iPhone Photo Settings Cheat Sheet For Churches

Hey, it’s Brady,

Many of the most famous photos in human history were taken with cameras less capable than your smartphone.

You just need to make sure you’re using the right settings.

Here they are:

The Camera App

No third-party apps needed! The native Camera app built into your iPhone delivers the most predictable high-quality images. You’ll just need to tweak a few of its settings.

First, in the Formats tab, enable ProRAW & Resolution Control and choose ProRAW Max as the Pro Default setting.

Shooting in RAW is critical. As it’ll give you the most flexibility when editing your photos.

If you prefer a video tutorial for configuring these settings, click here.

Next, in the Preserve Settings menu, toggle on every option - except for Portrait Zoom and Action Mode.

This will ensure your settings don’t reset every time you leave and re-enter the camera app (which can be very annoying).

Now, when you’re ready to take a photo, there are three rules to follow:

Rule #1: Make sure the Raw Max setting is enabled.

Rule #2: Set your exposure to -1.0.

One of the signatures of smartphone photos is that they tend to be overexposed. Reducing your exposure by a full stop will preserve maximum detail in the highlights.

Rule #3: Avoid using digital zoom. DO NOT pinch and zoom to frame up your photo as this will degrade its resolution and quality.

Instead, stick to optical zoom. What is that? If you look at the back of my iPhone, you'll see three camera lenses. This means that I can safely use three different focal lengths. All phones are different.

On my iPhone 15 Pro Max, I’m safe to use the 0.5X, 1X, and 5X focal lengths only.

Ready for more?

Click here to watch The Church Smartphone Photography Masterclass in its entirety (and download the cheat sheet).

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Thanks as always for your time, attention, and trust. - Brady Shearer