Once upon a time, long, long ago, I wrote a post about what camera people should buy–when they ask me what to buy. The iPhone.
You can read about that post here:
http://www.paintchipsandcupcakes.com/2012/10/05/your-iphone-takes-really-great-photos/
I promised a follow up. But as with all of my blog posts, my follow up never came. I know, I am the WORST blogger ever. Sigh. Don’t know what to say, except maybe…Sorry?!?! Smiley Face. 🙂
So as promised here is my follow up post.
Yes, I still think that if you are in the market for a new camera but are like many, many others who will not know what to do with that fancy DSLR, then you should save your cash and USE your iPHONE. We are getting ready to head back to our favorite place in all the land (Disney) and I plan on repeating what I did last year and using just my iPhone for vacation. (Well, maybe…I am still deciding but leaning towards that). I challenged myself last year and LOVED it. I had friends who asked me what to use on their recent trip to Disney, and I told them the iPhone. But did they listen? Nope. They went out and bought a fancy point and shoot to take on their Disney trip, hated it and had to return it. Came home to hundreds of photos, that they took time to sort through and share. At the end of it all, their share site wouldn’t let them isolate their photos—so they ended up posting their entire trip of 400+ photos on FB. Ugh, don’t you hate when that happens?
So again people, use your iPHONE!
It’s convenient (always on you), it shares quickly (because you are on FB, IG, and every other social media site). You don’t have to come home and upload hundreds of images, edit, sort, etc.
It’s SO easy. You can text your family and friends. You can email your family and friends. Again, the iPhone is your go to tool —–hands down!
So what do you need?
Let’s start with apps?! I was going to go into detail about which apps to buy and how to use them but it changes to so quickly. So instead I am going to direct you to THESE posts–part 1 and part 2 and part 3. My friend, Mendy at Black Room Photography is a genius with her iPhone and offers a phenomenal tutorial series on how to use my/her favorite APP–VSCO. So go there (when you are done with this post) and follow along with her series. You won’t be sorry. I will say that I do differ slightly in how I shoot with my iPhone but more on that below.
So what do I have to offer here?
A couple of things.
1. First off, if you are on and use your iPhone as much as I do then you probably have the same problem I have. Dead battery. Like, ALL. The. Time. It drives me insane. And, well we don’t want dead batteries in the middle of our favorite vacation so BUY this. ONLY buy this though if you are going somewhere where you will be using your phone to shoot all the time. Everyday life, I never ever use.
This thing will change your life and save you on vacation. My honey-do and I tagged team photographing our vacation and when a phone went low, we plugged into this thing, put it back in our backpack and let it recharge. We would then rotate phones for photos, etc. It worked BRILLIANTLY.
2. 2nd–use your APPS. Again, go see Mendy’s tutorial. The only thing that I do slightly different is I shoot with camera+ and I then I edit with VSCO. I love camera+ for one reason only. I can lock in my focus but shift my exposure to get exactly what I am looking for. I haven’t figured out how to do that in VSCO, though Mendy mentions her thoughts on this in her tutorial.
3. Next-the ollioclip is a MUST have on vacation. I do not use this thing everyday. But for vacation. AWESOME–(said in my best Jersey girl accent.) This thing is fabulous for those wide angle shots –where you want the whole background. It made a HUGE difference! The only negative thing is that you have to take your case off to use it. So BE careful, please. I don’t need anyone yelling at me cause they dropped their iPhone without it’s protective case.
4. Tripod—This thing works so well when YOU want to be in the shot. LOVE, love. Again, you can’t use it with your case, it’s comes with it’s own. But unless you want only photos of your kids and husband, buy it and use it! The camera+ app has self timer, works fabulously! ***Make sure to buy the one that works with your phone.
5. Underwater/LifeProof—we have an underwater point and shoot which we love. But I do own this case too. If you want to shoot with this underwater, it works great! This year, I am going to probably rent an underwater case for my DSLR–case in point on why we may still take ours on the trip. But again, for ease and use of iPhone only, if you add Life proof to your arsenal, the convenience of the iPhone is really unbeatable.
6. Sharing—I personally LOVE Instagram. It’s so easy to use. AND if I want to share on IG plus FB, IG has a great link up feature. Perfect!
So my friends, get that iPhone out. Shoot with it. Own it. Love it. Embrace it. And again you mamas—get yourself in the shot!
So, save yourself the money. Get your iPhone and use it, use it, use it.
The end.