14 iPhone Photography Tips & Tricks

for iPhone 15 Pro & 14 Pro
Taking photos on your phone has never been easier with the iPhone 15 Pro and 14 Pro. Let's dive-in on our top iPhone photography tips for beginners to inspire your next photo shoot.

You should also check out these tips for taking better photos on an iPhone from our friends at Shotkit.

If you're looking for products to elevate your iPhone photography, you can take a look here: iPhone Lenses, Filters and Gear.

1. Adjust Camera Settings

While the iPhone 12 and 13 Pro cameras made headlines for their high-quality cameras, the 15 & 14 line is a step above.

The iPhone 15 Pro and 14 Pro have a second-generation optical image stabilizer for clearer images even if your hands move.

To make the most of the new Photonic Engine, go into Settings > Camera > Formats to switch on Apple ProRes and 48 megapixels settings.

This allows you to capture large image sizes with four optical zoom levels and a larger image sensor.

2. Turn On Apple ProRAW

Inside camera settings, you can also switch on Apple ProRAW, the closest format to professional photography.

ProRAW retains unprocessed data from the image sensor, giving you more to work with when editing white balance and exposure.

In comparison, the JPEG format discards a fair bit of data to compress the file, so you have less flexibility when editing.

While ProRAW photos offer impressive quality and are great for editing, keep in mind these are huge files and the more storage you have, the better.

3. Prepare Phone Storage

If you plan to use Apple ProRAW for all or most of your photos, it’s worth splurging on storage with the 15 Pro & 14 Pro offering up to 1TB.

That’s because an unedited ProRAW file can take up to 60MB, compared to 9MB for an edited JPEG.

You can also buy more storage space online and offload photos into iCloud, or try Google Photos.

If you still need more room, try offloading larger ProRAW files to a Mac or Windows computer.

4. Pick Your Style

Other iPhone photography tips for beginners focus on selecting a style with different frames per second (fps) settings.

If you want to start with basic JPEG shots, keep in mind that the higher the fps, the smoother the photo will look.

You can adjust your camera settings to Prioritise Faster Shooting, which will boost image quality, and Lens Correction, which automatically enhances photos for a more natural style.

5. Preserve Settings

iPhone photography tips for Instagram often focus on saving camera settings so you can achieve similar results in multiple shoots.

With the iPhone 15 Pro & 14 Pro, all you have to do is switch on the Preserve Settings option, which prevents the phone from switching into still camera mode whenever you shut the screen.

This feature lets you choose which settings to preserve, with a description of each setting and how it usually resets.

6. Use Macro Control

With your settings and storage ready to go, you can experiment with different iPhone 15 Pro & 14 Pro photo features such as Macro Control.

One of the best iPhone photography tips for beginners is to shoot in Macro mode for small subjects, such as up-close nature shots or jewelry details.

Macro Control automatically turns on when super close to a subject, as long as you’re not in ultrawide 0.5x zoom.

A small icon on the camera app screen confirms when Macro mode is engaged. This will give you impressive closeups and sharp focus for still/live photos and videos.

7. Use Shutter Button

There’s a few different ways to take photos with the intelligent iPhone 15 Pro & 14 Pro camera. The shutter button is visible on the camera screen, or you can use the phone’s volume buttons to snap pics.

Another option is to tap and slide the button to the left, which will take multiple photos for however long you press the shutter.

If you want to take a video, tap and hold the shutter or slide it right to lock the recording. This is one of our favorite iPhone photography tips for TikTok, as you can capture content hands-free.

8. Take a Burst

iPhone 15 & 14 Burst mode makes it easier to photograph moving subjects or take multiple photos so you have more to work with.

Burst works with both front and rear-facing cameras, and sends photos to a separate Burst folder so you can quickly delete any unwanted photos to clear up storage space.

Just tap and slide the shutter to the left, holding the button for a burst. The shutter button circle displays a counter of how many photos are captured in that burst.

9. Adjust Exposure

To change the exposure of iPhone 15 Pro & 14 Pro photos, tap the screen and slide up or down.

Lock exposure and focus with a tap and hold on the desired focus area, such as someone’s eyes or a key landscape feature. This ensures the settings remain consistent throughout the entire shoot.

One of our pro iPhone photography tips: if you use Apple ProRAW at 48 megapixels for a nature shot, expose the sky as you can pull out detail from the shadows when editing later.

Don’t forget to tap the small carrot arrow on the top bar to bring up exposure and flash control, plus timer and filter options.

10. Try Dynamic Island

If you want to take professional photos on your iPhone, the iPhone 15 Pro & 14 Pro Dynamic Island feature is your best bet.

Essentially, you can keep the camera open and accessible while looking at settings or other iPhone apps at the same time.

Dynamic Island comes in handy for checking alerts and monitoring recordings while capturing content.

11. Use Live Photo

The Live Photo feature remains in the iPhone 15 & 14, and offers a longer snapshot of the three seconds before, during, and after you snap a photo

It’s like a tiny video clip, offering different photo frames and perspectives so you can select your favorite final image.

Switch this setting on and off from the camera screen. In terms of live iPhone photography tips for portraits, make sure to hold the camera still and move the slider to change frames for the best results.

12. Add Filters

The iPhone 15 & 14 range has new filters for Portrait mode, plus popular favorites like vivid, dramatic, or black-and-white.

To apply a filter, bring up the photo or video and select the Edit option. Scroll through filter effects and drag the slider to change the filter’s intensity.

Click done to save changes or cancel to discard edits.

13. Auto Edit

iPhone photography tips for beginners often touch on auto editing.

iPhone 15 & 14 technology provides some pretty powerful photo editing, and with one touch your phone will make automatic adjustments to the color, contrast, and exposure.

You can switch Auto Enhance on and off in iOS 17 settings, too.

14. Custom Edit

Auto Enhance and filters are usually enough for fast photo editing on any iPhone 15 & 14 model.

However, it’s easy to make your own changes if you prefer to adjust settings manually.

Custom edit options include:
  • Exposure - lighten or darken the entire photo
  • Highlights - lighten bright areas like clouds
  • Shadows - enhance dark shadows on faces and buildings
  • Brightness - adjust lightness and darkness with more saturation and contrast
  • Vibrance - brighten colors realistically or mute colors for an aged look

Now that you know our top iPhone photography tips, check out popular iPhone video hacks and iPhone lights to capture even better content.