How to Take Amazing Photos with the iPhone Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max

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iPhone 14

With their brand-new Pro camera system, iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro Max offer some of the best cameras out there. iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max boast a 48MP Main camera system for up to 4x greater resolution, a 12MP Ultra Wide lens, and two 12 MP telephoto lens. 

The iPhone’s impressive combination of stunning image quality, software processing, and advanced features enables iPhone images to look as if they were taken on a professional camera. 

Apple has added a reworked Photonic Engine, Action Mode, and various other features. Our article will walk you through all the awesome features Apple's latest pro iPhones have to offer. 

Volume Buttons

We all know that tapping the screen is not always the easiest way to take a photo. This is because it can be hard to reach the screen depending on what angle you are taking the photo from. 

The volume buttons double as shutter buttons! By pressing the volume up or down, you can capture a photo. Just make sure not to hold these buttons down or else you will end up taking a video instead! You do have flexibility to change it so that holding down the volume buttons result in burst photos instead. To change this, you can simply head over to Settings > Camera and toggling on Burst Capture.

Zoom

The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max offer four different optical-quality zoom levels: 

  • 5X that uses the ultra-wide lens 
  • 1X that relies on the primary wide lens 
  • 2X which also uses the primary lens 
  • 3X that uses the telephoto lens. 


The reason for this is that iPhone can use 12MP from the larger, 48MP sensor to achieve a 2X zoom without any significant quality loss. This yields better results than utilizing the digital zoom. This is because digital zoom crops the photo instead of adjusting the optics, resulting in a lower resolution picture. 

You can sift through the preset levels tapping the circular indicators above the shutter button. Once you tap one of them, you can hold and slide your finger up and down to select your desired zoom level on a wheel, you can choose all the way up to 15x digital zoom. 

Once finished, you can swipe the wheel towards the shutter to close it out or wait a moment for it to disappear on its own. Another option is to pinch the wheel in or out. 

Portrait Mode

One of the most iconic features of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max's new camera system is its world leading sensor, the first ever on an iPhone. It is 48 megapixels and offers a 2x zoom, as well as a 12 megapixels center sensor. This ensures that the picture maintains a 48mm-equivalent picture quality and full resolution without any need for pixel-binning tricks or filling gaps of image information. 

Macro Mode

Yellow flowers

To shoot in Macro Mode, you can bring your iPhone close to your subject. This will prompt Macro Mode to turn on. This setting allows you to focus mere millimeters from the lens. To avoid this happening, you can toggle a switch within Settings.

Cinematic Mode

Cinematic Mode can be found between Video and Slow-Motion modes. Once tapped, the recording will begin. This mode focuses on recognized faces, from both people and animals while recording. It identifies and focuses on the most active being. You also have the option of shifting the focus by simply tapping on the display. 

Manual focusing works with objects as well. Cinematic Mode can track them and keep them in focus. You can also opt for the "virtual autofocus" option by conducting a long tap. This allows you to focus from a certain distance and keep a specific person or object in focus, regardless of what is going on in the background. 

QuickTake

Quicktake allows you to capture photos, videos, and bursts instantly. To take photos, you simply tap the white shutter button. To take videos, you can hold it down without needing to switch to video mode. If this button is held, the video will be captured, and it will stop once it is released. If you want to record for a long time, you can slide the shutter button to the right so video mode will lock. To capture bursts, you can tap the shutter button and pull it to the left. This will let you capture burst photos if you hold it down. In the original shutter button circle, there will be a counter informing you of how many shots you have captured.

Additional Controls

At the top of your screen, you will find additional controls that are useful for different situations. Examples include the ProRes or RAW indicator, the flash icon, the Night Mode icon, or the toggle to take live photos. Aside from these, there will be an arrow at the center of the screen which will enable you to see several other controls right above the shutter button. Options include flash control (auto, off, on), Night Mode (visible only when dark), Live Photo (on, off), Photographic styles (five options), aspect ratio (4:3, 1:1, 16:9), exposure compensation, a timer, and various filters.

Tricks of the Trade

As you can see, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max offer a wide array of features to assist you on your journey to elite-level photography. Some skills do not hurt either. Below we have listed some ideas to consider when venturing out for some beautiful images!

Experiment at Different Times of the Day

The low-light abilities with iPhone 14 Pro mean you are not limited by the sun's location when taking photos. Sunrises and sunsets will naturally be darker, but they can result in beautiful colors and contrasts within your photos.

Launch Some Night Shoots

iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max have one of the most impressive night modes of any smartphone and in turn, can take high-quality photos at nighttime. Think city skylines, holiday decorations, and more!

Shoot in ProRaw

Apple has introduced ProRaw, which is basically the same as shooting in raw or regular DSLRS. It does not save all the image data, so you can change the white balance and colors more accurately after taking your pictures. Shadows and highlights are more detailed, too. You even have the option of editing images further through apps like Photoshop Express Photo Editor, Snapseed, Adobe Lightroom, Picsart, etc."

We hope our article proved to be insightful! As you can see, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max truly offer many exciting possibilities when it comes to photography. The sky is the limit - with amazing clarity we might add!
 

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