Are you tired of carrying
your big camera while traveling? If so, you're definitely not alone. It can be a real pain to
carry bulky photography gear, especially when you're traveling. But, here's the good news. If you have an iPhone, you
already have everything you need for taking outstanding
travel photos. And your iPhone is
always with you, so you don't have to
carry anything else. But, as you probably know,
not all iPhone photos turn out great, especially
if you don't know how to use the iPhone camera correctly. So, in this short video,
you're going to discover three secrets for taking
incredible travel photos with your iPhone. Once you start
using these secrets, your iPhone travel photos
will always turn out great. You'll be proud to share
them with your friends and family back home, and you'll never have to
carry your bulky camera again. Now, if you can't hear me,
please tap on this video to turn on the sound, and
then we can get started. Now, the most common
travel photography mistake I see all the time is
when people are taking the exact same photo that
everyone else is taking. So to record this video,
we've traveled to the beautiful San Miguel de Allende,
in Mexico. And the most famous
landmark of the city is the beautiful cathedral
right behind me. And on any given day, thousands
of people take a photo of the cathedral, but unfortunately,
almost all these photos look exactly the same. So, if you're going to
take the same photo that everyone else is taking, then
what value are you adding as a photographer? Where's the creativity in that? So instead of recording yet
another cliché tourist photo, you should always try to
make your images more unique. And perhaps the easiest way to do that is by finding a different
foreground for your photos. Now, all photographers
have to work with the same background,
especially if your subjects are as big as this cathedral. But you have complete
control over the foreground of your photo. And if you
can find a unique foreground that makes the photo more interesting, you'll always be able
to take better photos. Let me show you what I mean. I've found this beautiful
sculpture in the foreground, and my goal is to take the kind of photo where both the sculpture and
the church in the background are in the frame. I also want to get closer to my subject, so for that, I'm gonna
switch to the telephoto lens of the iPhone. Now, if your iPhone doesn't
come with a telephoto lens, that's okay too. Just shoot
with the only lens you have. But if you do have a telephoto lens, it's perfect for situations like this. So, to switch to telephoto,
I'm gonna tap on the 1x icon at the
bottom of the screen, and now you can see I'm
much closer to my subjects. But, there is a bit of problem. And it's the fact that,
now, the top of the church isn't in the frame. So,
what I need to do is change the angle a little bit,
and get a little bit lower, and if I change the
perspective just a tiny bit, I can get both the church
and the sculpture in the frame. So now I'm almost ready to take a shot, but before I do, I want to
make sure I set the focus on the church in the background. And to do that, I simply
need to tap my finger on the church, and you'll
see this square box appear, which means that now the
church will be perfectly sharp, while the sculpture in the
foreground might not be as sharp. But that's what I want. So, now I'm ready to take a shot, and because I took the time
to find an interesting foreground, I can take a much better photo than I'd be able to take otherwise. And here's another example. This time, I'm framing the shot with the lamp in the foreground and the church in the
background. And once again, it looks so much better. Remember, whenever you're
taking photos of landmarks, try to find a unique
foreground for your photos. And if you do that, they'll
always turn out better. Besides improving the
foreground, another way you can really improve
your photos of landmarks is by shooting them when
the light is different. For example, one time of the
day that works really well with landmarks is the last
hour before the sunset. That's when the light is warm and soft, which results in really beautiful colors, and if you take photos
during this time of the day, they'll almost always
turn out better. And finally, if the
landmark is illuminated, another time that works really well is shortly after sunset. During this time, you can
combine artificial lights with the beautiful blue
sky in the background. And this combination always
results in spectacular photos. And if you can also find
an interesting and unique foreground during this time, then this is the kind
of result you'll get. Now, I just showed you how
you can greatly improve your iPhone photos of
landmarks. But truth be told, if all you ever shoot
are famous landmarks, you will not really
be able to capture what the destination
actually feels like. For example, the
church we just shot is absolutely stunning,
but it's not that unique. There are similar churches in Europe, and there's nothing
Mexican about it. So, if all you ever shoot are
famous landmarks like this, you will not really be able
to capture the true magic of the destination. But of course, there is
a solution. And that is to seek out unique
scenes and small details that really capture
the true character of the destination. And more often than
not, the best locations for this type of photography
are not located in city center. So, let's head towards
the outskirts of the city where the locals live, and
where few tourists ever go, and whenever I see something
unique, I'll take a photo. Right now, we're in this
beautiful old courtyard, and the city of San Miguel has a lot of incredible courtyards like this. So, I'm gonna make sure I
take some photos. And on the right hand side,
there's this beautiful stairway that takes us to the second
floor, and there's some great plants up there on the top. So, I think if I carefully frame the shot, I should be able to create
the kind of composition where the stairway actually
leads the eyes of the viewer towards the plants on the second floor. So, I'm gonna experiment with
different framings for a bit, and when I've found the
perfect composition, I'll go ahead and take a photo. While we're here, there's
actually another really great photo opportunity right next to me. So, let me show you. There's a beautiful
fountain in front of me and I want to take a photo.
