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Photo of clouds iphone

Mobile Mondays: iPhone Photography above the clouds

Photoshop Evangelist Julianne Kost published a book called Window Seat: The Art of Digital Photography and Creative Thinking back in 2006. It’s one of my favorite books to go back and reread. This article and iPhone photography are an homage to the lessons learned from her during my flights to and from Professional Photographers of America at ImagingUSA. iPhone 15 Pro New phone meant no excuse not to do iPhone photography during my flights. I’m only just beginning to use the phone as a photo tool. The technology keeps advancing at an incredible pace. Now that I’ve accepted the idea, I’m beginning to embrace the fact that I have e solid enough capture device in a small form at my fingertips. As the quote I have often heard attributed to Chase Jarvis, “The best camera is the one you have with you.” Clouds Obviously, to capture the images you’ll need to be in the window seat. Being able to observe the clouds from above is a treat to me. This view is one of which I never tire. The sky is more blue as there is no pollution to lessen it. Forms change with the amount of wind and disturbance below but often feel calm and serene. Due to the speed of the aircraft, you often only have moments to capture a specific formation that has caught your eye. Keeping watch for the ever-changing panoramic passing in your view helps move time forward as well. Land when the clouds part It’s not always the beauty of clouds as your subject. The landscape from 36,000 feet or closer as you take off and land can be an interesting subject as well. You really have to ready and anticipate when your get closer to the ground as that magnifies the changes. I get lots of ‘Oh darn! Missed it!’ moments during those times. Make images I guess the real purpose of this article is to remind you as a photographer that making images, no matter the tool used, is paramount to seeing and learning to record more of our world. Make images. Share them and don’t forget to visually take in as much as you can.And, Julianne, thank you for this inspiration and all the support you bring photographers through your teaching! Always appreciated. Yours in Creative Photography, Bob

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Mobile Mondays: ID your subjects on your iPhone with Visual Look Up

I was looking through the photos on my iPhone 13 Pro and noticed in the tools under the photo that the information tool also had little stars next to it. Visual Look Up is a feature that lets you quickly find out what the subject is in your photo — like plant species, dog breed and more. When researching this, the Visual Look Up feature has been present since the iOS 15 update and is available in the iPhones dating back to the iPhone SE, XS, XR, 11, 12 and 13 series. It is also a feature available in some of the iPads. Visual Look-up has limited availability regionally, check feature availability for your device. Visual Look Up and plants The photo, mentioned above, was a flower that I had taken on my Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III with the M. Zuiko 12-100mm f/4 Pro lens. I share photos with my phone so I can message them to those who do not have social media. I sometimes check the information tab to see if the metadata is there. When I tapped the information tool, a little leaf icon appeared on my flower. I tapped the leaf and a window popped open to provide me with an ID of the plant! Personally, this is a game changer! I often use the Picture This app when I am out photographing plants and flowers. You take a photo of the plant and it gives you an identification and common names of the plant and you have the option to save it in a file for future reference. Now you can do this by just using Photos on your iPhone. Being the curious tech person that I am, I began scrolling through all my images looking for plants to ID. Siri surprisingly did a decent job at most identifications, but some were not quite accurate. I had a photo of a Belladonna or Surprise/Naked Lady Lily and yes it correctly identified it as a Lily, but it also classified it as a type of hosta. A real surprise to me was the Ohio Spiderwort! It correctly identified it as its second choice! Personally, I think this will be a great tool for us nature and macro photographers. There are so many times I’ve guessed and sometimes I’m right and others wrong. I decided to make it more challenging by looking at flowers that had other objects like bugs and butterflies in them. It had difficulty identifying a butterfly bush — it kept giving it the ID of a lilac, and they are completely different even though their blooms appear similar. However, it correctly identified a sunflower missing a lot of petals with a bird sitting on it. Siri also correctly ID’d a side view of a sunflower as well as a Crimsomeyed Rosemallow Hibiscus photographed from the back. Identify your pet breeds Another perk of the information tool is that it identifies dogs and cats! I took a photograph of my dog, Ruby, and the stars appeared next to the information tool. It incorrectly identified her as a Dogo Argentino, an American Bulldog and a Cordoba Fighting Dog, which is extinct. She does have that appearance, but she is a mix of American Staffordshire Terrier and Wirehaired Terrier (per DNA). It also incorrectly identified my cat as a Munchkin cat but it took a safe guess at a bicolor cat! Generally speaking, my cats are domestic shorthair. The future of identification Since the technology is fairly new, it will take time for information to become completely accurate. It is still a fun tool to play with! I do hope at some point they will include birds and insects. I will be doing more tests on it to see how it performs when traveling to different regions.  Take your iPhone out for a photo session and see what interesting plants and animals you can identify! Learn and explore! I believe over time this tool will get smarter and be of greater benefit in the future. Editor’s note: We welcome this post from Pam DeCamp, an award-winning fine art photographer from southern Ohio. Her photography experience has ranged from photojournalism, sports, performing arts, fine art, to macro and wildlife. Travel photography is her passion and she enjoys planning trips with friends to various places across the country and internationally. She has traveled to all 50 states, 10 countries and three continents. Pam enjoys teaching and hosts workshops at her studio and in different cities. Visit her on her website or on Facebook for more information.

