Editing Photos with AI: a deeper look into how I do it LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY Gabrielle Touchette | November 12, 2025 Is it ok to edit your photos? Or are photos best untouched by an editing app? To take the question further: Is it ok to edit photos using AI? Take a look at my before and afters and I'll tell you why I love editing my photos (and why I think AI is ok for some stuff): BEFORE Unedited, straight out of camera: AFTER Edited in Lightroom Mobile, using all the bells and...
14 days ago • 3 min read
Unlock the Power of Light in Your Photos LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY Gabrielle Touchette | November 5, 2025 The best photographers are lifelong students of light. If there’s one thing you should pursue, it’s the discovery of light. Its attributes, its quirks, its beauty, its quiet way of speaking 1000 words in one photograph. Often times we chase obvious subject matter. A cute cat. A mountain view. An architectural marvel. A culinary spread. We don’t see the forest for the trees. We...
21 days ago • 2 min read
The antidote to anxiety isn’t productivity, it’s creativity. LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY Gabrielle Touchette | October 22, 2025 Photography is a lot more than just taking nice photos. To me, photography is a lifeline. It's a form of therapy. It's a creative habit that has benefits far beyond what we realize. Adopting a creativity lifestyle is crucial. Being creative, engaging in artistic activities and making art is crucial to our well-being. When @newhappyco posted this on Instagram, I...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
The Richness of a Curious Life LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY Gabrielle Touchette | October 1, 2025 Curiosity doesn't have to end in childhood. What I love about photography is that it gifts us the skill of curiosity. Some people might call curiosity a character trait. Or a subconscious behaviour. But I like to see it as a skill, because I believe it can be developed. We can train ourselves to be more curious. So how do we gain more of the richness of a curious life? By practicing it. And it...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
It's not you. It's your lens. LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY Gabrielle Touchette | September 24, 2025 Have you ever noticed that iPhone photos generally look flat? But professional camera lenses create more texture, depth and mood? That's because mobile phone lenses aren't as sophisticated. They don't take photos how our eyes see. When you look at an object with your eyes, the lens inside your eye changes shape in order to focus on the object. This naturally makes the foreground and...
2 months ago • 2 min read
We are drawing with light (with our exposure slider) LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY Gabrielle Touchette | September 10, 2025 Control the light, control the mood Photography means "drawing with light". That's what the word actually means in its original language. So controlling your light might be the single most important thing you can do when taking a photo. Lighting is everything. Every great photographer, film director and visual artist will tell you that. In photography, the single most...
3 months ago • 1 min read
LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH GABRIELLE TOUCHETTE ••• Welcome to Week 30 of 2025! In today's e-mail, you'll get: TIP OF THE WEEK: Capturing Creative Photos of Yourself PHOTO OF THE WEEK: The Rule of Thirds TIP OF THE WEEK Capturing Creative Photos of Yourself Want lifestyle photos that actually feel like you, but don’t have access to a photographer to take the photos for you? No problem. You can do this yourself! I've been meaning to create a how-to blog post on storytelling selfies...
4 months ago • 1 min read
LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH GABRIELLE TOUCHETTE ••• Welcome to Week 29 of 2025! In today's e-mail, you'll get: TIP OF THE WEEK: A visual lesson in great group shots PHOTO OF THE WEEK: The wild rabbit that eats weeds in my backyard RESOURCES YOU MIGHT LIKE: Are newer iPhone cameras better than old ones? TIP OF THE WEEK Tricks For Nailing Group Shots When I was 11, I took art lessons from a local artist whose other day job was sketching for court cases. I thought he was the coolest. I...
4 months ago • 2 min read
LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH GABRIELLE TOUCHETTE ••• Welcome to Week 28 of 2025! In today's e-mail, you'll get: TIP OF THE WEEK: What Beginner Photographers Hate PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Amplifying Texture & Shine RESOURCES YOU MIGHT LIKE: How To Make Phone Photo Stickers TIP OF THE WEEK Shadows as Subjects Most beginner photographers prefer soft light. This is when the light is so diffused that shadows are almost undetectable. Soft light: you can't see the sharp edge of a shadow. On the...
5 months ago • 2 min read