Y’all one of the most asked questions is “WHAT TYPE OF CAMERA DO YOU USE FOR YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA AND BLOG POSTS”. Honestly, I only use my iPhone for all my photo’s.
These are the Top iPhone Photography Tips I wish I’d known when I first started sharing my photo’s on social media.
When I first started photographing my home, I didn’t have a clue about my iPhone camera’s capability and seriously considered buying a real camera several times.
Please know that I DO NOT CLAIM to be an expert. These are tips gathered from different online sources, blogs and from the iPhone manual.
I feel certain that most of these tips will apply to any smart phone, however my experience is with the iPhone. So with that being said, here are the top tips that I’ve personally implemented when using the iPhone camera and sharing on social media.
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Take Lots of Photo’s
Always take several photo’s of your subject! Professional photographer’s take 100’s of shots to capture one that’s perfect. This may sound so simple but a lot of posts are one shot and done. Also, don’t take the photos or videos from within the social media app. You will not have the editing control that you do with the iPhone camera.
Best Tip – Stabilize the camera
How do you stabilize your iPhone camera? You can do this best with a tri-pod and a remote shutter. Even a slight movement can reduce the quality of your photo.
This was the first tri-pod I purchased and I’m still using it now. It’s inexpensive, light-weight and includes the remote shutter.
I later purchased a Ring Light which also is a tri-pod and has a shutter remote. Although, I love using it for video’s, it is bulky and not as user friendly as my original tri-pod.
Easiest Tip for iPhone Photography
This is probably the most overlooked tip and it’s so simple. Clean your lens before shooting. You are using your phone continuously and the lens will get dirty. Cleansing the lens each time before you take a photo will greatly enhance the quality and clarity.
Learn how to use all the iPhone features
First, let your iphone camera know what the subject of the photo is. Focus and Exposure are automatically built into your phones camera. However, as smart as your camera is, it doesn’t know what your subject is. You have to touch your finger to the subject on the screen to show where you want the camera to focus. Then, if needed, you can adjust the exposure by moving your finger up or down.
Top iPhone Photography Tips from the Manual
Here is the same basic photo with two different subjects.
Just a simple touch of the finger changed the focus on this photo.
AE/AF Lock on iphone Camera
When you touch the area that you want the camera to focus on, a square box appears with a sliding sun beside it. You can slide the sun up or down to adjust the exposure.

If you only touch the area of focus quickly, the AE/AF is set for the one photo. However, when you plan to take several shots, lock the AE/AF by holding your finger there until the lock appears at the top. This is my recommended method for most photo’s.

iPhone Photography Tip about Windows
This is particularly important information when taking interior shots. If the light is coming into the room through a window, the exposure will be set based on the light in the window automatically. This leaves the rest of the room in the dark. Therefore, you will want to touch your finger to a dark area, which will set the subject inside the room. I rarely adjust the exposure because I use Light Room to edit the photo afterwards. If you do increase the exposure, be careful to not over expose the shot. Increasing the exposure when you edit the photo is a much safer option.
Here are some un-edited views as examples.
The first photo was taken without any attempt focus therefore, the camera automatically focused on the brightest spot, the window. Then second photo was focused by locking the AE/AF on the darker area of the room, the lamp. However, the exposure wasn’t adjusted in either of these examples.
The photo can now be enhanced even more through Light Room editing.
This photo was taken with the iphone camera and then using the Light Room app on the phone to edit.

NOTE: Light Room is the editing app that I’m most familiar with, but there are many popular editing apps to choose from.
In addition, the new models of iPhone, such as iPhone 11 & 11 Pro, iPhone 12, etc. take excellent night mode photo’s. A tri-pod is particularly important for night mode photography because the phone needs to be stable for a longer period of time. For more information, see this article.
If you are enjoying these photo’s, take a look at these Winter Décor Views on this recent blog post.
Suggested Iphone Accessories
Don’t Zoom – Don’t Flash
Ok that’s two iPhone camera tips!
Don’t Zoom
When you Zoom, it reduces the photo resolution. Therefore, get as close as you can, photograph the subject and then CROP during the editing process. Cropping will also reduce the resolution, but not as drastically as the zoom will.
You can purchase zoom lens attachments for your iPhone camera, however most of my photography is home décor which doesn’t require distance shots. Once again, the newer iPhone 11 pro and 12 cameras are much more sophisticated and have more zoom capabilities without losing resolution
Don’t Flash
Using natural light is best for all photography. The flash will almost always overexpose the subject. Therefore, just don’t do it.
No adjustment AE/AF Lock Inside Room After Light Room Edit
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Photograph Objects at the correct height
Another common mistake most people make when photographing a room is holding the camera to high. This is a great tip for any camera and is not exclusive to the iPhone camera.
This is another good reason for a tri-pod because you can adjust the camera up or down. No more getting down on your knees or lying on the floor.
When photographing furniture, it’s best to have the camera level with the subject!
If you are photographing the entire room as the subject, a good rule of thumb is position the camera 25 – 35 Inches from the floor. Where the seating is low such as sofa’s and living areas, 25″ is good. However, dining tables or kitchen counter views may look better at 35″.
This is another time when multiple shots, at different levels, will come in handy.
Here are a few examples of correct and incorrect camera heights.
Holding camera to high Level
with subject
Notice how the shape and dimensions of the cabinet are distorted in the first photo! However, you are able to get a clear idea of the shape and size of the cabinet in the second, more appropriate view.
Even the chair is more appealing in the 2nd photo, which was taken at the correct height!
Please feel free to message me here or on Instagram if you have questions.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
If you enjoyed this post and found it helpful, be sure to pin the custom graphic to Pinterest for future reference. Your support is greatly appreciated.