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oil and water photo

Oil and water macro shoot with an iPhone 15

This is a great setup anytime. When you are stuck inside on a rainy day and are looking for something to do on the creative side with your photography. Playing with water is one of my favorite things to do. Breaking out the water droplet kit can be a little too time consuming and cumbersome. Oil and water set is a piece of cake. Here’s what I did for a macro shoot with an iPhone 15. Note: I am a Platypod Pro and get to use all the tools at no charge. The set I’ve found this set to be the best in my opinion. Any way that you have a glass container with water will work. Start with a sheet of glass. Take a bit of painters tape and cover the edges for protection from cuts. This also aids to visually define the edge to keep from bumping the glass as well. Suspend the glass with your choice of material. You can use boxes of the same size, books, or in this case, a couple of plastic milk cartons. Also, having the sheet of glass raised allows you to add color in various ways underneath. With a large glass baking dish you could leave out the sheet of glass but I’ve found it helpful in protecting the lights and tablet underneath. And, trust me, you’ll want to do that with the oily liquid floating around. Drips and spills can be a mess to clean up. Equipment For this macro shoot I used the iPhone 15 Pro in Macro Mode. The new Platypod Grip cradled the camera/phone. A single knob allowed for lots of adjustment. Three Platypod Handles supported the Grip to get a straight down shot over the water and oil mixture. Then, a Platypod eXtreme was clamped to the table. Two Handles were also mounted to get the height. A single Handle could be used if the glass shelf was lower. Next, a Benro ball head was paired with another Handle. At the top of the Handle, I placed The Grip. And, of course, the Grip held the iPhone 15 Pro. Black base background For a rich color, I use a black base lit with LED panel lights. While it might be counterintuitive, using black for the base makes for deep vibrant base colors. You can dial in whatever color floats your boat with the LED panels. You can work with one light but having two will also allow more experimentation blending multiple colors. It is all about the experimentation and play! iPad or Tablet background An extremely versatile way to color your set is to place a Tablet or iPad underneath your water container. Fill the container with water, then use cooking oil or other types of oil. The oil will bead up, taking on different shapes as it moves through the water. You can stir it or blow across the water to get an endless changing of the mixture. Experiment! Once you have the oil, water and background in place, it’s time to experiment. Start with a little oil, then add more as you go. If you add too much to begin with, you’ll lose some of the ways in which the mixtures play off each other. Try different thicknesses of oil. Baby oil is very thin. Meanwhile, cooking oils have more viscosity but also have color. Try mixing oil and vinegar. Since they also don’t mix well, it could lead to some cool possibilities. Sometimes, a drop of dishwashing liquid can also change how all the liquids are mixing. Most of all have fun and let me see what you come up with, or if you have some cool ways to build your oil and water macro set. Yours in Creative Photography, Bob

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Photo by Eye for Ebony on Unsplash

