Congratulations on getting a stand for your phone! It can open a world of new photo opportunities.
Any place can be exciting. The same spot will look like another place different times of the day or in different seasons.
With the sun in your back everything will be evenly lit, and colors look good.
When the sun comes from one side everything has shadows that make the contrasts stand out. Try to set the exposure for the darkest or lightest parts (just tap different places on the phone display) and you will get biased photos that accentuate one part of the scene and completely hides another.
When you have the sun in your eyes, you can set the exposure for something in the forefront and have it washed in backlight, or you can set the exposure for the sun, and everything in the forefront will be black shadows. Get close to the things near you, and their silhouettes will rise to the sky. Experiment with having the sun shine straight into the camera or hiding it behind an object.
With the tripod, you can play with long exposures too. It doesn’t take a lot of cars moving in the night to get exciting light trails. Or mount the tripod on a moving vehicle and make sure that parts of the vehicle are visible to the camera. When the vehicle moves while you take a 1/3 or 1/2 second exposure, it will look like you are moving at hyper speed, even if you are on a bike.
Another trick to get interesting photos, is to use unexpected perspectives or get in very close. At 10 centimeters you get a chance to capture textures that you would otherwise miss. Combine it with sidelight and the shadows will make the surfaces pop. String the tripod to a tall stick or pole, and you can shoot a poor man's drone photos. Cars, crowds, buildings, trees, selfies, parties, street life, birds nests...
Shoot portraits with the phone mounted on the tripod. We often miss what’s most important to us because it’s always around. Until it isn’t. Try to capture family and friends the way you see them in your mind. While they might not like you taking their photo when you do it, they most likely will in ten years when they realize how young and good-looking you made them. Start with those closest to you and older people.
On a tripod, you can start your digitization project. Make digital copies of all your paper photos. Go through the family albums too. Make sure they are there for generations to come. It likely eliminates the risk of quarrel over who gets them when it’s time for someone to inherit the albums. Having the digital copies instead of the burden of the physical ones, is at least as good.
Examine your photos after a day of shooting. Imagine what could be different and better if the light came from a different angle, if you moved the camera to one side, if you changed the perspective, tilted the camera or exposed for the light sky or dark shadows. I often go back and retake photos that I wasn't completely satisfied with.
Mind you, not all photos are supposed to or have to, look perfect. When you are on vacation, the idea is to have a good time and relax, not get the ideal photos and miss the moment. You will remember the moment even if it's over-exposed or a bit blurry. I can't remember a single photo that I regret taking. I more often regret not taking more photos of people or places that are no longer around.
I want to recommend my two favorite photo apps (for iPhone, since that’s what I use). For almost all photography I use the Moment app. It has all the features I need, including the option to shoot RAW. For digitizing paper photos, Photo Scanner Pro is my all-time friend. Point and shoot. The app will detect the photo, crop it and adjust the perspective. Make sure you have sufficient light and the camera on the tripod to get low ISO with a minimum of grain. It’s best if you can have old curved photos laying flat.
» Moment - Pro Camera on the App Store
» Photo Scanner Pro: Scan Albums on the App Store