Discover how to shoot, edit and share better-looking photos

Written by George Cairns

That old saying that ‘the best camera is the one you’ve got with you’ is more true than ever these days thanks to the advanced hardware and software of the iPhone range - especially in relation to Pro models such as the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Devices such as the iPhone 11 Pro onwards enable photographers to switch from telephoto to wide to ultra-wide lenses in a few taps – capturing moments and compositions that a DSLR user might miss while they fumble to swap detachable lenses. Thanks to the Apple ProRAW format, users of the iPhone 12 Pro onwards can capture much more information about a subject’s colours and tones, narrowing the image quality gap between iPhone and DSLR even further. DSLR users need to choose a metering mode to measure the amount of light in a scene. This can lead to skies being overexposed if the incorrect mode has been selected. The iPhone has the edge when it comes to exposure thanks to Smart HDR 4, which uses machine learning to combine multiple exposures that reveal maximum colour and detail in different parts of the scene.

The iPhone is the perfect gadget for photographers. As well as being the camera that’s close to hand, it is a digital darkroom packed with tools that can fix problems with colour, tone and composition. It’s also a portable gallery that lets you display photos on a high-resolution display or share shots to thousands of screens via social media. iPhones are also effective photography tools as they draw less attention when you’re taking a photo (compared to using a bulky DSLR camera).

Although we predominantly used an iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro Max for this feature, you can apply many of our shooting and editing tips, tricks and techniques to older iPhone models and produce great-looking photos.

Image credit: Apple Inc

The Camera app explained

1 Camera icons

> On the iPhone 14 Pro Max tap the .5x, 1x, 2x and 3x icons to zoom in or out to compose your shot. Alternatively, swipe to summon the zoom wheel. Up to 3x is an optical zoom. Any higher is an inferior quality digital zoom.

2 Go Raw

> If you have an iPhone Pro 12 or newer then you can toggle on the higherquality Apple ProRAW format which gives you more editing control. However, in Raw format, you can’t apply Apple’s Photographic Styles to your images.

3 Chevron

> Tap here to toggle between the shooting modes (Time-lapse, Slo-Mo, Video, Photo, Cinematic, Portrait, Pano) and other settings including Flash, Night Mode, Live Photo, Photo Styles, Aspect Ratio Exposure and Self-timer.

4 Live Photo

> Tap here to toggle Live Photo on or off. A Live Photo captures a short video sequence that springs to life if you press and hold on the image in Photos. In Live Photo mode you can’t capture a higher quality Raw format file.