But before I press the shutter, I want to carefully experiment
with different framing. And as I get closer
and further away, you'll see that different items are either left in the frame or they're cut out of the photo, and that makes a big difference. So I'm going to carefully
experiment with different framing, and once I've found a perfect composition, I'll go ahead and take a photo. As you're walking around,
it's really important that you don't just look forward, but you also want to
occasionally look back over your shoulder. And
oftentimes, you'll be surprised by what you find there. For example, here, I saw
this beautiful building with these incredible mural
paintings right behind me, and I wouldn't have seen
it without looking back. So, I want to take a
photo of this building, but I'm not gonna take it
from the most obvious angle. Instead, I'll walk around for a bit to find the best angle to shoot from, so that I can get the most
beautiful photo possible. Okay, I think I've found the perfect spot. And the reason I like this
spot is because from here I can frame the shot in such a way where just the building and
the paintings are in the frame, and there's nothing else
there. And because of that, I can create a really
special photo without any unnecessary distractions. Right now, we're in the local market, and since the Day of the Dead
celebration's approaching, there are these incredible
skulls for sale everywhere, and I want to take a
photo of some of them. So, my goal is to frame
the skulls in such a way where they fill up the entire frame and you don't really see
anything else besides the skulls. So, I'm gonna adjust
the framing for a bit until I'm happy with it,
and now I'm almost ready to take a shot. But there's
a bit of a problem. The image is just a
little bit too dark. So, what I'm going to do to fix that is tap on one of the
skulls, and then you'll see that the focus is set on the skull. And next, I'll swipe my
finger up, and you'll see that as I start swiping up,
the skulls start to get brighter and brighter.
And when I've found a good level of brightness,
I'll go ahead and take a beautiful photo. And finally, as you're
walking around looking for photo opportunities, make
sure you pay attention even to the smallest
details that you might not normally notice. For example, this address up on the wall is really typical of
Mexico. And there are a lot of addresses like that
here, so I want to make sure I capture that in a photo. And if I frame it nicely to
create a central composition, that actually results in a
really interesting photo. While we're here, there's
also something interesting right next to me. So, here we have this beautiful blue door, and I really like the bright color. So, if I frame the shot carefully, I think I can also create
something interesting. And the secret to success
here is to frame the shot in such a way where all the vertical lines are indeed vertical and where they're parallel to each other. And once I've found a nice
framing, I'll go ahead and take another shot. And while we're right here,
this window is actually also a really great photo opportunity.
So, if I frame it nicely, in such a way where, once
again, all the vertical lines are indeed vertical, and where
the shot is symmetrical, that can create a really
pleasing composition. And there's something else
on the opposite side of the street. So, here we
have this beautiful old window and I really like the blue paint that's peeling off the wall. So, if I frame the shot nicely
to create a symmetrical composition, that also results
in a really beautiful photo. Now, none of the photos
I just took were captured at famous landmarks. In fact,
you probably couldn't find any of these places in tourist guidebooks. Yet these are the kind of photos
that really capture the unique character of Mexico. So, when someone asks you
what it was like in Mexico, these photos will
tell them a lot more than any landmark images. And finally, when you're
looking back at your photos, years in the future, these
photos will really remind you what it felt like to be on the trip. So now you know how to
take the kind of photos that capture the unique
character of your destinations. But there's one thing we
haven't yet talked about, and that is taking
photos of locals. Of course, nothing
defines a culture more than the people who live there.
