! I'm super excited to start sharing places I visit that inspire me and my style. Last month I visited Puerto Rico, it was an awesome trip. My two best friends and I spent time just relaxing and hanging out at the beach. 

We split our time between two hotels and fell absolutely in love with the second hotel: TRYP Wyndham. 

This super modern space was so pretty and trendy. Walking into the hotel I was IN LOVE! This is the first view that you will see to your left. THE CHANDY! Seriously, this chandelier, absolutely beautiful! The things I love most about this space is this oversized ottoman and the lighting. The color scheme really caught my eye too.

If you walk back through this area you will run into the gorgeous sitting area. Again, the lights are just too much for me to handle! I'm obsessed with them. I picture this type of decor in a modern loft. The studio light type floor lamp would really be perfect for a modern space.

The chairs here give me a Gothic-Modern feel. I've been really into navy blue lately so I could easily picture these in my home... unfortunately I don't have the space for something this big. Lastly, the high ceilings in this place added to the dramatic flare.

The bedrooms, although small, pack a lot through decor! I was instantly drawn to the colors in the room.

 The fuchsia, white, orange and shades of blues all come together perfectly. I never would have thought to combine these colors. The color blocking is so simple and the stripped pillows add just enough interest to the space.

I wasn't 100% sure how I felt about the TV area, the pattern wasn't my favorite but I do like the idea of making the TV area a decorative area with the fabric backdrop. Adding the orange shelf looks great to me.

The ottoman matched perfectly with the pillow on the bed. As I mentioned the room was small so these were a great option for additional seating. If you have a small area where you need extra seating you should def consider a pair of sturdy but stylish ottomans.

Lastly, I love this sliding door. It's great for a tight small spaces. Instead of taking up extra space with opening a door, this door slid to the left. I loved the frosted glass too. It made the space feel less closed in but still offered the privacy needed for the bathroom. 

I'm not big on wall sticker decor, but i loved this one. Again, it saves on space and it's a bold way to add decor with the splash of black paint.

There was so much I loved about this space, it's perfect inspiration for how to decorate a small space in a modern and classy way.

What do you love most about this space? Are you crushing on this space?

2017 Motto: Acquire Less, Experience More

Well Friends, we made it to 2017! I hope everyone had a great NYE and New Year Day! I spent time with my family and it was awesome.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my earlier post about my motto for the year. I won't repeat everything I said there, but in short, I want to focus more on collecting memories and gaining experiences rather than filling my house and life with material things.

Over the last 6 months I got to thinking about life. I guess that's what happens when you turn 30...you re-evaluate and make adjustments. I spend a lot of time investing into my house through decorating and re-decorating. It's a lot of time and energy ya'll! I truly love it, but I feel I am missing out on some other things in life... like experiences!

I've also shifted into this less is more mindset... I want to be more selective and intentional on what I allow in my environment, that ranges from friends to material things, to health. It encompasses everything really.

So here's my plan..

HOME 

I am shifting into more a minimalist approach. Reducing clutter and decreasing what I bring into my home. I've always been a practical/functional decorator, but at times I find myself bringing stuff into my home that I know I don't need. It's easy to be influenced by the pretty stuff online.

RELATIONSHIPS

I want to spend time trying to further cultivate my relationships. I have always valued my relationships and it's time to really invest in my loved ones!

HEALTH 

I want to take better control of my health. Reducing my unhealthy habits and focusing more on learning and adopting new healthy habits

TRAVEL 

I want to TRAVEL! I don't care if it's a couple hours drive or a long plane ride somewhere. I'm ready to see the world. I took my first trip in ages last month to Puerto Rico, it was amazing! I realized one thing... I'm always itching to change my decor....because I don't go anywhere. Going forward, I'd rather have a change of scenery through traveling rather than redecorating.

I realize this was a lot to read through, and a little different than my norm, but I hope you'll bear with me as I grow and change!! I'm looking forward to a great year and I am wishing you the same!

Share with me, what will be your motto for 2017?!