staging

How to Make Your Camera Waterproof

Tips for Documenting Your Water-Based Adventures

3. Use your iPhone volume buttons to shoot your photo. It will create a steadier image rather than fiddling with the touch screen.

4. Invest in a tripod. And find an app for your smart phone with a timer on it so you're not just holding your phone. "That shot—the self-portrait where you can see your arm—no one likes that shot," says Hilton.

More: Tips for Better Cycling Photos

5. If you're shooting people, get close, says Hilton. "Unless it's a landscape, you're not going to get a very good portrait from far away."

6. Find a panoramic app for your smartphone. Then, take a bunch of photos and your app will stitch them together.

7. Shoot with the sun behind your back, as a general rule. Yes, you can get artsy or experimental with silouhetting and the sun behind your subject, but for all-around quality photos with a subject and background, make sure they're well lit.

8. Mornings and early evenings are the best time to take outdoors photos. Lighting is most dramatic.

9. Use the 2/3 rule. Not centering your subjects makes for a more interesting composition, Hilton suggests. "Of course, rules are meant to be broken."

More:?What Else to Bring on a Hike?

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About the Author

Christina Scannapiego

Christina Scannapiego is the Outdoors editor for Active.com. She?loves yoga?and is fanatical about getting her?endorphins pumping outside.
Christina Scannapiego is the Outdoors editor for Active.com. She?loves yoga?and is fanatical about getting her?endorphins pumping outside.

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