So many great tips Rachel💁🏼♀️
Ann,
Thanks so much.Rachel
Rachel this is a great blog with lots of awesome tips!!!
Stacy,
I’m glad you think so. Thanks for your support.
Rachel
Thanks for the great tips! So glad I found your blog. Always look forward to your posts!
Rebekah,
Thank you so much. I’m so glad you are finding my posts helpful. That’s my goal.
Rachel
Thank you so much for sharing your tips. I started blogging in late September and I’m trying desperately to figure everything out. This helps tremendously. Keep the IG and blogging tips coming.
I so enjoy your blog.
Blessings to you.
Renae,
I really appreciate this. I hope these tips are helpful. they changed my whole way of taking photo’s.
Fantastic tips Rachel! I still struggle with photography and my husband was a professional photographer when we first got married. I think he’s tired of repeating his advice. I’m so impatient though. If I don’t like the photo I immediately delete it so I don’t have several to choose from. Guess I should stop that. And I need to get better at navigating Light Room but goodness gracious, I feel I need an entire 6 week course for that! Happy New Year!
Cindy,
I’m not using all the features of light room but what I know has helped greatly.
Thanks so much.
Rachel, great post. I don’t have an IPhone I have Samsung S10 Note and thr camera is fantastic.
It was rated better than the IPhone 11.
Some of these tips will help me. I have a tripod and it does help.
Funny thing, my husband says stop thinking you are smarter than the camera,
Have a great afternoon!
Cindy
Cindy,
I’m so glad you found some of these tips helpful.
Thanks for stopping by.
Rachel
Thank you so much for sharing your tips. A really good post.
Debbie,
I really appreciate this.
Rachel
You shared such helpful advice! These are great tips no matter what we photograph! Love your blog!!
Betsy,
your comments are so appreciated. I certainly hope these tips are useful..
Great information. Having the pictures to show the difference is so helpful. Explaining about the heigh really makes a difference in the looks of a picture. THANK YOU
Shannon,
I appreciate your comments and I hope these tips are helpful.
Rachel
Thanks for all the great tips Rachel! I really enjoyed reading about some of the things I could be doing and will be trying. Best wishes, Julie
Julie,
Thank you and I do hope these tips are helpful.
Rachel
Do you use a specific preset for Lightroom? I’m trying to learn it, but I see people use presets a lot. Thanks for the tips.
Traci,
I purchased 2 of Liz Marie’s presets early on. However, I have now developed my own and that’s what I love about Light Room. You can keep tweaking a photo and when you get it right, you can save and name your preset so the next time you just click the preset and it’s done. I have about 5 that I rotate depending on the light of my original photo.
My jaw dropped that your gorgeous photos are taken with your iPhone! Oftentimes when visiting your blog I’ve thought that you must have really expensive camera equipment. I have a big girl Nikon and even after taking a couple of courses, I still struggle. I much prefer using my iPhone can never get the focus and lighting just right…until now. Thank you so much for these awesome tips!
Oh Marie,
I’m so glad this was helpful. Thanks so much for stopping by.
Rachel
Thanks so much for this post. You included a few new tips for me! Will you do one for editing in LR?
Linda,
I’m so glad you found this helpful. Thanks for stopping by.
Rachel
Linda,
I’m so glad you found this helpful. Thanks for stopping by.
Rachel
Thanks so much for all of the awesome tips. I certainly learned a lot about my IPhone!
Kate
Kate,
I’m so glad you found this useful.
It’s always great to discover something new about an item I use so much. Thanks for the tips!
Sandra,
I’m so glad you found this helpful.