The iPhone is the best camera most of us have with us most of the time, and that includes those times when kids do the most amazing, the most outlandish, and the most unexpected things. Making sure you can capture those serendipitous moments as quickly, easily, and beautifully as possible is something Apple has spent a lot of time on. Both the iSight hardware and Camera software are specifically designed to do just that. When it comes to taking great photos of your children, grandchildren, nephews, and nieces, and family friends, there are several ways to make sure the best camera captures the best photo possible! Note: For planned shoots, including portraits, see our how to take fantastic photos of your kids with your iPhone guide. Get an iPhone SE with Mint Mobile service for $30/mo 1. Pre-set for success!

When your kid is in the middle of a birthday cake blowout, goal kick, belly flop, or chance encounter with Mickey at Disney, the last thing you want to do is start fiddling with your camera settings. So, choosing good defaults is essential. For example, if you set high dynamic range (HDR) to "auto" then, no matter the range of light and shadow, you'll get the most detail possible from your photos. If you're more comfortable shooting with the camera grid on, so you can line up your shots using the "rule of thirds", or if you don't want to be stressed even thinking about it, you can easily turn it on or off. And if you think you might be shooting at night or in extremely low light, you can even set the LED flash to auto, just in case. (Hey, something is better than nothing!) How to enable HDR or Auto HDR on your iPhone or iPad

How to enable grid lines on your iPhone or iPad

How to use the True Tone camera flash on your iPhone 2. Fast access, fast photos!

Taking a photo while rushed, stressed, or otherwise in the moment can be tricky. You have to worry about your own hands moving or shaking, and your child doing everything but standing still. At the same time you want to make absolutely sure you capture whatever they're doing at just the right moment — the high point of the jump, the fullness of the splash, the cross-of the finish line, the impact of the moment. That's why Apple added burst mode to the iSight camera to help you get the best shot possible, even if it takes many shots in rapid succession to get it! How to use burst mode to capture all the action with your iPhone camera 4. Shoot and move!

When you're not prepared to take a photo, it typically means you're not in the best position to take it either. The lighting probably won't be ideal. The distance probably won't be ideal. Here's the thing — Shoot anyway. Get your camera open fast and burst a quick series of shots just to make sure you capture something. Then move. Once you have that first set of shots, once you know you've captured the moment, move to an angle with better lighting. Move to a better, closer distance. Keep shooting while you do. Take short bursts every time you step down and are relatively stable. Keep shooting but keep moving until you're at the ideal position, light behind you, action filling the frame, level with your children. The moment might pass long before you get there, but you'll have a steadily improving series of photos until it does. How to position yourself to take the best photos of your kids 5. Go manual if you must!

For more experienced photographers, the iPhone now lets you take full, manual control over exposure, focus, and white balance. While fine-tuning each photo won't be possible when you're tying to capture impromptu photos, if you know you'll want photos and your kids are zooming around, or the setting is dark, you can take control of exposure to lose some light to reduce noise or blur. Set it in advance, then take the shots when you want them! All you need is a great manual camera app! Best manual camera apps for iPhone: Fine tune your photos before you take them! 6. The video trick!