A nature photographer gave me 3 simple iPhone photography tips before my trip to Iceland. My photos came out a thousand times better.

A professional photographer helped me capture more striking photos of a black-sand beach in Iceland with my iPhone.Talia Lakritz/Insider ; Talia Lakritz/Insider

• Nature photographer Chris Burkard offered me iPhone photography advice before my trip to Iceland.
• He said to use the wide-angle lens, put objects in the foreground, and play with lighting.

Iceland is known for its otherworldly landscapes and incredible phenomena like the midnight sun and northern lights. Ahead of my visit there this summer, I wanted to know how to capture the best photos with just my iPhone 13 Mini's camera.

Before embarking on my trip, I asked award-winning nature photographer and author Chris Burkard for his top iPhone photography tips.

Burkard has published 10 photography books and had his work featured in National Geographic Adventure, Surfer Magazine, and galleries across the US. His striking landscape shots have also earned him nearly 4 million followers on Instagram.

He gave me three main pieces of advice:

• Use the iPhone's wide-angle lens. "Any iPhone that has the wide-angle lens is critical," he said. "That's one of the things that I would just make sure that you have with you. If you don't, you're going to be really limited."
• Put objects in the foreground to create perspective. "I love to approach a place or a location utilizing a strong sense of foreground in order to make my background, which might be a waterfall, or whatever my hero subject is, feel more three-dimensional," he said.
• Play around with lighting and silhouettes. "The iPhone doesn't do super well when it's pointed directly at the sun because the sun turns into a blown-out orb of light. The one thing I'd consider is, how can you avoid that at all costs? Sometimes I'll hide the sun behind a leaf or behind just out of frame, or I'll use my hand to protect the lens from the sun."

Burkard's tips helped me see Iceland's natural beauty with a more trained eye, and my photos came out a thousand times better. Take a look.