But on the other hand, it can also be quite
challenging to take photos of people from other cultures. And because of that, I'm going
to show you a discreet way to take photos of locals,
without them even knowing that you're taking a picture. And you'll be able to
get the kind of photos you'll be really proud about. So, let me show you how to do it. Right now, I'm standing on the
side of this beautiful street, and there's a sidewalk on
the opposite side as well. And every now and then,
someone will walk past me. Now, the sun is already quite low, and it hits the opposite
wall at a very narrow angle. And because of that, whenever
someone walks past me, they cast a huge, huge shadow
which looks really great in photos. But that photo
opportunity only lasts for a very short time.
And because of that, I want to make sure I'm
prepared in advance. Okay, so to prepare for
the shot, I'm gonna start by switching to the
telephoto lens of my iPhone. And if your iPhone doesn't
come with a telephoto lens, no worries, just shoot with
the only lens you have. Next, I'd like to make
sure that I lock focus and exposure, and to do that,
I'm gonna tap and hold my finger on the opposite
sidewalk for a couple of seconds until the letters AE/AF Lock appear at the top of the screen. And now, no matter what kind
of changes happen in the scene, I can be confident that
both the focus and exposure will remain unchanged. And finally, I'd like to make sure I get the composition right. So, I'm gonna frame the shot already, and to get the best composition,
I want to make sure that both the top and the
right hand side of the window have approximately equal margin. And that way, I'll be ready
to take the perfect shot whenever someone walks by. Now, I may have to wait for a few minutes, but when the moment is right,
it'll be totally worth it. Okay, someone is coming
and I don't want to miss the perfect moment. So,
I'm gonna tap and hold my finger on the shutter
button to activate burst mode. And for as long as my
finger remains there, you'll see that the iPhone
keeps quickly taking photos, and at least one of these
photos should turn out right. Now, I just took 70 photos
in a matter of seconds, so, you might be worried
that using the burst mode will fill up your iPhone really quickly. But fortunately that's not a problem because it's really easy to
quickly select your favorites and discard everything else. So, to do that, I'll go to the Photos app, and I'll find the burst mode photo. Then I'll tap the Select icon
at the bottom of the screen, and now, I can quickly
scroll through all the photos, and I can tap on the circular
icon at the bottom right to select the photos I want to keep. So, I'm gonna select the
photos I like the most, and I think these six are
the ones I want to keep. So, now I'm gonna simply tap
on Done at the top right, and I'll choose to Keep
Only 6 Favorites. And now, all I have left is six photos and everything else is discarded. So now you know how to take
candid photos of the locals without invading their privacy. Try out this simple technique and you'll be able to take
incredible travel photos that will leave your friends
and family speechless. Now, as you can see from
everything I just shared, the iPhone camera looks
really simple on the surface. But when you start digging deeper, it's really not that simple. There are so many hidden camera features and camera settings that you
probably don't know about, and I could only share a handful of them in a short video like this. And to make things worse, it's not enough to simply learn about all the
different iPhone camera features. You also have to understand how to use each one of them in different photography situations. We're talking about
different light conditions, different photography
subjects, and even different genres and styles of photography. Now, here's the good news. Once you really understand
iPhone photography, you'll be able to take the kind of photos that nobody would even believe
were taken with the iPhone. And that's why I created
iPhone Photo Academy, which is an online course
teaching you everything there is to know about iPhone photography. So, right next to this video,
you'll find more information about my full iPhone Photo Academy course. If you'd like to use your
iPhone to take stunning photos that you'll be proud to
look at many years later, and if you'd like to do
it without having to carry your bulky camera, then
please take a look at my full iPhone Photo Academy course. There's more information
right next to this video, so take a look, and I really
hope to see you there.
