The iPhone 6S boasts an impressive camera, and you’ve probably already started taking awesome shots on your new device, but there are lots of ways you can taken even better photos and become a real smartphone photography expert.
Software: Using photo apps
One way to do this is to make use of the hundreds of photography apps available on the App Store. There are some great apps (free and paid), which let you improve the way you take photos and then edit them once captured.
Camera apps
The default camera app on the iPhone 6S is pretty powerful, so it’s best to begin by using that and see how you get on. If you dislike the iOS camera app or just want to try something else, then there are some good alternatives around.
Manual is a camera app that lets you take much deeper control of your shots, allowing you to adjust the exposure, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, focus and more. If you’re already comfortable with the more advanced concepts in photography – or you want to learn! – then Manual is a great choice.
VSCO is a great app that combines easy manual controls with a range of filters. These filters tend to be quite minimal compared to those found on Instagram and elsewhere, and the results look great. New filters are sold individually too, so you can add just the ones that you want to use.
Finally, Hyperlapse from Instagram gets a special mention as an innovative iPhone camera app. It takes a series of timelapse photos, then uses a clever algorithm to automatically smooth them out. The results are fantastic, and allow you to take moving, handheld time lapses that just wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
Editing apps
Now that you’ve taken your photo, you can get stuck into editing them. Whether you’re cropping, adding filters or making more advanced edits, there are a range of editing apps that you can use.
Adobe’s Photoshop is the standard for editing on desktops, and Adobe make a lot of great mobile apps too. Photoshop Express is a good lightweight option that lets you crop, adjust lighting and contrast and perform other minor edits. Photoshop Mix and Lightroom are deeper options for combining photos, performing edits and applying filters, although the latter does require you to have a Creative Cloud subscription.
Of course, Adobe is far from the only player in the game. Google’s Snapseed app is one of the best editing apps available, packing a range of features into a comprehensive but easy-to-use package. Autodesk’s Pixlr is another good choice, with a lightweight feel that lets you get an image edited and ready in a minimal amount of time.
One of the final steps before sharing is often to create a collage, a combination of multiple photos into a single image. Instagram’s official app Layout is my favourite for this task, with a simple interface that makes creating a collage super easy. Another popular option is Muzy, which has a slightly less modern interface but makes up for it with a whole lot of features.
Hardware: Using the best accessories
There are plenty of third party photography accessories available for the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus which can help improve your photos in different ways, whether it be a tripod to improve stability, a flash to take better night time shots or a stick to help with those all important selfies.
Tripods
First up we have a classic photographer’s accessory: the tripod. The iPhone 6S is quite a bit smaller and lighter than a full-size DSLR (or even most compacts), so we get correspondingly smaller and more portable tripods as well. Some, like the Kenu Stance Compact iPhone 6S/6S Plus, are extremely light and slim. You’ll get a stable platform that allows you to take sharper photos with less blur. They’re also good for taking self-timed shots – although there are other solutions, as we’ll see later.
Lenses
Another popular option is lenses. These clip to the back of your smartphone and modify the look of your photos – zooming in, getting a wider angle or fisheye look, changing colours. Usually you get multiple lens options in one product such as the Olixar 3-in-1 Universal Clip Camera Lens Kit, and the OlloClip 4-in-1 for the iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus. You can get some pretty impressive photos using these lens options – taking photos of things far away or really close up that you couldn’t otherwise. They also work well for video, e.g. recording a skateboarding video using a typical fisheye lens. You can even get lenses that take photos at an angle – the Periscope Lens, letting you capture shots that would otherwise be impossible.
Selfie Sticks
Selfie sticks are the smartphone camera accessory du jour, letting you take wider-angle selfies without contorting your hand into an uncomfortable position. There are a few different types on the market, from simple sticks that rely on the use of a self-timer, and more advanced options that allow you to control the shutter using a button on the stick. These either connect to your phone via Bluetooth (like the Olixar iPhone Selfie Stick) or use your phone’s 3.5mm audio port instead (like the Olixar Ninja Selfie Stick). You can even get a pocket-sized selfie stick with a built-in mirror, which lets you use the higher quality 12 megapixel camera on the back of your iPhone instead of the front facing 5 megapixel camera on the front.
Remote Shutters
Remote shutters are exactly what they sound like: little remotes that let you take a photo. Sometimes they’re included in selfie sticks, but you can also get standalone versions like the ShutterBall (which also comes with a little stand). These are useful for taking any photos that involve your own participation, whether you’re pulling off a trick or just taking a remote selfie.
Flash
Photographers have long relied on external flash units to create or change the lighting of a scene. While your iPhone 6S does have a reasonable internal flash unit, their limited size and power mean that they can be improved. Handheld flash units such as the Nova Bluetooth iPhone Flash are triggered just as you take a photo, vastly improving the lighting of your subject.
Conclusion
There you have it. Hopefully with some of the apps and accessories mentioned here you can start taking better photos with your iPhone 6S. You can see our full range of iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus accessories on the pages below.
Shop iPhone 6S Photography Accessories
Shop iPhone 6S Plus Photography Accessories