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Level Up Your Phone Photography

Shape the Story and Mood With This One Camera Setting

Published about 2 months ago • 1 min read

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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.

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Lighting is everything.

Every great photographer, film director and visual artist will tell you that.

In photography, the single most important thing you can do when taking a photo is CONTROLLING THE LIGHT.

Even with the simplicity of a point and shoot camera, our phone gives us the ability to control the light whenever we're about to take a photo.

The technical term is controlling the exposure.

Look at these two photos. Does the dark photo put off a different vibe than the lighter one?

Of course it does.

The darker one is more mysterious, dramatic and ominous.

But the lighter one is more open, cheerful and radiant.

The only difference between these two shots is how I exposed the photo. Here's what I did (with my iPhone):

Before taking the photo on the left, I tapped on the brightest part of the image and the exposure slider appeared (that's the yellow vertical line & sun). I lowered the sun to make the photo darker.

Before taking the photo on the right, I tapped on the darker part of the image and then pushed the exposure slider up. This made my photo brighter.

With just this tiny adjustment, I'm completely transforming the emotion and mood of my photos.

And this is just on a static subject! Imagine what it does for portraits? Or landscapes? Or food photography?

As a photographer, you are an artist drawing with light.

What mood will you create with your next exposure?

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Curious to know what my top 4 iPhone photo & video tools are?

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Hi I'm Gabrielle. I run a full time photography business in Winnipeg, specializing in portrait and commercial photography. This newsletter started with my passion for helping everyday people realize their full photography potential. With a bit of technical and creative help, you too can take better photos with the phone camera you already have.

Find more of my resources here:

​Instagram • My Blog • Patreon • Lightroom Editing Course​

Gabrielle Touchette Photography

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Level Up Your Phone Photography

with Gabrielle Touchette

Confident creativity starts with your phone. Simple, powerful ideas to help you grow your phone photography skills, tell visual stories that matter, and unlock your creativity in everyday life. One weekly e-mail at a time.

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