Winston is currently a freelance technology and travel broadcast journalist, consultant, and is the creator and founder of Master Travellr—Canada’s destination for travel news, guides, and budget recommendations.
When you think of a card with well-rounded benefits and flexible points, easy ways to redeem for travel, a healthy welcome offer, and generous hotel and insurance perks, American Express is often top of mind. While still not as widely accepted as competitors bearing the Visa or Mastercard name, the American Express Gold Rewards Card still stands out as one of the most flexible points cards in Canada, featuring a strong earn rate fit for frequent travellers looking to maximize their rewards.
Winter is always a great reminder to get outside and enjoy Mother Nature, but capturing those memories is certainly different from taking photos in the summer.
I was recently at Lake Louise in Alberta, soaking in the action of Canada’s favourite game, a pond hockey tournament set in the most Canadian of backdrops, while having a chance to sled with dogs in Canmore.
While using the iPhone 11 Pro Max on this trip, the temperatures, lighting, contrast, exposure, and action, were all factors when trying to capture the perfect shot. Whether you’re a novice or a professional, here are five tips to help you capture optimize outdoor winter photos on your smartphone.
Keep your phone warm
While your smartphone is designed to deal with some pretty cold temperatures, you want to make sure you use the right protective gear for the elements. This means having a good case to keep it insulated, or a protective and shockproof housing if you’re going to be in water, ice, or snow.
Use the video stabilization
The triple-camera lens array on iPhone 11 Pro brings 4K video recording to a whole new level with vibrant dynamic range and cinematic-quality video stabilization. For high-action events, like sledding with dogs in Canmore, Alta., this means you can capture fluid video, while still having handy access to the shutter button to snap still photos for use on social media.
Swipe below to view video of stabilization shot on iPhone 11 Pro Max
HDR is a setting you want to make sure you have turned on. This can be done via your camera preferences, and this ultimately helps you capture the best of high-contrast settings. This takes multiple rapid photos and stitches together the best part of each image. What you get in the end is darker shadows and more vibrant, visible brights in one shot.
iPhone 11 Pro’s HDR can be used across front- and rear-facing cameras as appropriate.
Lighting and exposure
Think about lighting and exposure when shooting outdoors. Daylight can be your friend, but can also overexpose your images, too. Many photographers opt to shoot in cloudy settings as variables are easy to control, but if you do find yourself in the daylight, when tapping on your photo’s subject to gain focus, make sure to double tap and slide the exposure slider up and down to gain the appropriate and desired level for the current environment.
Finally, Live Photos are a fun way to animate your memories, especially when there’s a lot of action in your surroundings. Tap the Live Photos icon when taking your photos, and iPhone 11 Pro will capture a short clip before and after the main photo.
When viewing the shot in the Camera Roll, you can long-press to bring the moment to life where the video clips are stitched to the photo along with the audio—fun for triggering memories of the moments that happened around when the photo was taken.
What are some of your favourite iPhone photography tips? Leave them in the comments below.
One of the largest travel rewards programs in Canada, Air Miles is affiliated with a wide variety of everyday retail partners, from grocery stores and gas stations, to liquor stores and travel outlets, where members earn points on their purchases. Savvy collectors know they can boost their earn rate by using the right credit card—and with its wide selection of partners and recently enhanced redemption options, the BMO Air Miles World Elite Mastercard is one of the best Air Miles credit cards in Canada, made even better with an annual fee rebate if you have the BMO Premium chequing account. Rounded out with airport lounge access, travel insurance benefits, and purchase protection, this BMO credit card gives other premium travel rewards credit cards a run for their money.
