5 TIPS ON CAPTURING THE PERFECT SELF-TIMER ON YOUR IPHONE.
I use to be completely terrified of self-timers. Better yet, I didn’t think it was possible to get a killer photograph with the self-timer feature on my iPhone. I begged my girlfriends to come on trips just to help me secure the shot. Then I started traveling on my own, and realized I had to make the shot happen. In 2019, I traveled to Egypt and Jamaica alone. In January 2020, I took a solo trip to Cameroon - read all about it here. The shots captured on these solo trips were the best engagement posts of my Instagram history. I was reposted on Travel Noire twice and several other channels. I gained over 400 followers and reached at least 40,000 people in 2 months. The kicker is all these high performing posts were self-timers! How To Get ‘Instagram Shots’ As A Solo Traveler.
Now here I am sharing the sauce:
You need a LEGIT tripod stand. I currently use the Bluetooth Self Stick with Tripod and Remote from Amazon. It cost $26.99 and is compatible with the following devices: Android, GoPro, iPhone 11/11PRO/X/XS max/XR/XS/8/7/6/Plus, Tablet, and Samsung S7/S8/S9. It you don’t have a self-timer it will be harder to capture long shots. I strongly advise you to get one.
Always turn down the camera light on your iPhone. It’s always better to increase the exposure than having to decrease it. This makes it much easier to throw on a preset filter and push the photo out. How does one turn down the light on the iPhone, you ask? First, o to your camera app and tap the screen. This will cause the light feature to appear. Press or hold down on it, and slide the sun icon down. Do not turn it all the way down, as you need some light. Low light pictures are easier to edit and that’s what you want.
Practice the shot before capturing it. I always take a few shots up close to see how my face looks before I go into full photo-shoot mode. After you practice your shot and figure out which stance works best, you can repeat it. This saves you time and frustration. When I was in Egypt, I shot myself outside my villa. It was flaming hot, so I used tissue to pat the sweat off my face. I forgot to practice the shot first hand. I ended up with 100 perfect shots, except there was tissue on my face in every single one of them. Don’t make that same mistake…
Spend an hour or two scouting your shoot locations. I don’t know how you define a perfect shot but for me this means having no one else in it. It’s so important to check out the aesthetics before you go into self-timing mode. Does the background match your vibes? Take photos of the background and visualize ahead of time. Self-timers aren’t an all-day activity, so segment your work.
Use the burst feature on your IPhone. Did you know that the burst feature captures a total of 10 frames for you to choose from? I love that feature. You can access this by pressing and holding the shutter button down to initiate the burst mode capture. This is after you’ve set your timer to 3 or 10 seconds. This feature does a fantastic job of capturing candid.
Give these a try and let me know!
Xx, Kris