Photography

Third party apps such as Instagram are no longer the only way to get a hip, retro filter look on the iPhone camera. For those with iOS 7 and the iPhone 5 or later, eight filters are built right into the stock Camera app. These are titled Mono, Tonal, Noir, Fade, Chrome, Process, Transfer and Instant.

Each filter can be used with normal, flash, or HDR iPhone photos from the Camera Roll. To apply a filter to an existing image, start by opening the Photos app and viewing the photo you wish to change. Tap Edit in the upper right corner of the display. From the Edit Photo screen tap the center icon at the bottom that has three circles.

There are actually four different ways to snap a photo with the iPhone camera. Seasoned veterans of iPhone photography will already know these tricks, however newcomers to the device might find this tip useful. Each situation is different, and using one of the four methods below can help capture the perfect image.

The most obvious and commonly used shutter release button on the iPhone is directly in the Camera app. This large, white button always appears next to the physical home button in the camera preview. Taking a photo at the right moment is accomplished by touching the button on the screen.

The stock iPhone Photos app has many built-in editing features. These make it possible to change and customize images right in iOS 7 before sharing or downloading the photos to a computer. One basic function is cropping, which can improve photos by recomposing what's visible in the frame.

To begin cropping an image from either the iPhone camera roll or an album, start by opening the Photos app and viewing the image you wish to crop. Tap Edit in the upper right corner to get started. Next touch the square crop icon in the lower right corner to enter photo crop mode. From here, there are two options to shave off parts of a photo.

Sometimes capturing stills from a video can be a hassle. Now thanks to the stock iOS Camera app, iPhone photographers can snap still images while video recording is in progress. Once video recording starts, a white circular button appears to the left of the red start / stop button.

When the iPhone is held horizontally, this still capture button appears below the start / stop button. Of course, once video recording starts the normal shutter release sound effect that takes place when snapping a photo is muted, so it can't be heard in the video.

The auto focus and exposure in the stock iOS camera app gets faster and more accurate with each update. When shifting the frame to a new subject, the iPhone camera will automatically readjust these parameters and the white balance accordingly. Video is no different, with adjustments taking place while recording. There are some situations where a change in focus can be distracting, or an exposure shift detracts from the scene.

For this reason, ever since iOS 5 the built-in Camera app makes it possible to lock both the autofocus and auto exposure. AE/AF lock mode can be entered manually and will stay in effect during a photo session until it's switched off, or the Camera app is reopened. This means that multiple photos can be snapped without a change in the focus or exposure settings, regardless of what's in the frame.