TIKTOK is a hotbed of great iPhone camera tips, providing plenty of new and creative ways to take photos of your device.
Three tricks in particular have gone viral on the platform in recent months – in part thanks to how easy they are to try out.
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Vertical effect
You can get a cool vertical photo effect using the iPhone camera’s panorama mode – which captures more of a scene by combining multiple photos.
The result is an expanded space above your subject that can show off whatever’s in the heavens, such as a starry night sky or storm clouds.
TikTok camera buff @jdthecameraguy showed off the trick in a video shared with his two million followers last year.
To try it out for yourself, open the camera app and switch over to Pano mode by swiping left on your display.
If you’ve got an iPhone 11 or later, switch to the wide-angle lens by tapping the “0.5x” button under the shutter (the effect will still work on older iPhones, just not quite as well).
Next, flip your camera 90-degrees sideways so the horizon draws a vertical line down your screen.
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Press the shutter button and work your way towards the sky, making sure to move your phone continuously while taking the photo.
Keep the arrow on the line while moving up to ensure the panorama lines up the photos accurately – or else it’ll look jagged.
As you’re taking your picture, stretch the pano as far into the sky as you’d like to see in your photo and then hit the shutter again to stop.
You’ll end up with a fish-eye effect photo that extends into the sky for a cool effect.
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Artsy black and white selfies
Everyone knows how to take a selfie, but few can do so using this funky effect.
In a separate TikTok post, @jdthecameraguy showed his followers how to get their self-portraits to look more like the headshots of a Hollywood star.
The result is a moody black and white photo with dramatic lighting and shadow.
Open the iOS camera app and switch to the front-facing camera by hitting the circular arrow icon in the bottom right.
Swap over to Portrait mode by swiping left on your display. Portrait mode creates a depth-of-field effect by blurring the background of your photos.
Next, tap and drag across the effects options at the bottom of your viewfinder until you hit “Stage light mono”.
This creates a dramatic black and white photo with a black background.
Now, tap on yourself and then lower the brightness of your image by dragging down on the yellow sun icon that appears.
Selfies taken in this mode will give the desired effect. Your photos look better if you’re wearing darker clothing.
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‘Sunrise’ video effect
Another popular TikTok trick to emerge last year also utilises the iPhone camera app’s brightness slider.
The tool, which lets you expand the highlights or shadows of an image, is visible when you tap to focus before taking a photo or video.
TikToker @willkyaw1 showed a creative way to use the slider to create a curious effect over your videos.
When used correctly, your videos start out in heavy shadow and then steadily brighten as if an invisible timelapse sunrise is happening on the horizon.
To try it for yourself, open the iPhone camera app and swipe right on your display to switch to video mode.
Before recording a video, tap to focus on your subject and then tap the yellow sun icon that appears and drag the brightness slider all the way down.
Once you hit record, gradually drag the slider back up again. Stop recording when you’ve reached whatever brightness you’re happy with.
Voila, you now have a cool video worthy of any travel Instagram account.
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Police have caught an Italian mafia henchman who’d be on the run for 20 years after spotting the fugitive on Google Maps.
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And, an eagle-eyed Reddit user has spotted a $2billion flying stealth bomber on Google Maps.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
