Scott Kelby: Using Your iPhone As Your Second Camera for Travel Photography |

Scott Kelby will be speaking at B&H Bild Expo. Learn more and RSVP: www.bildexpo.com
Scott Kelby will change how you, as a photographer, think of your iPhone's camera. Yes, you can use your mobile phone as your second camera while travelling, and still come out with awesome photos!
Learn more about B&H's OPTIC West 2022: www.BHOPTICwest.com
More from Scott Kelby
- scottkelby.com/
- kelbyone.com/
- / scottkelby
Gear mentioned
- Canon EOS R6 Mirrorless Camera: bhpho.to/3gzQsxc
- Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM Lens: bhpho.to/3GNNCiw
0:00 Benefits of Using a Smartphone
5:06 Change How You Think
11:11 20 Tips for Better iPhone Photos
44:03 Final Thoughts
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#BHOPTIC #TravelPhotography #iPhonePhotography

[@BandH]

Have you ever used your smartphone for travel photography? Comment below with your tips!

[@Emlt]

I use a leica Q2 most of the time. But I missed the telephoto until I bought my iPhone 15pro max.

[@fwfeo]

Of course! It’s flat, small and fits in your pocket. Light and easy to carry anywhere. The image quality has come a long way and quick access to the camera and actually taking it along is the most important thing.

[@matusmisik_photography]

0:06 0:06

[@chesternaire242]

I'm actually surprised to say I knew all of these tips, but I had to discover them for myself and wish this talk existed sooner. The only other tip I would add, is that you can hold/lock focus and exposure anywhere by holding down your finger for a couple seconds. If you don' the phone camera automatically resets focus and exposure after every photo.

[@philipmoriau599]

Insta360 flow

[@ginitaprofitt4065]

BEST EVER iPhone photography class. Scott is the Real Deal and he is an exceptional person. I used to work for him and can’t say enough good things about him.

[@robertcrumley007]

This is one of the top 5 videos I have ever seen on KZbin!! I thought I knew my iPhone and it’s camera, but 15 of your 20 tips were a revelation to me, and I am grateful to you for making this video. I already use my phone for travel video clips and travel light for photography (LUMIX GM5/12-60mm + polarizer), but my iPhone just became my #2 without adding any weight! Thanks again!

[@robertcrumley007]

Here's another travel shooting hack for iPhone. When in the Photo mode, press/hold red shutter button on screen and you will shoot video without switching out of Photo mode. Good for quick clips without switching modes.

[@BruceBidinoff]

Excellent tutorial. I remember your tutorials when I was a regular “patient” of yours, many years ago. You’re still right up there with the times.

[@vermontmike9800]

Scott, you can shoot in wide format without being in video mode. Just switch the camera aspect ratios to 16:9

[@artfartzy]

Exactly, bit strange if he didnt know that.

[@AlexanderStore]

Exactly what I was thinking! Except why then do we have the ability to zoom in on 16:9 youtube videos? A quick duckduckGo search told me the screen is actually slightly under 20:9 and not 16:9 on the new iphone PRO’s.

[@artfartzy]

@@AlexanderStore If you zoom in on a 16:9 youtube video to make it fill the whole screen, you are gonna lose part of the image at the top and buttom, so thats not good.

[@deba0011]

Whenever you change the aspect ratio from 3:4 on a phone, you are cropping in and losing information towards the edge of the frame. Try it out. The best is to shoot 3:4 so you capture as much as possible and then crop to your desired aspect later.

[@artfartzy]

@@deba0011 exactly, I only use 16:9 if it's a photo I know I want in that aspect ratio, maybe to use as wallpaper on my computer or things like that.

[@bluejay3945]

A mistake I made is that I assumed the 48 megapixel on the 14pro applied across all cameras. It apparently lowers to 12 megapixels if u switch to any of the telephoto lens or wide angle

[@chesternaire242]

The only thing is that the 48mp on the phone does not equate to a 48mp on a DSLR. If you look at the pixel size of the images it would equate to about ~5-6mp on a DSLR. It doesn't really matter unless you are a pro or printing large, but there is a distinction.

[@LarryFasnacht]

The burst mode is killer. So it will take 999 photos. I use it for things I know are going to happen but I just don’t know when. Like lightning, I know where it’s going to happen, so I just start a burst and as soon as the lightning happens, I stop. That way it’s easy for me to find the photos in the series that I want to save. When I go into editing the series, the keepers are always right at the end. I can save the one or two good ones and delete the other 998 super quickly.