Four easy ways of improving your photos instantly

Want to easily improve your photos instantly? Read about these easy, simple tips that you can do right away to improve your images. Squeeze instead of tap Don’t tap. Don’t push. Squeeze. Gently squeeze. This is true whether using a “big” camera like a mirrorless or DSLR, a point-and-shoot, or a mobile phone. Why? So you’re far less likely to move the camera or phone by jarring it and making everything blurry. Gently squeezing it is a great way of keeping the camera still and having everything come out beautifully sharp. B-b-but how do I squeeze on a mobile phone? I’m glad you asked. I’ve noticed that when people take photos, they tap the shutter button. Doink! Unless done very carefully, this tap moves your smartphone at the very time when the camera should be still. Many mobile phones allow you to take photos by squeezing the volume button. Try it and see if your phone takes photos this way. If you only did this, your images could already dramatically improve. Keep it steady Steady the camera whenever possible. You want to keep it as still as possible, so be conscious of that. Rest it against a railing, rock, tree, table or even use a small tripod. Also, relaxing and holding your arms still with your elbows in and slowly squeezing the volume button (if that’s an option) to trigger the camera can result in much sharper images. To take this image above, I steadied my iPhone 6 on the table. Us night photographers take this so seriously that we always photograph with a tripod. And typically, a good sturdy, quality tripod. Keep it steady. Keep it eye level When you watch people taking photos, they typically take photos standing, rarely varying their height. If you want better, more engaging photos, take your photos of people or animals at eye level more often. Whether taking photos of children, pets, people sitting at a table, people sitting on a floor, or whatever, vary your camera so that it is on the same plane as their eyes. I think you’ll be much happier with your photos. Can you take effective photos that are not at eye level? Sure! But more often than not, eye level is the most engaging. Using Portrait Mode for people … and more! Some phones, such as newer iPhones, have Portrait Mode. This blurs the background of your photos, allowing your subject to stand out. This is often done with more expensive lenses and cameras. However, many newer phones can do this with computational photography.  Some newer phones take this a step further. This feature can be used when it’s not a person. Blurring the background can be great for other subjects as well, such as flowers and more. Learn what options you have with your phone I would encourage you to poke around on your camera app. Experiment with some of the other functions. I really enjoy creating time-lapse videos or slow-motion videos. You can really have quite a lot of fun — and create great images or videos — with something that is “just a phone.” Enjoy!

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Mobile Mondays: Creating a rough draft with your phone

I recently purchased a light pad. Nothing expensive — I just needed something to start photographing the massive amount of slides I have. My old slide scanner is so slow and I wanted to try using the DSLR method. Ever since I purchased it I’ve had other ideas about how to use it, but haven’t had time to get my camera out. So I grabbed my smartphone instead. Use your phone to map out ideas Today, I decided to play with my phone first. I did not want to pull out my tripod, camera, set up the light pad, get out all the rest of what I think I need to create this project. Enter my smartphone camera. Sometimes it’s just quicker and easier to use. I put the light pad down on my desk, grabbed the flowers, plants and leaves that I’ve been saving and got started photographing. Save yourself some time Using my phone helped me get a general idea of how and if this will work in a matter of minutes. I could easily and quickly move from one idea to the next. Call me lazy, but it’s much easier to just move around with your phone than the DSLR and tripod. By using my phone, I was also able to determine other angles that may be a bit more difficult with a tripod and larger camera. Doing this ahead of time gets my brain engaged to start thinking about how I can make that work later. This saves me time when I’m actually doing the shoot. More freedom can equal more creativity Sometimes, when using my phone I don’t think so much about the fact that it is still a camera. That means the technical aspects don’t matter and it becomes much more about the creative process. I feel more of a flow with moving from one composition to another. My mindset is that of creating, not worrying about if my shot is technically correct. Create rough drafts with your phone Consider this a first or rough draft. Just as writers map out ideas, dancers block out steps and painters sketch out an underdrawing before they start painting, using our mobile phones can help us sketch out our photography ideas. Creating a study of our subject before we jump in to create our art can be very simply done with our mobile cameras. Photography isn’t any different from other art forms. We have endless ideas that need to be written down and mapped out. Being able to have the capability to do this within the palm of our hands allows us the freedom to play more and continue to imagine endless possibilities. For more tips and information on mobile photography, check out more of our Mobile Monday articles.

