Solo Traveler? This Hack Will Change the Way You Take Photos
As a solo traveler, one of my biggest struggles is getting photos of myself. I usually travel with a group, but I hate asking anyone to take my photo. Even though they’re always happy to do it, I still feel like I’m bothering them. (I do think it’s easier to ask on a solo travel tour.) And asking a complete stranger to take my photo? Forget it. But when I found out you can set up a voice control to take iPhone photos, it was a game changer.
What is Voice Control?
iPhone Voice Control is exactly what it sounds like: it allows you to control your iPhone with your voice. In this case, you will create a custom command (a word of your choice) to trigger the iPhone camera to take photos.
How to Set Up Voice Control
Setting up Voice Control to take hands-free photos is super easy to set up. Just follow this step-by-step guide.
Step 1
Go to Settings and tap Accessibility.
Step 2
Select Voice Control and toggle Voice Command to “On.”
Step 3
Tap Commands and select Custom.
Step 4
Create a new command by typing in the word you want to say to trigger the action. If you have an awkward smile in photos, use a word like money, yoga or hey. While you still have to say this word while you smile, you’ll look more natural and happy looking. (I got this tip from Christine Buzan, a professional posing coach. I use her posing tips and they’ve really improved my photos — or at least I think so!)
Step 5
Tap Action and Run Custom Gesture.
You can either create the same gesture as you would when in burst mode (long lines) or tap where the Capture button is on the camera at different intervals to get different shots. (I like to tap at least 5 times with a short pause between. This allows me to adjust my pose to get different shots.)
Step 6
Tap Save, then New Command (in the upper left hand corner) to go back.
Step 7
Select Application, Camera and Save.
Step 8
Open the Camera app and set up your phone to take a picture. Strike a pose and say your voice command out loud.
Now you’re ready to take hands-free photos on your next solo trip! As they say, practice makes perfect. When I first started using Voice Control, I can’t tell you how many photos I had to delete because I cut my head or feet off or I wasn’t in the right spot. The more you use it, the better you’ll get. And at the very least, you’ll have a great blooper reel.
One additional tip: turn off Voice Control when you aren’t using it. If you leave it on, it will pick up all the voices in the background. This will get really annoying if you’re trying to use your phone as it will try to turn speech to text.
Have you tried using voice control to take hands-free photos? Let me know in the comments!
