All guides

How do I film a tour on my phone so it makes good reels?

Hold the phone upright and steady, film in good light with the sun behind you, and take short clips of a few seconds each. Mix wide shots of the place with close shots of hands, gear and faces. Ask guests before you film them for marketing, and leave out anyone who says no.

Updated 8 October 2026

Before you go

Clean the lens. A phone in a pocket or a dry bag picks up smudges, and a smeared lens makes every shot look foggy. Check you have storage space and battery. If you film on the water, use a waterproof case or a floating strap.

Set the phone to film upright (vertical). Reels are shown upright on Instagram and Facebook, and a sideways clip loses most of its picture when it is cropped to fit.

Ask permission first

Tell guests at the briefing that you sometimes film for your social media, and ask if anyone would rather not appear. Make it easy to say no. Keep anyone who declines out of the shot, or don't use clips they appear in.

Get this sorted before you post, not after. Take extra care with children and follow any rules from the place you operate in, such as a national park. Any tool that makes reels from your footage, ReelTempo included, needs footage you are allowed to use.

Keep it steady

Shaky footage is a common reason a clip can't be used. Hold the phone with both hands and tuck your elbows in. Brace against a railing, a paddle shaft or the side of the boat. Walk slowly, or stop walking while you film.

Let the movement come from the scene, not the camera. A still shot of paddles going past is easier to watch than a sweeping pan across the bay.

Action cameras on a helmet or a kayak are fine, but their footage tends to bounce. Mix in some calm shots from the shore or the boat as well.

Use the light

Film with the sun behind you or to the side, so faces are lit and the sky is not a white glare. Early morning and late afternoon give softer light and longer shadows. Reflections off water can fool the phone's exposure, so tap on a face or the main subject to set it.

If the light is flat and grey, get closer. Close shots of people and gear hold up better on a dull day than wide views do.

Get a mix of shots

A good reel needs variety. On each tour, try to get some of each of these:

• Wide shots that show where you are: the launch, the bay, the trail, the town.
• Close shots of detail: hands on a paddle, a life jacket being clipped, food at the stop.
• People shots of guests and guides reacting: a laugh, a point, a high five at the end.

Film each shot for about five to ten seconds. Start rolling a moment before the action and keep going a moment after. Short clips are quicker to look through and easier to cut together.

Moments worth catching

The safety briefing. The first push off. A guide pointing something out. Wildlife, if it turns up. The view at the furthest point. The group photo at the end. Guests chatting as they pack up. These are the moments a new customer wants to see.

Sound

Wind noise is hard to fix. If the sound matters, turn your back to the wind or shelter the phone. For most reels the clip sound is replaced or covered with music, so don't worry if it is noisy.

After the tour

Back up the clips the same day. Delete the ones that are blurry or show people who didn't agree to be filmed. Keep the rest together, so footage from one season is easy to find later.

What ReelTempo does and doesn't do here

ReelTempo looks through the clips you upload and finds the moments worth using, so a long recording can give you several usable shots. It then cuts a reel to music with words on screen and a caption for you to review.

It can't fix footage that is too shaky or too dark to see what's happening. It doesn't check who has agreed to be filmed; that is up to you. It never adds people or scenes that you didn't film.

See how ReelTempo works, or read what a tour company should post on Instagram and how tour operators use reels to get bookings.