Emil Pakarklis

Emil Pakarklis is the founder of iPhone Photography School, a website that helps people take better photos with the iPhone.

50 things I have learned about iPhone photography

Emil Pakarklis ∙ Updated March 16, 2018

In this post you are going to discover the 50 most important things I have learned about iPhone photography. Over the past two years I have taken some really great photos, and at least ten times more photos that did not turn out the way I wanted. I have done a lot of photo editing, which often only made my photos worse. I have spent countless hours on social media sharing my work and following the work of other photographers. And I have learned many things in the process.

I hope that by sharing the most important lessons I have learned I can accelerate your learning and help you avoid some of the mistakes that I made. But most importantly, I hope to inspire you to become a more active iPhone photographer. Let’s get started!

9 tips for finding the perfect angle in iPhone photography

Emil Pakarklis ∙ Updated March 30, 2023

One of the most important things determining the quality of a photo is the angle from which it was taken. Even if you have a really interesting subject and you follow the most important composition guidelines, you still need to find that unique and interesting angle to really make your photo shine.

In this article, I’m going to share my nine best tips for finding the perfect angle so that your iPhone photos really stand out and look as great as they possibly can.

How to edit beautiful Fall photos with your iPhone

Emil Pakarklis ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

As the leaves turn from green to bright yellow and red, the fall is one of the best times of the year for landscape photography with the iPhone. When ordinary landscapes change into magnificent vistas, it’s really hard not to take photos of all that beauty.

However, when you look back at your photos, you’ll often be disappointed to see that the iPhone hasn’t reproduced the fall colors as you expected, and the photos just look boring in comparison to the same scene in real life. Fortunately, this can be corrected in post-processing, and in this article I’ll show you a simple Snapseed post-processing workflow that will bring your fall photos back to life by making their colors much more vibrant.

While the fall is well on its way in most of Europe and North America, other parts of the world have different seasons. It’s spring in Australia and permanent summer in tropical regions. However, the same editing workflow can also be used to greatly improve sunset photos, so you should also give it a try if you live in other parts of the world...

7 tips for taking landscape photos with your iPhone

Emil Pakarklis ∙ Updated March 27, 2023

Have you ever taken a photo of a magnificent vista, only to find out that the image doesn’t look nearly as good as in real life? While all of us have experienced that at some point, there are some tips that can dramatically improve the quality of the landscape photos you take with the iPhone.

The iPhone (or any other smartphone) has a small digital sensor which inevitably leads to poor image quality in low-light conditions. However, landscape photos are almost always taken in abundant light, making them practically indistinguishable from photos taken with an expensive DSLR. If you follow the tips outlined in this article, you will be able to take landscape photos that look just as good, if not better, than the same scene in real life.

11 tips to get more Instagram followers

Emil Pakarklis ∙ Updated September 10, 2014

Let’s face it. Instagram is only fun if other people are following you. However, when most of us first sign up for Instagram, hardly anyone is following us. In this article you’re going to learn some simple and ethical techniques to build a following on Instagram.

There's a lot of demand for Instagram followers, and different scams and spammy techniques have been created as a consequence. Needless to say, these techniques don't work (and Instagram will likely delete your account if you use them), so this article only focuses on legitimate ways to get more Instagram followers...

7 apps that every iPhone photographer should use

Emil Pakarklis ∙ Updated March 19, 2018

There are thousands upon thousands of photo apps on the App Store. While some of them are truly amazing, others are average at most. With so many options to choose from, it can be hard to know which apps are worth your time and money. To help you find the cream of the crop, here is a list of 7 apps that every iPhone photographer should use...

How to photograph silhouettes with your iPhone

Emil Pakarklis ∙ Updated March 20, 2023

Silhouetting is one of the most interesting techniques in iPhone photography. By leaving your main subjects in the dark, silhouetting helps you to create a sense of mystery in your photos while at the same time drawing more attention to their subjects.

But more importantly, silhouette photos just look awesome, and it’s very easy to take them with the iPhone. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll know how to photograph silhouettes with your iPhone on your own, and you’ll discover a few simple tips to make sure that they always look amazing.

11 composition tips for taking great photos with your iPhone

Emil Pakarklis ∙ Updated March 24, 2023

Thanks to its great photo quality and the unparalleled selection of photo apps, the iPhone has become the world’s most popular digital camera. However, even an excellent camera and world-class photo editing tools can’t turn a bad photo into a good one, and the easiest way to improve the quality of your photos is to learn composition.

In this article, you’re going to discover eleven simple and highly effective composition tips that will greatly enhance the quality of the photos you take with your iPhone.