[@BobLeedom]

Supplemental tip: When taking a photo of food (or more often, a document on my desk that I need a record of), I often find that the shadow of my camera messes up the shot. My solution is to select 2x zoom and move further away (i.e., hold the phone higher), and position the iPhone so that the food/document is in the corner of the shot, out of the way of the shadow. Then I crop the result back to the closeup I wanted in the first place.

[@billfortney7028]

You always have been, still are one of the very best instructors in photography!

[@sandraknight1793]

I just watched Scott’s video in using the iPhone. I am an instant follower! More, more.

[@jayluber5971]

This is the best, most helpful, useful, appreciated video I've seen in ages!!!!! Thank you!!!

[@skymitch89]

16:20 - Because you don't want to do that all the time. When using the shutter button while recording, it simply saves a jpg image that is at the resolution of what the video is being recorded.

[@antonoat]

Brilliant video, thanks Scott👏👍😀

[@ValieNion]

So many great tips and things I didn't know! But I got to say, I have an iPhone 12 mini and when you're doing macro, don't be afraid to use the 2x! Yes, for far away stuff it sucks, but for really really close ups, it lets you get things much bigger on the frame and doesn't absolutely ruin quality! (Only up to 2x though)

[@raylander6329]

Wow, wow, wow a lot of exceptional stuff in this video; thank you for it. Learned a lot. Watched it twice

[@johnburgess1547]

Still learning what the 14Pro Max can do. Incredible 48Mp camera. Thanks for a few tips that I didn't know about. As always entertaining

[@markabbott638]

Fabulous, fabulous presentation! Thank you so much.

[@AnandaGarden]

Informative and entertaining - new love for the phone cameras.

[@SamKnutson]

I thought I knew how to use my iPhone camera. This was a great video and got me thinking to look at my iPhone much closer to the way I look at my Sony mirrorless and so many things I didn't know. Thanks Scott!

[@mathew2786]

You have a point re view outside the frame. It happens to me several times or when I ask someone to take me picture, they miss the composition of the shots. Thanks for raising this point.

[@billfortney7028]

I used to always carry a back-up body, but in 53 years as a pro, I’ve never had my primary body go down, now that I’m more casual I’m happy to let the iPhone be a back-up for one day!

[@betomendoza601]

great video, I immediately got on amazon and ordered the book

[@scottr303]

Two years ago while in Hawaii I fell on a hike and broke my Sony RX 100 V, then my A6500 had issues which left me with my Pixel 3A phone. Some of my best pictures came from that phone! Always have a plan "B" or in my case a plan "C" or "3A". And yes, pictures taken on the phone are right there for posting.

[@saezrosario2730]

Theres usually a free one that has more settings and I find it very useful and it’s awesome it’s called slow shutter” for long exposure photos to use the shutter if you use the wired AirPods headphone volume works too as remote control for the shutter 18:59

[@cheitzig]

Just wanted to let you know that I smiled at the Mr. Mom reference😂. Great video. TY!

[@tonymurphy9112]

Scott, quick tip with regards to GPS - go to pictures, view any picture and swipe up - GPS data embedded (You may have to tun on in settings?)

[@jameskirsch6425]

That was astonishingly useful as well as entertaining. Thank you thank you!

[@AlphaWitcher]

in such beautiful places, any camera can take great photos. even android are much better now. but something about real camera photos are really mesmerizing, they feel like true art.

[@dillonwatson8671]

What an informative and fun presentation. I will be buying the book.

[@SteveMcClanahan]

I was in the audience in Monterey but glad I re-watched the video to pick up some of the finer points that I missed the first time. Thanks for a great lecture. BTW, I was on the "Good boat" with Scott ;-)

[@BandH]

glad you enjoyed #OPTICWest !

[@ema_runs]

Thank you Scott! Good to know these😁

[@lgisaac]

I am learning so many things. So simple some of these tips, But so GR8!

[@robhamilton8993]

Scott, we’ve been on several of your Worldwide Photo Walks and loved them. I was wondering if you have ever thought about doing an iPhone camera Worldwide Photo Walk sometime using only the iPhone Camera?

[@sandrapearson728]

Thank you SO much I only have an 11pro currently but these tips will still make a huge difference. The volume button as a shutter is a complete game changer ❤

[@idogr-back]

Thank you Scott! I learned a lot :)

[@johnbroman7134]

Loved it! Thanks

[@richardwagner282]

On a side note, I would highly recommend a good iPhone Case with Sliding Camera Cover to protect the camera lens when not in use. I have one and eases my mind about not damaging the camera lens when stored in my pocket.

