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Phone Photography with Gabrielle

Expert guidance for your phone photos. Cut through the confusion, unlock your phone’s potential, and take creative, standout photos that tell stories and make a difference. Drawn from Gabrielle’s 17+ years of professional photography experience, each weekly e-mail is filled with practical tips and none of the complex technical jargon.

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The Step Most People Skip After Taking a Photo

Why Editing Changes Everything in Photography PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY with Gabrielle Touchette | April 15, 2026 WHY PHONE CAMERA PHOTOS LOOK DULL Most phone photos look flat straight out of the camera. They're usually a little grey, a little dull, and missing a bit of pizzazz. That's normal. Phone cameras are purposefully designed to take average photos for the masses. They are made this way so that everyone who buys the phone can take photos in auto-mode and get decent results. But the problem...

Can phone photos improve by shooting in RAW? PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY with Gabrielle Touchette | March 18, 2026 When professional photographers use DSLR or mirrorless cameras, they shoot in RAW format, rather than JPG. RAW images capture more detail and data, making them far superior to JPG images. The lighting, colour and range of tones comes out better. On the other hand, shooting in JPG simplifies the visual data, and even removes subtle "in between" tones that help to bring depth and...

A screenshot of a photo of a girl standing against a wall, showing settings Lightroom how brightness and contrast was boosted.

The Simple Fix for Dull iPhone Photo Prints PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY with Gabrielle Touchette | March 11, 2026 Have you ever been frustrated with how dull your phone photos look after you print them? This is what happens: the iPhone (and all other mobile phones) are designed to create photos that have a moderate, baseline look. It's average, with low contrast and a "safe" finish. Phone cameras are made to appeal to the masses. Some people edit their photos, and others don't, so camera makers ensure...

All My Best Photos Follow This Checklist PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY with Gabrielle Touchette | February 25, 2026 Last week I taught a phone photography workshop to a group of PhD and masters students at the University of Manitoba in their micro diploma program in scientific communication. It was such an inspiration to hear about their pursuits in advanced science and research while I got to share the wonderful world of creative visual communication with them. We discussed how art, emotion and...

How to use tension and flow to boost your photography skills and creativity PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY with Gabrielle Touchette | February 18, 2026 I believe every good photographer leans into two opposing life forces to deepen skill and passion. One is tension, the other is flow. They may appear to work against each other, but they don't. Together they drive growth. Here's how to strengthen your photography skills while also refining your artistic craft. Leaning into tension To tap into creativity,...

The soul of photography has always been human LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY Gabrielle Touchette | January 14, 2026 "Wow, who took that photo?" This might be one of the most common questions after someone sees a remarkable photo. It's not "how did they take it?" or "why did they take it?" or "where did they take it?". We as humans want to know who took the photo. We want to know the creator, the person who decided this would be an image worth capturing. When a photo is remarkable, we are...

👉 My 2025 highlights: what worked and what I’d improve LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY Gabrielle Touchette | January 7, 2026 Happy New Year! I'm back, after taking a couple of weeks off. I did nothing except eat, rest, visit with friends and family and of course, take lots of iPhone photos. :) I also reflected on the past year and all the photography that filled my days in 2025. Most days were for work, some were personal projects, and a lot of it was on-the-go impromptu shoots with my...

Are you winter lazy like me? I've got you covered. LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY Gabrielle Touchette | December 24, 2025 I have a dilemma. I don't like the cold but I love taking winter photos. But you know, I'm ok being a lazy photographer in the winter. Not all the time (I do go outside!) but when it's too cold, I 100% embrace and condone this: taking photos through windows. Now, this is not what I would recommend if your goal is to take the sharpest, clearest, highest quality photo. But...

Dare to take dangerous photos LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY Gabrielle Touchette | December 17, 2025 Posing in front of the Christmas tree. Blowing out birthday cake candles. Holding an award. Sitting at a picnic family gathering, smiling. These are the 4x6 photos I grew up looking at. Photography, in my small world, was reduced to snapshots of posed semi-remarkable moments, captured so our family could remember the memories. As photography should be. But beyond that, my little artistic...

Are you "talking" through your photos? LEVEL UP YOUR PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY Gabrielle Touchette | December 3, 2025 There’s a lot of communicating happening in photography. Photos are constantly expressing ideas, saying things and bringing thoughts to our attention. The power of visual communication is what surprised me the most after I got deeper into photography. At first I was drawn to photography for the simple fun of creating interesting images. But when I learned that photos can be used to...