Light up your Diwali: iPhone camera tips to get that perfect shot [guide]

Diwali is the festival of lights and an opportunity for some picturesque moments. Be it the rangoli outside your home or a diya lit up in the balcony, capturing these small things will show the festive celebrations even without a caption. Now, as you would normally dress up for the occasion, it would be such a waste if that ethnic attire is not captured and shared with friends and family who couldn't make it to the party.

In this article, we will take you through some quick and easy tips and tricks to make sure the photos you capture this Diwali on your iPhone are not just eating into your phone's storage. But first, let us get your started with some prerequisites.

1. Go to Settings > Camera > Grid. Toggle the button to On (Green). This feature will help get the right photo compositions.
2. Go to Settings > Camera > Mirror Front Camera. Turn it on so the selfies are captured how they appear instead of being flipped.
3. Go to Settings > Camera > View Outside The Frame. Turning it off will help you see the frame clearly.
4. Go to Settings > Camera > Record Video. Choose 4K at 60fps for best results, but even the 1080p at 60fps will do the trick. Higher resolution means more storage.

These settings will be sufficient to get you started.

iPhone camera tips and tricks

Diwali is time of parties and celebrations. It's possible there was some sweet on your fingers, which made its way to the iPhone camera lens. First things first, clean the camera lens with a cloth for better results or you'll regret later.

Now, different scenes require different settings. It's all just a few seconds away - thanks to the iPhones that have gone way too smarter over the years. The iPhone 13 Pro's camera setup is magical as it can capture those low-light shots as well as candid portraits with such ease.

When shooting, remember these simple tips.

Set the focus and exposure for better-quality images. Tap on your subject for focus and use the brightness slider to choose the perfect range - not too dark or too bright.

Use AE/AF Lock to your advantage. Simply tap and hold the screen for a few seconds at the point of focus and a yellow box with the AE/AF Lock option will appear at the top of the screen and at that point you can shoot. This is extremely useful during Diwali as you would be taking more than one photo at the same scene.

Burst mode is so underrated. People would rather take multiple shots than use this feature. We'd recommend using Burst Mode by holding down the shutter button for a few seconds. This mode is useful while capturing moving subjects or even when you want to capture a passing moment. You can later pick the best shot by going into the Photos and hit Select at the bottom of the photo.

Long exposure shots are great to look at, but often mistaken as exclusive talent of a professional photographer. In fact, you can do that with your iPhone. Use the Live Photos feature, which records a 3-second Live Photo with movement and sound. Once captured, just choose the Long Exposure effect from the Photos app and et voila.

Macros on the iPhone 13 series are simply extraordinary. It gets activated automatically when you get close to your subject and a diya has never really looked so beautiful when captured with iPhone 13 Pro's Macro mode.

Portraits shot on iPhone are loved by one and all. With the iPhone 13 Pro, things have only gotten better - so so better. Use the portrait mode at 1x or 3x to get that perfect candid portrait shot. You can even use different effects for background, adjust the bokeh even after taking the shot. Moreover, try playing with foregrounds as well, as it can be blurred just as easily the iPhone blurs the background.

The wide-angle mode on the iPhone 13 Pro adds extra oomph to your photos. Make sure you use it, but it is important to frame the shots right in the wide-angle mode.

Night mode will truly light up your Diwali. The iPhone 13 Pro automatically detects low-light settings to brighten up the image without taking away the "night" element of the picture. It's like magic to see how the night mode works on the iPhone 13 Pro.

Photography Styles are something new to iPhones and it's worth exploring this Diwali. You get to choose a photo profile, standard, rich contrast, vibrant, warm or cool. These styles will be applied to your photos so don't have to edit the photos later. Alternatively, try using the iPhone filters if that's more your style.

Enough of photos, let's switch to videos. Diwali is all about those special moments and what better way than to capture them all. Like we said earlier, 4K at 60fps shots are great, both in quality and size. But there's more. Use Slo-Mo mode in the iPhone, which works perfectly under well-lit areas. With the iPhone 13 Pro, we recommend using the Slo-Mo with wide-angle and even 3x zoom and use flash in case there is low light. Moreover, you can choose to record slow-mo at 108p HD at 240fps.

We saved the best for the last. The Cinematic Mode on the iPhone 13 series should be the highlight of this article and the videos captured using this mode of Diwali this year. Apple has made it possible to shoot professional-grade videos with beautiful transitions. This Diwali, the Cinematic Mode is a must.