3 Ways To Take Hands-Free Photos On An iPhone
Capture all the special moments of your child's life with hands-free photos on your iPhone. Learn how in this informative guide.
As parents, we are constantly trying to find ways to document all the major moments of our child’s life. Babies just don’t keep. It feels like you close your eyes, and suddenly, they’re another year older. You need to find a way to capture every beautiful moment! Luckily, that way, it can fit nicely into your back pocket. With an iPhone, you have everything you need to make memories that will last for the rest of time. But how do you capture these special moments with hands-free photos on an iPhone?
As photographers ourselves, we understand this urgency all too well. We also know how frustrating it can be to realize you’ve taken a million pictures on your family vacation, and you’re in absolutely none of them. Unless you’re handing off your phone to a stranger, you probably don’t have pictures of the entire family during each outing. You need a hands-free solution, and I’m here to help you figure it out. We love working with families to help them find easy ways to get the most out of their phone’s camera. If you need to take a picture wherever you are, we're here to help you unlock your phone’s settings.
3 Ways To Take Hands-Free Photos On An iPhone
A quick note: one thing you might want to do before your next outing is buy a tripod. We have another post on our blog reviewing some of your options, but some of our favorite choices include a go-anywhere tripod. This swiftly attaches to your phone and lets you have smooth pictures, even on rough surfaces. It’s the perfect option for anything from camping trips to family vacations. Once you have a good tripod, you can control your phone no matter where you’re standing. Here are a few of the best methods for hands-free pictures.
Voice Control
Hey, Siri, can you get me the perfect family picture? Okay, so maybe voice control isn’t that simple--at least not at first--but if you use Siri on a regular basis, you probably know how helpful voice control can be for quick help. Once you fully unlock your iPhone voice control options, you’ll be able to use that same power to help you take a photo hands-free and anywhere you need.
To start out, head on over to your Settings app. Once you’re there, go to Accessibility (you can find it right between your home screen and wallpaper options). From there, head to Voice Control (this is located in the Physical and Motor section beneath the vision options). By default, this option will be set to off. If you’ve never unlocked your voice control before, you will have to take a few extra seconds to set up this option.
Once your voice control is on, you need to make sure your phone is set up to recognize Hey Siri. This will allow you to use voice control without touching your phone. To finish setting it up, head back to Settings, select Siri & Settings, and turn on Listen for “Ask Siri.” After that, you’re golden! You can just say, “Hey, Siri, open the camera.” Siri will open it, and you can say “Turn down the volume” or “Turn up the volume” to get it to snap a picture. Just know that if you want to switch between your front and rear cameras, you will have to do this manually.
Self-Timer
Self-timer is a pretty classic option for hands-free photos on an iPhone. This one is pretty easy to figure out. First, open up your phone’s camera. See that little arrow in the top center above the frame? Click on that, and you’ll be able to access the extra settings at the bottom such as live pictures, flash, and long exposure. Scroll to the right, and you’ll see a small timer icon. It should be the second-to-last picture.
There are two options with it. You can either select a timer for 3 seconds or 10 seconds. By choosing 10 seconds, you will have way more time to make sure the camera is angled correctly and that everyone is in the frame. Your camera will flash right before it takes the pic, and it will take several shots in fast succession to ensure you can find the perfect one. If you use this with your camera using the front-facing option, you’ll have more control over angling and positioning; however, you’re going to end up compromising on quality. A tripod with a rear-facing camera will ensure you have your picture framed correctly and will yield a much better result.
Apple Watch
If you’re a devoted Apple fan, there’s a good chance you have the perfect hands-free photo remote control for your iPhone right on your wrist. The Apple Watch gives you the ability to control your camera wherever you are. While Apple originally set out to put a camera on the watch itself, that idea simply never came to pass. So, instead, they focused on pairing the watch with your camera to take the best pic possible. Plus, it works even if your phone is asleep. All you have to do is set your phone up as you normally would before moving into place.
Once you think you have a pretty good idea of where you need to be, open up your watch and select the camera icon. Your watch is now going to become a viewfinder. You can look down at your wrist and see exactly what your phone currently sees. This gives you the ability to move into the frame as needed. If you want to zoom in, you can use the Digital Crown. You can also adjust the exposure by tapping on the key area of the shot on your phone, just as you would with your iPhone camera. You can then press the Shutter button to capture the picture. You’ll be able to see a preview on your watch face so you can decide whether you need to retake it. The camera defaults to a rear-facing picture, but you can change this on your watch.
You Will Love The Special Moments You Capture With Hands-Free Photos On iPhone
There’s no reason to miss out on being included in your family’s pictures! With these three options, you can take hands-free photos on an iPhone of every moment.
Ready to learn more about iPhone photography? Then let’s chat and see if Momographers is the right fit for you!
While you're here, don't forget to join our moms group for even more tips and tricks! Also, be sure to check out more blog posts below!