[@shs1592]

Awesome Scott! I now can challenge my photo shooting with the ease of my "pocket" camera ... great presentation ....

[@ericerickson6537]

Great video thanks for sharing

[@stevecrawford3551]

Thank you for sharing. 😀🥳

[@greggkurtz33]

Love the video dude, new iPhone user! Video gave me faith in the iPhone camera.llol thx dude!

[@sheripruett6370]

To know that they have added the default RAW to be OFF in iPhone just blew me away! I changed my setting forever!!!! How did I not know this?

[@lindachubbs1790]

SCOTT KELBY...Mind Blown! Thank you!!!❤

[@BandH]

Thanks for watching!

[@RotorheadCFI]

Wasn’t expecting the Mr. Mom movie reference. Nicely done.

[@amdesidik305]

Fascinating.I love it

[@philtomajko4397]

Excellent video. Took my 5d Mkiv and two L lenses on trip to Switzerland and Amsterdam. In some cases I couldn’t tell the difference between the iPhone pro 13 max and the canon. Still love my 16-35 and 24-105 lenses. But they are heavy to carry around on mountain hikes.

[@michaellee2652]

Great video Scott! It's funny that all I have used for several years now is my iPhone and RICHO GR III. Recently I don't even use the GR III. I found that if it is too bright outside you are unable to see the screen on the back. Since there is no VF it's like shooting blind. However, I can always see the screen on the phone. Now I have the new iPhone 14 PRO and WOW!! Took some really good shots on my recent trip to Thailand this New Years. Unfortunately I did not have RAW turned on, but at any rate you are still going to get high res images off of it. I can also use upscale now with Luminar NEO to add pixels. Then bring into Lightroom for final post. Happy New Years! Cheers!

[@grapesx2]

I have continual problems with being able to see the screen outside on my iPhone 14 pro…I have adjusted all the settings (with Apple people in the store) to try to keep it bright but even in overcast lighting it can be difficult to see what I’m shooting or where I’m going (if using maps)…I had similar problems with the 13…What is your experience? It sounds like it’s not an issue for you…I’d love to know your tips!

[@byshagi]

definitely needs to think this way more

[@TravelFanatical]

Great tips Scott, I learned a few things that will really help in my travel photography, I especially like the LR tip at the end for going into manual mode.

[@lynettejwhite]

7 months later and lots of KZbinrs are raving about the new Blackmagic Camera app for manual mode. Have you tried it?

[@TravelFanatical]

@@lynettejwhite Thanks for the heads on the app, I'll check it out.

[@treyxhouston]

excellent!

[@Dulcilady]

Great tips. I use my watch with my iPhone 12 pro max when I’m videoing events. You can see what’s in the shot. The only other camera I use is a Nikon underwater camera and that hasn’t been for a very long time.

[@JeffRevell]

Just a little security reminder for anyone wanting to use the GPS feature that Scott talks about in tip 11. If you have GPS turned on for your photos, it will tag all your photos with GPS data, which is good for a scouting trip but maybe not so much for all of your Instagram or Facebook photos. This GPS info is embedded into the camera's metadata so if you are taking pictures around your home and posting them online, you may not want people to get this exact location because, you know, people can be creepy. So if you want to turn off the GPS tagging when you get back from vacation, go to your Settings - Privacy & Security - Location Services - Camera and then choose how you want to handle the GPS tagging information. I have mine set to "Never" as a general rule and then change it to "While Using the App" when I want to record the location.

[@lynettejwhite]

I'd also like to add in the Location Services settings for the camera app you can choose to enable/disable 'precise location' which as you'd expect changes the GPS coordinates recorded from exact position to the suburb level. Also when you view photos if you click on the ellipse menu you can 'adjust location', if you wish to make it less precise before sharing.

[@richieyyz]

some folks are just to paranoid

[@MikeLikesChannel]

The vast majority of social media sites strip out the GPS info, author’s name, etc from EXIF. Flickr is a notable exception, so are other photo-oriented sites. As far as Facebook, Reddit, Insta, TikTok, Twitter… it’s not sharing your lat/long. The engineers there thought of that.

[@paulhennessey51]

Great video. BTW I believe you can use the volume buttons on wired apple earbuds as a remote shutter release, which avoids touching the camera at all on important tripod shots, and allows you to avoid having to set a shutter delay. I’ve also found that iPhone shots can be up scaled and edited really nicely using topaz editing software…gigapixel, sharpen, denoise, and Photo AI.

[@BandH]

Great tips! Thanks for watching!

