The iPhone 7 Plus

I get a lot of questions about blogging, naturally. One of the questions I get asked is what camera I use for blog photos and Instagram. To be honest, I think the camera is the last part of the equation. You can get away with using just a simple point and shoot (or a phone camera) as long as you have good lighting, a good idea for photos, and a good attitude to capture the moment.

The lighting thing is 90% of the equation. I try to avoid harsh, midday light and anything after sunset is generally a no-go. I use the app Lumy to discover when “golden hour” is and try to schedule my shoots around that time. (Easier in the summer when it’s 7 pm versus the winter when it’s 3 pm though haha…)

Camera settings freak me out, and I struggle with operating a big DSLR. It’s a goal of mine for the new year to get better about it, but right now, I’m hopeless. I wouldn’t invest in an expensive DSLR until you know you want to stick with blogging (or photography) for a while. Plus, you can get an incredible photo with your iPhone.

Phone cameras have gotten better and better over the years. I remember when I got my first digital camera: a Nikon Coolpix with a whopping 3 megapixels. I had to carry it around with me everywhere (and we did in middle and high school!). Now we have a camera with 4x the megapixels sitting in our pockets… and it’s also essentially a computer which means we are basically Zenon right now.

I just got the iPhone 7 Plus, and it’s even MORE of a game changer. When I watched the keynote presentation for the new iPhones, I honestly wasn’t that impressed. It seemed like an unnecessary improvement. I only upgraded mine because I felt like the new iOS was slowing my phone down (significantly) so I was playing Apple’s game of having to upgrade the hardware to match the software. I was annoyed. UNTIL… I discovered the “portrait” setting on the camera. The photo below was the first photo I took with the portrait setting and let me just say; I was SO IMPRESSED. I showed it to everyone in the room, and we all couldn’t stop talking about how cool it was.

This is only available on the 7 Plus because it has dual cameras. With the dual cameras, you’re able to digitally mimic the depth effect of a DSLR. And it does it automatically. You don’t have to worry about exposure or ISO or aperture. It just does its thing. This, in my opinion, makes the phone 200% worth it. I can leave my big camera at home with no stress now. If I see something I want to capture, I know I’m covered with my phone. I’m including animated examples below.  None of these photos have been edited at all! (Some of the quality is lost from the GIF format, but as you can see above, it works.)

It’s not perfect but my goodness it’s pretty close. You need a lot of light, and the subject shouldn’t move that much. The dogs are hard to capture, but not impossible.

Convinced yet?! I highly recommend the upgrade. As I mentioned before, I was on the fence about it, but this makes it so worth it.

(Right now Apple has a pretty good program for the iPhones. I typically like to buy my phones with cash upfront, so I own it, but the deal right now is too good to pass up. It’s 0% financing– the key– and every year you can upgrade your phone, and it comes with Apple Care, which is usually about $100. I make a small monthly payment to have, it and I even traded in my old phone, which I owned, for about a $200 credit. Go to the Apple Store to have them talk you through it to see if it makes sense for you personally.)