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Mobile Mondays: Four easy phone photography tips you didn’t know

There are a lot of simple tips that can easily make your phone photography look better. Here are four tips that can help you get better mobile phone photos. Become a tripod for low light photos People often take blurry photos when they move their phones. In another Mobile Mondays article, we discussed how you could gently squeeze the volume button to minimize camera movement. Better than tapping the phone and making it vibrate, right? Of course, it is! When we’re taking photos in low light, it’s even more imperative that we keep the camera still. How can we do this? By transforming ourselves into a tripod! While holding your camera, lean against a wall. Brace your elbows on the table. You can even rest your phone on a table! Posts, walls, doorway jambs, windows …. rest the phone against these or position yourself so you minimize movement! Photograph with your phone using HDR Use your phone’s HDR mode if your scene is dark, it’s backlit, or you have some shadows across the image. It also looks great for big landscape photos. Here, you can capture a little more detail, especially in the sky.  When you use HDR Mode, your phone takes three photos. Then it combines them instantly into one photo without you having to do anything else. This helps the phone handle a broad dynamic range, often making the resulting image look more like what you see. Use the self-timer for sharper shots This technique, like using a volume button or “becoming a tripod” for low light photos, seeks to minimize shake. Using the camera’s timer can do this. In fact, this is a technique that has been used by night photographers for many years, so why not borrow from those who best know how to keep a camera from shaking? Simply rest the camera on something. Whether leaning it against something, using a small tripod or selfie stick, or resting it facing out of a purse, it doesn’t matter. Just make sure it doesn’t shift. Then set the timer in your camera app. On some, it’s the clock feature in the Camera app. You don’t need to be in the photo to use this either, although you can be! Either way, your camera will be nice and still. And unlike a DSLR, there’s no shutter opening and closing. There are no moving parts. Therefore, there’s less chance of vibrations ruining your photo! Using Portrait Mode for people … and more! Some phones, such as newer iPhones, have Portrait Mode. This blurs the background of your photos, allowing your subject to stand out. This is often done with more expensive lenses and cameras. However, many newer phones can do this with computational photography.  Some newer phones take this a step further. This feature can be used when it’s not a person. Blurring the background can be great for other subjects as well, such as flowers and more. Learn what options you have with your phone I would encourage you to poke around on your camera app. Experiment with some of the other functions. I really enjoy creating time-lapse videos or slow-motion videos. You can really have quite a lot of fun — and create great images or videos — with something that is “just a phone.” Enjoy!

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Mobile Mondays: Seven ways to take great pictures with your phone

