With Holi just around the corner, we are all gearing up to celebrate the festival of colour. To aid us in capturing this festival, we have to look no further than our pockets as our iPhone XS/XS Max come with the truly useful feature of being water resistant. With this feature in tow, we can shoot images and capture the excitement of the day without worrying about damaging our expensive smartphone.
To assist you, here are a few tips and tricks to get the most of the iPhone XS/XS Max this Holi from photographer Prashanth Vishwanathan:
Both the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max have Portrait Mode on the front and rear cameras. To use Portrait Mode, open the camera and swipe the menu slider left until you see Portrait. You’ll see a carousel appear with different lighting options such as Natural Light, Contour Light, Stage Light, Natural Light, and more. Select your desired option and press the shutter button. If you want to use the front-facing camera, just tap the camera rotate icon to the right of the shutter button. With Depth Control you can control the amount of blur in the background after you’ve taken the photo. Use the Depth Slider to move between the look of f/1.4 (for maximum blur), up to f/16 (for barely any blur at all).
The iPhone gives the best real colour result. Its capacity to interpret colour is the best so far. The editing options on the iPhone camera default app give you an option to change your keyframe. He states that he always works with that as it gives him a small range of shots for around 3 seconds and it can be used as a loop or long exposure.
In case one needs to capture quick movement the burst mode is amazing as it captures sudden movement like a lighting or colour burst, especially now that it promises zero shutter lag.
Water splash and throwing holi colour powder are the best shot on Slo-mo video. Slo-mo’s look great when the phone is placed on an even surface and is stationary, by doing this there will be no camera shake and the viewer’s attention is just on the subject. This trick would also avoid the focus point from shifting. Videos look best when the camera is stable or mounted over a tripod or on an even surface. Use a gimbal to stabilise your videos and give that cinematic feel.
Smart HDR allows you to capture stunning HDR photos of moving subjects. The subject will appear sharp, with no ghosting effect. And the image will be well lit throughout, with detail and colour in the shadows and highlights. This new feature works by taking many photos at different exposures. The camera’s software analyses the images and creates a seamlessly blended HDR photo.
Here is a list of recommended apps that can be used for photo and video editing:
Halide - Halide is an award-winning camera app listed in Macworld's "Must Have Apps," The Verge's "Apps We Love," and picked by The Sweet Setup as "Best Third-Party Camera App for iPhone." Daring Fireball says, “This sort of maniacal attention to the smallest of details deserves to be celebrated.”
Camera + 2 - Camera+ 2 is the best and most powerful camera app available. A complete rewrite of the original Camera+ that sold over 14 million copies, Camera+ 2 is better, faster and stronger than ever.
Enlight - Apple Design Award Winner of 2017! Enlight is the superior way to create stunning images on the iPhone. The most comprehensive, highest quality photo editing app so powerful and user-friendly it’ll be the last photo app you ever download.
Adobe Lightroom - Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC is a free, powerful, yet intuitive solution for editing, capturing and sharing your best photos. Lightroom also provides a robust premium offering filled with advanced features to take your photography to the next level.
VSCO - VSCO is a place to express your true self, make beautiful photos on mobile, and connect with a creative community. Take your photography to the next level with quality presets and editing tools, and explore original content made by community members around the world.
Prisma - It was 'App of the Year 2016’, and has 120 Million users. Prisma is a photo editor app that creates amazing photo effects transforming your photos into paintings. Using Prisma’s art filters you can make your photo look as if Picasso, Munch, or even Salvador Dali himself painted it for you!
Vizmato - Create awesome videos and slideshows with this easy to use video editing app. Add filters, themes, music, effects and text to make awesome movies. Create videos on this easy to use video editor and share it with your friends on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Whatsapp and other social media channels! Download the free slideshow maker and video editing app on your iPhone or iPad now! Edit videos like a professional with Vizmato!
kirakira+ - With this app, you can add effects like a cross filter to attach to the camera lens. Light emitting materials and the reflective object will shine even more.
Glitché - Glitché is the #1 Photo & Video app in 129 countries and the most influential and inspiring mobile editor for iPhone. The ultimate tool for creating cutting-edge visuals.
Afterlight 2 - The most powerful, full-featured photo editing experience. One price, no subscriptions. Free new content updated monthly! Afterlight 2 is a definitive overhaul of the original and widely popular "Afterlight", thoughtfully redesigned with ease of use in mind and an extensive list of brand new features.
And lastly here's a bonus from Apple - a playlist to help you celebrate the festival of colours"