[@garyherman9955]

If you have an apple watch you can use it not only for shutter release but as a secondary viewfinder. I use it for low angle shots when I don't want to get down in the mud.

[@user-eo1dv5gn6z]

He can also just use his Apple Watch

[@Donkeys_Dad_Adam]

Love the Cheap trick shirt!

[@jayse1195]

Superb!!

[@artfartzy]

I use the exposure +/- button instead most times instead of the sun/slider up and down.

[@aliia6703]

Thank you!

[@BlakeBowden]

Fantastic video!

[@jimforbes9119]

Hey Scott - - - We can only shoot Pro Max at 48 MP at 1x zoom! Any other zoom level reverts the resolution to 12 MP!

[@GavinDavidson]

Excellent tips. It’s opened my eyes to what my phone can do. 😊

[@BandH]

That's great! Glad you learned something new.

[@TwoWheelsLangley]

Great presentation.

[@david-markthomlinson7928]

Can I use these tips for my Android phone I have a Honour Magic4 Pro. Which incidentally has full manual mode, without the need for LR. Even thou I'm not an iPhone user, I found it very informative. Thanks

[@jeremyschirmer9032]

I've only been using my Iphone for travel photography for about 4 yeas now since I went superlight and only have a 40 liter backpack. Thought I knew everything but for some reason it never dawned on me to use video and take a still for wider shots. Thank you so much for the tip.

[@BandH]

Glad you know these tips for future trips now! Thanks for watching.

[@Generic321]

FYI @35:50 in iOS 17 (2023) and later this is now called the level toggle in the camera settings and the grid no longer needs to be on.

[@tonymurphy9112]

Scott, I don't recall you talking about aspect ratio, 16:9 from standard ratio 4:3

[@davidsherman3462]

Great video however I can't find the Lightoom Camera for my iphone 14 peo max. Any suggestions? thanks

[@LeahyPhoto]

In the camera tap Photos, change the aspect ratio to 16:9 Preserve this ratio in Settings by going to Camera/ Preserve Settings/Creative Control.

[@florameng521]

That place at 7:55 is Guilin in Guangxi Province

[@Amritbhangal]

Hi Scott what do you think of canon EOs T6?

[@jenbear8652]

I have an iPhone 8s, so my quality isn’t as good- especially in low lighting, BUT I literally fill my phone (and can’t text or anything until I delete stuff off my phone 😛). So my actual camera is my “backup” camera for when my phone will no longer take more photos. I’m currently working on a system/schedule to get photos off the phone onto my computer (they have to be renamed & organized or I won’t do it)

[@kirkh666joejoe]

the thing with that "long exposure" is that it does not allow you to specify the time! sometimes you want alittle blut but it removes people and cars from streets :( phone camera is great anyways, but not a camera replacement for lots of things!

[@carolinevandyk3382]

This is great - so helpful. Need to buy a new phone ; ) Can you give some advice about printing from phone shots?

[@BandH]

it is a little tough to print phone photos because of the megapixel count. But it is doable. It's recommended to not go bigger than 8x10 prints.

[@kbkesq]

23:30 great tip swipe left

[@criticaltinker]

I'm actually considering leaving my Sony A7RV home for our trip to ASIA next summer and bring only iPhone 15 Pro Max and DJI Mini4 Pro

[@Inkling777]

Thanks for the post. There's only one major downside to photography with an iPhone, the 'dropping my iPhone' problem he mentions. Holding an iPhone to take a picture is like holding a tea-cup saucer. Almost any digital camera is easier to hold and aim. B&H should develop an iPhone case that's as handy to use as the typical digital camera.

[@davebassP5]

Why no mention that the phone will also map the images on a map automatically and you don’t need Lr? That seems a strange thing to leave out considering it’s about travelling.

[@davewyman]

Great video. Even Longer app is somewhat of a ripoff, though, unless you buy the pro version. You can’t get super-long shutter speeds, as per Scott, unless you fork over 24.99 more, AFTER you get the basic version.

[@emjel-yi9eg]

Scott - really great video. But something I need to ask. When you talk about using the volume button as the shutter button, the image you show on screen with camera in horizontal mode has the regular white button on the right with the volume buttons just above it on top, which looks perfect. But on my iPhone 13, if I hold my phone in the horizontal position, the regular white button is on the right, whilst the volume buttons are over on the left at the bottom. Is there something unique about the 14 model? Thanks.

[@lynettejwhite]

I think the slides were mockups. I notice a few odd things about them too.