Photography has changed quite a bit since the days of our grandparents’ driving down to the local drugstore with their rolls of film from the most recent holiday or vacation. Now that everyone has a high-resolution camera in their pocket, the art of photography has become more accessible than ever. But phone cameras have clear limitations, and if you’re not aware of them, then you’ll never understand how to take great pictures with your phone. 1. Understand composition — it’s every good photographer’s best tool Before diving into how to take good photos with your phone, it’s better to understand the most basic principle for taking interesting photos using any kind of camera. Of course, that principle is composition. It doesn’t matter how exciting your subject matter is; your phone camera, when used incorrectly, will suck the intrigue straight out of the scene if you’re not taking into account your photo’s composition. And what is composition, exactly? Think of your subject matter as a movie. You’re the director of that film. You’re not just taking a photo — you’re telling a story. And if your photo isn’t telling a clear story, then no one is going to find it particularly interesting. The fastest trick to good composition is always being aware of your foreground (front) middle-ground (middle) and background (back). Think of all three components as layers to your story. You want to play with all three, find a unique dynamic between them all, and start from there. If you’re missing one or two layers, your photo is going to fall flat. 2. Do not use digital zoom, EVER! Understanding the limitations of your technology is the only way to understand how to take great picture with your phone. For example, if you find yourself zooming in on your subject, you’ve already made a grave mistake. The fact is, the camera sensors inside most of our phones are too small. They tend to only capture a specific focal point. Zooming in on a subject just blows up each pixel and makes them blurrier in the process — it’s not using true optics to enlarge the image. However, many new phones on the market have multiple cameras and cleverly use stereographic technology to combine the sensor input from both into one image, allowing the operator to optically zoom to a degree. And by all means — if you have one of those devices, then zoom in on your subject matter. These phones should tell you when you are leaving the boundaries of true optical zoom and crossing into digital zoom. With that said, heed their warnings and stop when your zoom goes digital, or face the blurry, noise-ridden photo it produces. 3. Stay away from the front-facing camera Learning how to take good pictures of yourself is an art form. There’s a reason that portrait photography is a highly regarded form of a photography — it’s hard to master and there’s a lot of intuition that makes a great photo into an amazing photo. However, you can learn how take good pictures of yourself using your phone. But the process may not be as obvious as you’d think. The front camera is stuffed in between a microphone, a speaker, and a myriad of other hardware. It’s most often an afterthought. Instead, you should use your back camera for self-portraits. They’ll look the cleanest, be of the highest quality, and will have a much deeper color and contrast than that of your front-facing camera. Learning how to take good pictures of yourself using your back camera can be a bit tricky, but you’ll get the hang of it. Try investing in a portable tripod and using your camera’s timer. 4. Shoot for your medium Every professional photographer understands their medium before they even shoot their first photograph. They take the time to know where their pieces will be displayed, what they’ll be displayed on, and who will be viewing them. All of this goes into their composition — photography is never a one-size-fits-all industry. These days, we take photos for a variety of reasons. And learning how to take good pictures for Instagram is completely different from taking photos that’ll appear in a personal album. If your focus is on Instagram, then you need to understand that platform. 5. Get out of the stock camera app If your goal is to take great photos with your phone, then you need to stop using the camera app that your phone came with. It probably has a ton of tools to finesse your photography, but at the end of the day, it’s an afterthought by a phone company. Instead, research stand-alone camera applications. Applications like VSCO are great tools for controlling every aspect of your phone’s camera. There are many photo editing apps for photographers and bloggers that work great. Things like focus lock, and fine control over your exposure and camera shutter are what will take your photographs from “good” to “great.” You may be overwhelmed by the myriad of settings on these apps, but you’ll soon understand what works through trial-and-error and be well on your way to professional phone photography. 6. Be mindful of your formats You just shoot a photo and it’d saved to your phone, right? Sort of — but there is something more to consider if quality is a concern. Most modern phones will let you shoot in RAW format, which is a completely uncompressed file format that is perfect for taking professional quality photos. You may not realize it — but our phones commonly compress our photographs right as we’re taking them. They do this to save on our already-limited storage space. But if you’re at all worried about quality, then you’re going to want to have full control over how your photos are compressed. So, if you have the option, shoot in unadulterated RAW format and compress them under your own terms or you’re going to lose out on quality before you even view your

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Mobile Mondays: Tips for mouthwatering food photography

Out and about and forget your camera? Don’t discount the humble smartphone when it comes to food photography. My old Samsung S9 can still pack a punch — the lens is equivalent to a full-frame 35mm lens, which is great for food photography! If you shoot in RAW with the Lightroom mobile app, you can shoot, edit and share quickly and easily. True, the image size and quality may not be quite the same as a DSLR or mirrorless camera, but if you are shooting for social media, then they are perfectly fine. The compression rate on social media sites can do some pretty unjust things to the humble food photo. So if you’re just looking for a few quick shots to show you’re a wiz in the kitchen or found the perfect latte, using a smartphone is great. The best advice is to look for the light. Great light makes for great images. Try and remove anything distracting from the background. Nothing destroys an image quicker than Uncle Bill in the background playing the fool. Even if it means just holding up the tablecloth in the background. A great idea when it comes to food photography is the flat lay. Hold your phone directly over your subject. Compose and look for the shot. Try a few different angles to see which is most flattering. Don’t forget to crop for social media in the Lightroom app, too. Your phone’s camera probably shoots at something like 16:9 (unless you change the settings). Facebook loves a 5×7 crop, while Instagram loves a square 1:1 or 6×8 crop. And enjoy that latte!

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Mobile Mondays: Taking better portraits with your iPhone

Just like a DSLR or mirrorless camera, it’s important to know how to best utilize the camera you always have with you — your smartphone. When you’re taking things like portraits outdoors, there are a few techniques you can use to achieve the best photo possible. In the video above, Cody Jensen gives some great tips on how to make the best out of your phone photography. He talks about using Portrait Mode to help achieve that “depth effect,” along with decreasing the exposure, stepping away from the wall and photographing more. Using Live Photos is also a great tip for iPhone photographers, helping to capture a small moment with your subject. The great thing about Live Photos is that you can pick and choose a frame to help finish. Want more tips on how to enhance your smartphone photography? Join the Photofocus Community today if you haven’t yet and you might just learn more from your fellow portrait photographers in the group discussions!

