Whenever you are taking a picture of something with your iPhone, iPad, iPad Mini, or iPod Touch you can simply tap on the screen to refocus the image. A little box will appear on the screen and the image will refocus. This is especially helpful in a couple different scenarios.

Tap to focus brings up a box showing where the lens is refocusing

1. Close up photos: Whenever you take a close up photo of a flower, a person, or anything else, you can get an impressive quality photo by making sure you have the lens focused in the right spot. You do this by tapping on the specific location on the screen of where you want the lens to focus. The spot you tap becomes clear and if the rest of the items in the image are further away, they blur out creating a very professional looking photo. Here is an example:

This is a closeup photo I took in the Mt. Hood National Forest. With tap to focus, I was able to focus on the moss and the dew drop and the background of the image is blurred to give contrast.

2. Low light or high contrast photos: the tap to focus feature is also helpful in photos where the lighting may not seem optimal. If the image through the lens looks darker or washed out, all you need to do is tap on another part of the screen to refocus the lens and the contrast will adjust as well. For example, in a low light situation, tap on the darkest part of the image before snapping the photo. This brightens your photo significantly. In the same way, tapping on a brighter section of the screen in a washed out image will help to darken the contrast. Allow a couple seconds for the lens to refocus and then snap the photo. Give it a try. You will improve your photography skills immediately!

Tapping on the stone arch of this photo allowed me to create a brighter washed out effect with the image through the arch.

This is another photo I took that demonstrates tap to focus and lighting contrast. This image has had an instagram filter applied to it as well.