So you’re getting pretty good at taking photos—even in your everyday life!—because of Photo Styling Basics. But shucks, you really need some decent photos of you for behind-the-scenes, or that impromptu #fridayintroductions, and other situations where the images you take on your own just. don’t. cut it.

Welcome to the plight of the entrepreneur!

Let’s get down to brass tacks: It is possible to train another person in your life, whether that’s a spouse, friend, or assistant in your work, to take better photos of you. And it doesn’t have to take long. But it does have to follow a certain series of steps, in my experience, if you want what you teach to work and to last. So let’s dive into it!

Important Reminder: A Civilian Is Not a Photographer

The first mindset shift we need to establish is that your spouse, assistant, or friend is probably not a trained photographer if you’re reading this special bonus post, which means you shouldn’t approach photos with them the way you would a pro.

Sound obvious? Well, let me give you two examples of how I’ve made this mistake in the past:

One, a couple years ago I learned that Jenna Kutcher, photographer and “marketing guru,” had figured out how to get good photos of herself by having her husband stand in where she wanted to be in a photo, getting all her settings ready, snapping a shot, showing it to him, and then swapping positions with him—so he’d hold the camera and snap the shot, and she’d be the one in the photo. Seems simple enough.

When I tried to do this with my man friend, it was waaaay harder than it sounded. Even though we’re almost the same height, he somehow always ended up shooting at an angle that was slightly “off” what I had shown him, making them image look warped, unlevel, or just unflattering. Even when I put it on autofocus, it also somehow often ended up out-of-focus or with motion blur. Why? Because he’s not a pro!

Two, when my man insisted he could get a good shot of me if just given more freedom with the camera, I said okay; let me just show you the kind of photos I’m going for. And I pulled up a Pinterest board full of images that I refer to when working with clients—brand headshots that are full of light and candid-looking. He glanced over the board and said, okay, got it.

He did not “get it.” Almost nothing we got was usable, and the stuff that I was I ended up replacing by going to the studio, setting up my tripod with my camera on self-timer, and running back and forth from camera to scene until I got what I wanted.

Ugh.

So when we go about getting photos with “civilians,” for lack of a better description, we need to approach the whole process differently than we would with a pro.

Here’s how I do it now.

Step One: Pick a Concept You Want to Try in Your First Session

Creativity is borne in a box. This means you need creative confines within which to work—you need direction, you need to know what you’re working toward.

When it comes to training someone on how to take better photos of you, you have to know what you plan to work on, and that can’t be everything, and it can’t be wherever the wind takes you. You have to say, I want to try getting photos with motion in them, or I want to try getting great photos that don’t reveal my face, or I want to try getting photos where it seems like leaves are falling all around me. Once you know the outcome you want, it will be easier to reverse-engineer it, as well as avoid getting discouraged during your shoot and changing direction halfway through.

Step Two: Decide whether you’re using a phone camera or pro camera.

For some of you, the answer to this question will be obvious, because you don’t own a pro camera. For others, you might be inclined to use your pro camera, but I’m going to make a case that you use your phone—at least to start!

Most “civilians” are going to be more comfortable using a phone to get a photo than using a heavy, manual camera. They hold phones all day long, so they’re not going to be intimidated by them or afraid of dropping them. This already sets you off on positive footing.

Another good reason to start with a phone is that most phones now have automatic, built-in features that can help your civilian-photographer get a better shot. You can turn on grid lines to help them get the photo level; they’ll be able to auto-focus; and Apple has even recently added a RAW photo update (iOS 14.3), which is compatible with phones newer than iPhone X. (Instructions on how to get the update and shoot in RAW are at the end of this bonus, as well as how to turn on grid lines.)

Plus, with presets, you can edit photos that were shot really well to look compatible with your aesthetic, and many times, no one’s going to know the difference if it’s just a simple headshot.

You can get the AG Mobile Preset Collection here and save 50% with the code STYLESTUDENT.

Step Three: Set Aside Time to Train

It’s unreasonable to expect that someone who has had no training will be able to get an amazing shot on their first try. So if you have access to someone who is likely to help you with photos often in the future, you should set aside time in advance to show them how to great images with their phone (or yours).

I recommend setting aside at least 90 minutes for this process, and planning that you’ll only be taking these photos for fun. Eliminate the pressure that comes with capturing photos you actually need by instead making this shoot one you’re taking at a park or fairground or after the first snowfall, so that you can both bounce ideas off one another and, in the off-chance you come away with nothing, it’ll be okay, but if you come away with great shots, they’ll be a great memory for both of you.