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Mobile Mondays: Capturing a long exposure on your phone

As we’re out and about, we might not always have our cameras with us. But that shouldn’t stop us from capturing something we find inspiring. Lauri Novak had a great piece a couple of weeks ago about keeping your phone ready for photography. And it’s true — having your phone on you is a great way to capture something that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to. I use it often while I’m flying, capturing the city lights below or a beautiful sunset in the clouds. But did you know that you can easily capture a long exposure on your phone, too? Check out some of the techniques below to get started. Adobe Lightroom Lightroom is by far my favorite photo app for my iPhone, as it lets me control all the usual functions that would be available to me on my regular camera. Things like ISO, shutter speed, white balance and more. Available as a technology preview for iOS users, you can use the Lightroom mobile app to capture a long exposure up to five seconds. It’s great for some creativity outdoors or around the house, and the results are stellar! To turn on this technology preview, click the gear icon in the upper right corner, and click “Technology Previews.” Once you have the technology preview activated, it’s as simple as going to your camera in Lightroom. There, choose LONG from the camera options, and adjust the settings as necessary. You can select from a half second all the way up to five seconds in length. You can also adjust settings like image stabilization, white balance and more. Adobe’s Pei Ketron walks through the process below. How does it work? Well, Lightroom captures several images and then blends them together for a long exposure effect. So while it’s not a true long exposure, it captures a similar view of what you might see with your real camera. I played around with this over the weekend and captured the shots you see below around my neighborhood and condo. Long exposures aren’t just for water or sky — they can offer a creative view of everyday objects, too! Other apps to use There are a few other apps that let you control your shutter speed in a more traditional fashion. Depending on your phone, you might have the ability to take long exposures right through the stock photo app. This is typically under a “Pro” mode. If you don’t have that as an option, check out Camera FV-5, for $3.95 on the Play Store, which lets you take long exposures up to 30 seconds. Manual Camera is also a good bet, for $2.99. If you’re an iOS user who wants a traditional long exposure, check out Slow Shutter Cam for $1.99. Or if you want more manual controls for all types of photos, Camera+ 2 is a great option, for $3.99. Gear to check out In order to get a tack-sharp image, you’re going to need to stabilize your phone. If you already have a tripod or Platypod, it’s pretty cheap to pick up a phone mount. The Oben ASPTA-20 is a great sturdy mount. The Magnus STA-100B is a great and affordable choice, too. You can also get an all-in-one solution, like the Fotopro UFO2, Manfrotto PIXI or Joby GripTight ONE GorillaPod Stand. Whether you need a small tripod, an all-in-one solution or just an adapter, be sure to check out our Mobile Tripod Solutions page on B&H for more recommendations.

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natural Window Light

Mobile Mondays: Working indoors with window light

Just because you can’t go outside doesn’t mean you can’t capture lovely photos indoors with your smartphone. Using my trusty Samsung S21 and some natural window light, I captured this pretty little still life. I took a photo just with the smartphone camera, not too bad, but I think I can do better. I mean, it’s pretty, bright and airy, but I wanted something a little more dark and moody. Then, there is that reflection. Behind the scenes As you can see from the above behind-the-scenes image, my setup is pulled slightly to the right of the window, allowing for plenty of indirect natural light. Indirect natural light is far more flattering than direct light. Minimal soft shadows. This works great for portraits too. What you use to stage your scene is up to you. Fresh flowers, a book or two, a pretty teacup. I have some pre-printed backdrop panels which I used for the bottom and back…I used all of that as well as a stained glass window panel. This caused a few reflection issues, but I’ll show you how I fixed those. Lightroom Mobile I used Lightroom Mobile on my phone, opened the camera and took my photos using the Pro mode. Then, I switched to edit mode and used the new masking tools to mask and blur, as well as heal my arm reflection out. Now, it’s really just a blur. Brighten it up a touch and then used a pretty Vintage Preset for the finished results. So here is the final edited version captured and edited in Lightroom Mobile:

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