Tag Archives: still photography

Joby iPhone stand for still photography

I have played with a variety of grips for the iPhone in an attempt to produce better shots where the camera needs to avoid movement. The most popular ones are either cases that must stay on the iPhone or a edge mount that wont work with my iPhone since I have a thin vinyl protection sticker on the back. So, I set out with a friend to do our own with the help of our million friends on Kickstarter. About the time we were doing the video, the Joby GripTight was found. The expandable frame that will work with about any iPhone is really close to what we thought we would be cool, so we bought a couple Joby unites.

For this weekend, if your thinking you may need a mount for your iPad, Joby is offering 20% off!

There are three different versions of the GripTight kit available. All of them use the same ‘grip’ feature, but each have their own stand to best suite your needs. The little fold up tripod fits in about any bag so it’s handy when the need pops up.

A lot of others call these flexible three legged stands, Guerrillas. Great for those times you need to hold your iPhone to a pole or tree. The legs are much longer than on the solid tripod above.

If you already have a favorite tripod you may have for other equipment, GripTight is available with a standard mount on the bottom without being attached to an included tripod.

Remote activation of the iPhone’s camera shutter

A technique I learned with my old film cameras was to snap photos with one hand holding the camera, usually so I could get a shot from up high looking down. Attempting this in the beginning with the iPhone proved to be challenging. I would miss tapping the button and this miss the shot. Then I found that the action to take an image using the iPhone was the release of the shutter button, not the pressing. Just sit my finger on the button, raise the iPhone up high and release when I wanted the shot.

It didn’t take long for the feature in camera apps to include the ability to tap anywhere on the screen to snap the photo. With iOS5 came the ability to use the + volume hardware button to snap photos. Cool feature… I just never remember to use it.

I will be covering a couple photo apps that work particularly better if your iPhone is in a tripod. Even with the iPhone in a tripod, tapping the up volume or screen can be enough to cause some garbage to be introduced into a photo shoot. Since my iPhone’s Apple headphones have a volume control, I tried snapping a photo using the + on the headphone wire… it works!! In fact, the photos snap pretty quickly using this method.