TIPS FOR SHOOTING BETTER VIDEO WITH YOUR IPHONE

1. DON’T HOLD IT LIKE A PHONE We’re used to shooting cell phone video by holding the handset vertically, the same way we most often use it for making calls or launching apps. Unfortunately, that means many of us are also X shooting vertical videos, which don’t look as good when you watch them on your horizontal television screen.

2. STEADY AS SHE GOES The iPhone doesn’t have a tripod mount for getting steady footage, but that’s no reason to be a slouch when it comes to shooting. Use both hands to grip your iPhone, keep your elbows close to your body and you’ll see a big improvement in your footage -- along with less footage later on.

3. DON’T FORGET TAP TO FOCUS Auto-focus is such a part of the everyday video shooting experience, we often take it for granted. But you’ll get better results by tapping on the screen once before you start shooting to focus on the key subject in your image. Apple’s tap to focus technology lets you decide which subject the camera will dedicate its focus to -- and you can even change it on the go as you’re shooting, if need be. Your video will be higher quality with less grain and your audience will thank you for it.

4. WAIT! THERE’S MORE TO THAT TAP Did you know that the “tap to focus” trick actually has hidden superpowers? In addition to choosing where the camera lens will focus, a tap on the screen also determines both the exposure and color balance for your scene as well. Sure, it’s not a manual adjustment (nothing’s perfect!), but if your footage changes during a shot and you don’t like what you’re seeing, TRY TAPPING AND SEE THE IMAGE IMPROVE.

Iphone instructional content sourced from :http://www.maclife.com/article/gallery/10_tips_shooting_better_video_your_iphone#slide-2 5. LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION! Thankfully, camera sensors have come a long way since the days of Super-8mm movies -- but it still pays to turn on lights before you start rolling. Your video will be higher quality with less grain and your audi- ence will thank you for it.

The best place to shoot is in a well-lit room (sunlight is best) but do NOT have a window behind you. Your phone’s camera will either make you really dark and the outside visible, or you visible and the outside a blob of light. Finding indirect sunlight instead will give you bright natural lighting and allow your camera to produce the highest quality video without losing that HD quality.

If you’re outside, avoid direct sunlight. Bright sun causes hard shadows and makes people squint. If you have to shoot outside, find a nice shady spot.

6. FRAMING YOUR SHOTS No one looks good being shot from a low angle (unless you’re mak- ing a monster movie, maybe), and you’ll get more interesting shots of babies and kids by crouching down to their eye level rather than hovering above them. Also, shoot subjects from slightly above their eyeline rather than straight on.

7. DON’T ZOOM IN WITH THE ZOOM ON THE CAMERA, ZOOM IN WITH YOUR FEET If you want to take something close up actually walk up to it, get close and click. My iPhone loses heaps of quality even with a tiny bit of zooming and it becomes really grainy and pizelated. So I never move the zoom in.

8. CLEAN THE LENS… DUH! I didn’t do this for ages and I don’t do it enough now still. My phone is in my bag, in my pocket, floating about in the car and ultimately has grubby little kiddo fingers all over it so cleaning it makes a difference to the resulting shot.

9. SOUND. Make sure your subject physically close to the phone, ideally between two and three feet. This will reduce the ambient noise and echo. Avoid places and times with a lot of background noise. For ex- ample, a local cafe probably isn’t the best place to film video as there will likely be a lot of noisy going on in the background that will muddy up your sound and distract your audience.

10. STORAGE. Make sure you ACTUALLY have enough storage on your phone to shoot video.

Iphone instructional content sourced from :http://www.maclife.com/article/gallery/10_tips_shooting_better_video_your_iphone#slide-2