[@DavidTpitCabrera]

So good

[@vermontmike9800]

Another thing. The 2x “lens” is not optical. It’s merely a digital crop of the 1x lens.

[@Fontsman]

Pics look fine on screen, but large prints are soft. Drop the thing enough times as the form factor sucks. I can post to Instagram from my Mac but the images on Instagram are again relatively low res. You can't beat physics. True high res prints need a quality sensor and glass. You can have all the convenience, but I get no sense of achievement with a smartphone.

[@1clancym]

Can you recommend an Android ? Samsung perhaps. Older one also? Thx Mike

[@pascaljoanne]

i wish you touched on the NIGHT MODE photography

[@movinondownthetrail]

Mr Mom. Great movie!

[@SavageVoyageur]

Just picked up a iPhone 15 pro max phone. Wow it takes great pictures.

[@DonaldWMeyers-dwm]

The "secret weapon" doesn't work everywhere. I was at the National Archives, and the "security guards" were yelling at people who took out their phones. They even made me put the lens cap back on my DSLR, which was hanging around my neck and my hands were not holding.

[@grapesx2]

I agree. Usually the sign with the red line through the camera means “no photos” vs “no big cameras”…

[@user-vi5lq8zq5d]

After a bursting, the photos come as a group. How would I change it into individual photos?

[@Bakynsailmawnai]

I'm late to this video, but do you think my phone Redmi Note 10 Pro is good for photography? It has 64MP samsung isocell gw3 sensor, 8MP ultra wide, 5MP macro, 2MP depth sensor and 16MP selfie camera

[@kzuk9237]

shoot wider #2 -- changing the phone from still to video changes the ratio but it does not made the lens wider or capture more of the scene, it just fills the screen because the ratio has changed. Live mode and long exposure - beware, changing that setting to long exposure in the Live Photo gives you a cropped in final result. Something to know if you use that feature. However, it is also significant as Scott said, the Live Photos are not RAW and in fact seem to show a lot of softness when changing the Live Photo to a long exposure. The result is softer, mushy looking colors too because of the photos from the live clips being combined. I’d like to see if anyone is actually getting good results with this “feature”, I shoot a lot of long exposure with my Fuji or Canon and I do not see iPhone coming anywhere close to the quality of a DSLR anyway, but especially not long exposure.

[@victorcarmelo8606]

Agree, been using Spectre for long exposures, much better but be careful if you don’t have steady hands, jam your hand against something to get a clean shot.

[@user-qc6kq4bf2r]

And use the Moment lens)))

[@kerusso3568]

@@victorcarmelo8606 how is the spectre app? I went and looked. Are they still supporting it? It looks like the last update was for the 13

[@FfilmiauFflur]

Well done, I really enjoyed your excellent video. However, I thought that when you were referring to the various lenses on the iphone as 1x 2x 3 etc, I think that it might be better to teach the viewers that the X is actually the symbol for "times". It's one of my pet hates to hear so many reviewers talking about the 2 "ecks" lens and so forth...

[@anonymousonez]

1.5 aperture isn't fast at all considering the small sensor size. It's deceptive marketing. Still, nice tips, thank you.

[@Albert-qy3ze]

I like the idea of pocket tripod. Where can I get the one that folds and twists? Is it durable? I found one at Amazon which only gets one star rating as it breaks down easily.

[@BandH]

we do have a lot of good options, take a look here: bhpho.to/3GL0btp if you have any questions reach out to one of our experts, email [e-mail]

[@monicab28]

You can also use the wired earbuds to shoot the picture!

[@SiHorrocks]

to shoot "wide" photos you can just change the photo ratio to 16x9, you don't need to switch to video mode

[@markferrell2470]

Hey Scott you were talking about your wife and all the things she does with the iPhone and is there any place we could connect with her? Does she do classes or even 1-5 minute videos. Awesome job love the jokes along the way

[@user-eo1dv5gn6z]

Video mode isn't wider. It just crops it differently.

[@jasongold6751]

On recent trip, M'Lady used only her phone ! Once back, had 2 huge albums printed! M's pix are better than mine, me ex-pro. Phone camera does better. I'm using mine , more and more! Plus easy posting and exchanges! The way to go!

[@Arda.D]

As I was writing you can do stunning raw long exposure by using even longer and reexpose you showed even longer😂 absolute piece of genius from both developers. Also pocket tripod is just amazing, wish I could got it in Turkey.

[@oc3144]

You shold do a video for the S23 Ultra now

[@weisserth]

Haha. I still use my iPhone 8 Plus. But I despise the ergonomics of using a smartphone for taking pictures.