1. Treat your iPhone like a real camera

Your iPhone is not just a phone, it's a real camera. So, when you're framing your shot, keep the basics in mind; apply the Rule of Thirds, look for good lighting, and try not to use the flash unless you have to. Also remember that like any other photo, you can always edit your final product in Photoshop or on your phone itself. And best of all, like a real, camera you can get plenty of add-ons that extend the iPhone's capabilities!

2. Use additional lenses

The iPhone 4 has a focal length of 30mm. Luckily, there are a variety of magnetic lenses to get beyond this limited and fixed focal length.

Use a macro lens for sharp close-ups, a wide angle for pretty vistas, and a fish-eye for wild and quirky shots.

Ditch the iPhone's optical zoom, which isn't real zoom at all; just the equivalent of cropping your photo. Get a telephoto lens that will turn your 30mm into 500mm--eight times the iPhone's natural zoom capability. All of these lenses are available at Photojojo.

3. Shoot to your camera roll

Like with any software, always save your work. If you like apps that apply filters to your photos, shoot with the iPhone's built in camera first and import the photo into the app later. Or, use an app that saves the original to your camera roll, like Shake it Photo does in the example above. This way you can experiment with the original to get results you really want, and not risk losing an amazing shot.

4. Use natural light to your advantage

The iPhone camera is a real camera, but it's not the best in low light situations. Keep this in mind and be sure to pull out your phone when it's bright and sunny out; you'll get the best photos that way. You might want to keep it in your pocket if you're in a dimly lit bar.

Bright sunlight is great if you have it, but remember that the iPhone also does an admirable job with sunsets, too.

5. Don't use the iPhone's built in HDR function

HDR (high-dynamic-range imaging) overlays multiple exposures to get a greater range of lighting in your photo. When done well, the results can be stunning, but the iPhone's built in HDR feature often falls flat. Instead, use and app like TrueHDR, which produces far better results with more fine-tuned controls.

TrueHDR can go on auto-pilot for you, or you can do things more manually. You can even choose photos from your camera roll, and TrueHDR will properly overlay them for you. The results are better than the HDR photos the iPhone camera produces by itself.

6. Get wider angles with panoramic photos

Don't want to splurge on a magnetic wide angle lens for your iPhone? No fear, you can still get shots as wide as your heart desires--just download an app that helps stitch panoramic photos together, but don't limit yourself to just making extra long ones. Try making a few short panoramics, and you might just start shooting all your photos with a panorama app! We recommend Panolab.

7. Take better self-portraits

Instead of using the front-facing camera on your phone when you don't have anyone around to take a picture for you, consider using a tripod and an app with timer functionality. The iPhone's front-facing camera is not as high resolution as the camera on the back of the phone, so you're better off not using it altogether. There are lots of iPhone tripods on the market, including Joby's popular Gorillapod.

Use an app like Camera Genius to add timer functionality to your iPhone camera--your friends will thank you!

8. Edit your own photos

There are so many apps that apply pre-baked filters to your photos--Hipstamatic, Instagram, Camera+, and Shake It Photo all come to mind. For a unique and more organic shot, we recommend editing your own photos with an app like Photoshop Express. You can adjust exposure, contrast, sharpness, noise, crop, and more--all the Photoshop basics.

9. Get better action shots
,br> Action shots are always fun, but hard to shoot. It's often difficult to gauge when the perfect capture is coming. So, as the pros do, take more than one photo. Use an app like Camera Genius that has burst mode, so you can capture multiple shots in rapid succession--one photo is sure to be perfect.

Or, capture multiple action shots in a single frame. QuadCamera will arrange up to 8 successive shots in a single photo, taken at whatever time interval you desire. Use it for extreme action shots, or goofy photos like this one.

10. Cut the flash and adjust your own exposure settings

Flash with the iPhone leaves an orange pallor on most people, and in general is best used for fairly close range portraits or to reduce the effect of backlighting. In most situations though, it won't help make a photo great. For fun, give SlowShutter a try. It allows users to manually control exposure and shoots light trails--or at least simulate the experience, since the iPhone's shutter can't actually be controlled.

Try using a long exposure on some cars whizzing by on a dark night for some fun light shots, or on the fireworks this 4th of July. You won't want to use it everyday, since the images it produces are low resolution and a tripod is a must!