Be sure to explain to the person you’re training that this shoot is just a fun one, and that their ideas are welcome, because in the future it will be easier for them to be empowered to mix up their angles and try the ideas that pop into their head if they understand it’s part of the creative process. You can’t see what they see when they’re looking at the phone screen, and you’re counting on them to make adjustments so the photo comes out well. They need to feel comfortable doing that.

Step Four: Do a Base Test

You may be one of the lucky few that actually has someone in your life with a natural eye and a good grasp of the camera technology on their phone. Then again, you could be working with someone who has only ever used their camera to take photos of beer and buffalo wings in pubs late at night, and has no idea that there’s anything but “auto” available to them to use. To figure out where on the spectrum they fall, ask them to do a base test.

All you need to do for a base test is tell the person you’re working with what concept you want to try (see step one), and then say, “I don’t want to teach you anything you already know, so just take some photos of me—tell me whatever you think will look good and I’ll do it—and then we’ll look at the photos and see if there’s anything I have to add to take the photos up a notch.”

I did this with my man in the studio I often use for my client photos. I told him he could pick where I’d be, tell me how to pose, and find the angle he thought worked best. The photos above were what he got.

Immediately I could tell that he didn’t have a good grasp of light, that he felt obligated to get my whole body in the shot (likely thinking he could always “crop” later—I’ll explain why that’s a mistake in a bit!), and he had no idea how to pose me. All right, now I knew what we needed to work on!

Step Five: Turn on the Phone’s Advanced Features

(Note: This step can be a little intense; if needed, proceed to step six and come back to this step later!)

A lot of civilian photographers will simply put their phone into “Photo” mode and start shooting, when really “Portrait” or “Pano” mode might be better.

Portrait mode allows you to add bokeh to your photos—this is the effect where the subject in the foreground is in focus, while the background is blurred and out-of-focus. This gives the image dimension, or depth. Here’s an example of an image shot in Portrait mode:

On an iPhone, another perk of portrait mode is that you can select your lighting style, and the phone will mimic the light under different conditions. Studio light and contour light can be fun to play with. (At the bottom of your preview on iPhone, you’ll see a little cube, and when you first open Portrait mode it will say “Natural Light” for a second before it minimizes. Simply tap and scroll to change the lighting style.)

Pano mode allows you to shoot continuously while moving your camera in one direction—either left to right, or bottom to top. On newer phones, this can help with creating a “fisheye lens” look, where parts of the scene at either the far sides, or the top and bottom, to look closer to the camera than they actually are.

Here’s an example of an image shot in Pano mode:

If you and the trainee decide to stay in regular Photo mode, there are still some cool features in this mode to be aware of.

Now, in our household, we have both an iPhone X and a Samsung Galaxy S8+. These are not widely considered to be “new” phones, but they have all the features needed to get started, and if you’re using a newer phone, you’ll have even more features, so, you know, bonus.

On an iPhone X, as well as a Samsung Galaxy S8+, at the bottom of your preview, you’ll be able to see if your image is being shot in “1x” or “2x.” When you tap on this signifier, you’ll have the option to switch back and forth between the two. I generally recommend working with the 1x, and just getting closer to your subject as needed.

On an iPhone 11 or higher, you’ll actually have the option to do “0.5x,” which is like having access to the outcome of a panoramic photo without having to hold your hands steady while you shoot in continuous motion—you get a super wide angle that allows you to add a lot more implied motion to a photo, as though you shot on a 16-18mm lens. Here are some examples:

Also in photo mode, you have the option to shoot stills or what are called “Live” photos. I used to hate Live photos, until I realized they could be used to do this:

You can also use them to create boomerangs for your Instagram!

Photo mode, Portrait mode, and Pano mode are all selected at the bottom of your camera app once it’s open; live mode is turned on at the top of the screen when you’re in Photo mode.

Show your trainee these features and ask them what they want to try first, given the concept you’re attempting (see step one). Carefully explain the differences between each mode and what it’s good for (Portrait mode = background blur; Pano = more in the shot; Live mode = add motion). Remember, you’ve got at least 90 minutes to work on this and you’re there to have fun and learn, so it’s okay to try a few things!

ONE MORE QUICK TIP: On our phones, the camera is located at the top of the phone. However, flipping your phone upside down can exaggerate the angle or add more depth if you’re shooting from down low, or up against an object (such as a puddle, the double-yellow on a road, or against a fence).

Experiment with the different modes before you move on to step six.

Step Six: Pick Just One Area of Improvement at a Time to Work On, and Keep Working until You Get It Right

Information overload is a real thing. When I looked at the photos my man got of me, I saw several ways to improve, but I only pointed out one at a time, and had him work on correcting just that one thing in each subsequent batch of photos.

