Photography can be an endless pit of money spending, if you don’t know what gear to buy.
As a professional photographer who has spent tens of thousands of dollars on equipment over the last two decades, I can tell you that some things are not worth buying for your iPhone photography.
But some are.
Here is my list of the top phone camera accessories I’m actually willing to spend money on:
Number 1: Lightroom Mobile
(affiliate link – I may receive a small commission from Adobe if you purchase)
Why I love it: Made by Adobe, the best photography software company in the world (IMO), this is a powerful yet easy-to-use phone photo editing app that I use on the daily. Your phone photos should not be shared, printed or displayed without editing them first. And this app has everything you would ever hope to have.
You can get this app for free here.
Or you can upgrade to their monthly subscription (≈ $15/month) to unlock some pretty amazing premium features that I could not live without. Notably:
- healing brush (It removes distractions and unwanted objects from photos quickly and effectively, thanks to AI-powered technology. It also fills in the background seamlessly so you never see evidence of something missing.)
- selective adjustments (You can custom edit parts of the image without applying global adjustments to the whole image. For example, you can have it auto-detect the sky, then manually darken the sky without the rest of the image being affected. Game changer for creating dramatic skies!)
- batch editing (It lets you copy your editing work from one photo and paste it on multiple selected photos all at the same time. This saves you a ton of time, especially when editing a large group of similar photos.)
Number 2: iPhone Tripod
(affiliate link – I may receive a small commission from KraftGeek if you purchase)
Why I love it: Made by KraftGeek, this is the best iPhone tripod I’ve ever owned. It has a super strong magnetic grip so the phone attaches quickly and securely.
It doesn’t have a big clamp that covers up part of the screen or accidentally presses the side buttons on your phone. (I hated that my old tripod did that!)
It also opens up tall and collapses into a neat, compact shape for easy travelling:
And it has a bluetooth remote! A remote lets you trigger the camera shutter from far away, without having to physically touch the phone or use the self-timer. This is great for natural self-portraits or to avoid camera wobble when taking photos in low-light.
Dionne is hiding the remote in her hand and clicking the shutter to take her own photos.
My blog readers get 10% off using my affiliate link here.
Number 3: Wireless Lavalier Microphone
(not an affiliate link)
Why I love it: Made by Hollyland, the Lark M2S wireless lav mics are the sweet spot between quality and price. They sound great and they’re not crazy expensive. Although I mostly use my iPhone camera for photos, I also take a lot of videos, and having good audio goes a long way.
I find these lav mics small, discreet an extremely easy to use.
They come in their own charging case and have worked well for my professional iPhone video projects too.
Number 4: Handheld LED Light Stick
(not an affiliate link)
Why I love it: The Neewer LED light stick is my go-to when I need soft, diffused light for iPhone product shoots. It’s easy to hold or attach to a tripod, the battery life lasts a decently long time and it quickly recharges with a USB cord. I’ve also used it to light portraits when there isn’t enough available daylight.
The one pictured here was purchased in 2021. The link I shared above shows a newer version of it.
I have many other accessories that I have purchased over the years, but ended up not being worth it. At the end of the day, these 4 products are the only things I need to make my iPhone photography the best it can be.
Are there any accessories I’ve missed?
Let me know by sending me a message here or connecting on Instagram!
