Learn how to use your iDevice! Seriously! Take some time to learn all the basic steps on how to run it…particularly the native camera app…how to save to your Camera Roll and access your Photo Stream. With iOS7, Apple has upgraded their native camera app, so this maybe the only app you’ll ever need! (Probably not… but they’d like you to think so!).

Brush up on your basic composition skills. It’s all about composition… it’s not the device, or the apps, or the subject matter… it’s all in how you’ve framed the image, its exposure… and all those other elements. Practice with your iDevice taking snaps of boring subjects… trying out different ways of placing an image in your frame and the like. When you see an image that really grabs you, take a moment to figure out why… and then give it a try yourself.

© David Hayes

There are thousands and thousands of photography apps available to you. Most are great, many aren’t. Go slow as you add these to your tool kit. Ask around to other iPhoneographers about their favorite apps. A lot of times, an iPhoneographer will also state the apps they’ve used when they post an image. I’ve discovered many a great app this way.

Take time to really, really, really learn how to use an app. Look for tutorials and help screens… the better apps always have these. Play around, try out different things with each app. Remember this rule when it comes to iPhoneography…. never take it seriously… and you can always delete! If you decide you don’t like an app… delete it! You don’t want to clutter your iDevice with apps you won’t use. Talk about memory hogs!!

So… are you an iPhoneographer or a digital artist that enjoys doing digital collage? It doesn’t really matter because you can do both… or one… or the other. Don’t let others dictate your style or how you use your apps.

In this same vein, always remember the second rule of iPhoneography: just because you can, doesn’t mean you should! Just because you have several hundreds of really cool apps at your disposal… and I do… doesn’t mean you have to use them all… at once! You win no style points with over-apping an image! I’m a confirmed app-stacker, but there comes a point when enough is enough!! Challenge yourself to do it in one app… or two. Maybe three…

© David Hayes

And… just because you have this great image you’ve just completed… and just because it is so easy to post to hundreds of social sites at once… doesn’t mean you should!! Don’t spam the sites with all your images… be selective. Pick the very best. Be the iPhoneographer that folks look forward to seeing their latest image… and not the one folks just swipe through in a hurry!

Always keep in mind that if you post an image… and I don’t care if you’ve watermarked it with copyright info, embedded info into your files and the like… you no longer have perfect control on how that image can and will be used. Not fair, not right… but just the way it is. So if you don’t want this to happen to an image… be very careful where you put it. (Copyright info can be stripped from an image in a flash!).

Share what you’ve learned when asked. We’re all looking for a new “recipe” to create images. You share yours… and I share mine with you!!

Finally, have fun with it. When in doubt, take the snap. Keep it around for a while. Play with it using your apps. Don’t get hung up with “is it marketable?” Don’t take it too seriously. Let’s keep iPhoneography for everyone… not just for the “professionals”!