Foto Ruta: iPhoneography London Tour

Go beyond the standard tourist trails and uncover London Town through the screen of a smartphone with a brand new iPhoneography London tour.

Street photography tour company Foto Ruta has brought its unique take on walking tours to London.

Combining a walking tour with a workshop, not only does Foto Ruta show you parts of the city you may have previously overlooked, it pushes your photographic limits by teaching you about composition, light, reflection, movement and how to get the most from the best photo apps around.

I took to the streets of East London with my smartphone in hand – and an expert photographer at my side – for a crash course in iPhoneography (don’t worry if you’re not using an iPhone – I wasn’t – other brands of smartphone are fine too).

Meeting in an East London café, our guides Jessie and Joss make sure everyone in the group is up to speed so there’s no need to worry if you’re a complete iPhoneography novice. After a quick rundown of our phones, the apps we’d be using and some general photography tips we were off.

The half day tour and workshop is part photography master class and part city tour with photographer Jess introducing us to many of London’s most famous sights, street artists and history as well as helping us capture the world in new and varied ways.

We experimented with different angles, close ups, reflections, motion, shadow, composition and creating moods.

In terms of street artists, we came across Stik (my personal favourite) who paints stick figures around the Hackney area; Eine with his vibrant typographical letters that have appeared over East London for more than a decade; and international artist ROA from Ghent, Belgium who has created works across Europe, the US and New Zealand.

While hardly a complete smartphone photography beginner, I’m far from what you’d call an expert in the medium, but by the end of the day I felt my skills and my eye for a good shot had come on in leaps and bounds. When we finally settled in a small bar for a spot of editing and a large glass of wine I felt rather proud of my efforts as we examined the day’s photos as a group – all the shots looked incredible.

It’s pretty impressive what you can do with a phone these days.

Foto Ruta Recommends

iPhone Camera Apps

Camera+ Pro £1.99
VSCO cam Free
Snapseed Free
Instagram Free

Android Camera Apps

Checklist

Charge your phone – Stick your phone in aeroplane mode to save battery during the tour.
Memory – Make sure your camera has at least 2GB of memory.
Bring a Case – Smartphones are easy to drop or break when you’re taking pictures so keep it in a protective case.
Dress for the Climate – Wear comfortable shoes and bring a raincoat (tours run rain or shine).