The Best Lighting for iPhone.

With any camera, not just the iPhone…

Lighting is king.

Lighting will literally make or break your image, whether you’re shooting on your iPhone or a $100,000 cinema camera.

To get the cleanest possible footage, there are three things you need to be aware of:

#1 - Sun Direction

When shooting in the sun, it’s DIRECTION is everything.

My favorite time of day to shoot outside is either in the morning or in the evening, when the sun is at its lowest points. 

Sometimes this is even before the sun rises and after it sets, when I can capture some nice “blue hour” shots.

You’ll typically have this lighting for about an hour.

What’s happening here is you’re getting some really smooth, diffused reflections of the sun against the sky before it actually peaks over the horizon.

The other time that I like to shoot is about two hours after the sun rises and two hours before it sets.

This is considered “Golden Hour” — when the sky is at it’s warmest and the sun is at its visible lowest.

In this lighting, you’ll get great light direction and can capture a clean, cinematic image pretty much no matter what— but to really amplify BOTH of these settings, you need to know how to position your camera.

#2 - Camera Direction

The golden rule for lighting in most scenarios is to shoot on the shadow side.

This isn’t always true, as there are times you may want to shoot with your subject being BLASTED with light, head-on… but it’s rare.

Generally speaking, I’ll look at the direction the sun is coming from and shoot on the opposite side. The BIGGEST reason we do this is because it creates more DEPTH in your image.

#3 - Textures

Sometimes you can’t shoot in the mornings or the evenings, and you’re stuck shooting in the bright daylight. 

Honestly, I really don’t mind bright, overhead light, as long as there is shade and textures to work with. 

For example, my kids and I ride our bikes on a path near my house. We typically go out in the middle of the day, but my favorite part of this path is shaded by a lot of big trees.

There are, however, some spots where the sunlight peaks through, and that is where I want to be shooting.

By exposing for the brightest part of the image, we draw our viewers attention to what we want them to see— and that’s whatever is in the light. 

Now— in theory, these are all great.. but you gotta go practice them. Get out, find a cool location that you’ve always wanted to film, grab a friend or just film yourself — and practice.

Start developing your style.

These are great general rules to follow, but at the end of the day— art is subjective. Figure out what YOU like, then run with it.

Now, if you’re ready to learn how to turn the rectangle that’s in your pocket…

Into your new professional cinema camera…

Then join Pocket Filmmaker during our early-bird enrollment.

Once it’s gone, it’s gone…

And if you join and realize it’s not for you, let us know within 7 days and we’ll give you a full refund, no questions asked.

See you inside! 👊🏼

-Landon | Full Time Filmmaker