Light was one of the things he didn’t know how to find. The Clockwork Exercise from lesson two is a good place to start if this is an obstacle for the person you’re training; just make sure you tell the person you’re working with what to avoid as well as what to do instead. For instance:

1. “Facing me toward the sun means I’ll be squinting, so if there’s a good spot where the sun is coming in from the side, that might be better.”

2. “The first photos were really dark, so before snapping the next photo, tap a darker area on the preview screen and the phone will automatically adjust so the picture is brighter.”

Another thing Matt was afraid to do was come in too close. This was partially on me because he didn’t fully know what I wanted; all he knew was that I wanted pictures of myself I could use on Instagram.

He also didn’t realize that when you shoot a photo from far away and then crop it, the detail on the cropped image isn’t as good as it appears on the full-size image, so it would actually be better to get a closer image than to start far away and crop-down.

But maybe the biggest thing that we had to work on together was having him communicate with me throughout the process. Our phones don’t have the shutter sound turned on, so I never knew when he was taking a photo, so I didn’t know if I needed to smile and hold my pose or if I was sitting uncomfortably and smiling like an idiot for no reason. I had to tell him, even if it seems dumb to you, narrate everything you’re doing as you’re doing it, and that will tell me how to behave and what to change:

• “Just trying to get you in focus here…”

• “Tapping the dark spot to brighten the image—oops, that’s too bright, gotta tap another area…”

• “All right, that looks really good, hold that!”

Step Seven: Stay Involved

Throughout the training process, check in regularly to see what your trainee is capturing. You want to know if it’s going well. Your trainee won’t always know what to look for unless you tell them—and likewise, won’t know if they’re doing a “good job” in your eyes if they’re not receiving positive reinforcement!

Always tell them what’s going well before you offer constructive criticism:

• “All right! You totally fixed the light in these ones. Awesome.”

• “Oh, you got a good angle on my face! I like that.”

• “I never would have thought to try that! That’s cool.”

Then tell them you want to combine whatever they just did right with the next thing you want to work on, such as flipping the phone/camera upside down, shooting in a different mode, or coming in tighter.

Step Eight: Edit, Edit, Edit

No matter how well your trainee does, you’re still going to want to edit the photos afterwards using an app like Lightroom Mobile.

This app will allow you to brighten your images, add or reduce contrast, draw out or mute specific colors, sharpen, correct images that were slightly crooked, and more.

Finding mobile presets that match your brand’s aesthetic will be key in helping you develop your images to look like the more “pro” images on your Instagram grid, website, blog, or Pinterest account. Even with presets, you’ll need to make minor adjustments most of the time, but the “one-tap edits” will significantly reduce the amount of time you spend editing!

Other Tips

Remember that part of how well these photos turn out is dependent on you—your confidence in yourself, the wardrobe you choose (see the lesson styling people!), your poses, and even in the end the grace you have for yourself. Remember that 150% mirror concept? You’ll eventually want to accept that there’s never going to be a “perfect” photo of you—but one that’s 80% of the way there is usually good enough!

Also, how naturally creative and/or positive the person is you’re training will be a big factor in how successful your training session will be. If you’re trying to train someone who doesn’t want to be there, or who tends to say “I know” a lot, even when they don’t really know, that’s going to make the session tense and frustrating. You may be better off hiring an intern or putting an ad online for a low-paying position for a young person to help you with photos instead.

If the methods in the steps above don’t prove right for you, there are other techniques, such as the video right below this paragraph, that can work instead. I’ve actually set up my camera on a “gooseneck” (you can get them online for cheap—here’s an example) and taken a bunch of “photos” this way pretty successfully. Samples below the video.

And not every feature out there is covered in this lesson—there are a lot of features in your camera these days, so play around on your phone’s camera, firstly, and secondly, search up videos on YouTube for your phone’s specific in-camera features! You can also follow hashtags on Instagram like #instatips and #phototips to see more content related to photography in your main feed and in Reels.

To Turn on Grid/Access RAW on Apple Devices

Grid: This is a feature that helps you line up your shot in a level way, as well as take advantage of the Rule of Thirds of you want to. On iPhone, to turn on the grid, simply:

1. Tap on Settings

2. Scroll down to Camera and select

3. Toggle “Grid” to be on

If you’re a pro photographer and want “RAW” images so you can do more in editing, do the following (only works for iPhone 11 or later):

1. Tap on Settings

2. Scroll to General and select

3. Tap “Software Updates”

4. If you don’t already have iOS 14.3 installed, Apple will tell you here. Download it to access Apple RAW

5. Your phone should restart on its own

6. Tap on Settings again, then Camera and Formats

7. Toggle on the RAW option, and RAW will now be an option at the top of the Camera app when you open it