A guide on how to take great photos on your smartphone
The advent of the smartphone has meant taking a photo has never been easier. While a photo won’t look as good as one captured by a proper camera, taking a beautiful photo is more than possible with just your phone. And after all, a good photo is a good photo regardless of what was used so here are 10 tips to elevate your smartphone photography.
Move don’t zoom
You can digitally zoom with your smartphone but the picture quality will be poor – even a little bit of zooming and the photo become pixelated and grainy. If you want a close-up of something, don’t be afraid to move in and get up close. If that’s not possible, take the picture and crop out the part you don’t want.
Lighting is key
Any photographer knows that lighting is one of the most important aspect of good photos and that goes doubly so with smartphones. Your subjects should be well lit and facing the light source (as the photographer, the light should be behind you), unless you’re taking photos of sunrise or sunset, of course.
Hold the phone like a camera
It’s so easy to whip out the phone and quickly snap a photo on the go but take the time to hold up your smartphone like a camera – with two hands. A stable, secure base means less chance of blurred or wobbly looking pictures.
Beware of flash
The flash function on your smartphone is weaker than a camera so tends to make photos and people look ghostly. Turn off the flash when you don’t need it and careful with having it on “auto” mode as many phones still use flash more than necessary.
Clean your lens
Our smartphones spend time in our pockets and handbags so it’s likely to pick up some dust and grime along the way. Give it a wipe, as a clean lens is necessary for a good picture.
Think outside the box
The great advantage of smartphones is they are small and easy to manoeuver. This gives you more freedom to be creative and change up the perspective or angle while shooting. Get up close, take it from a low or high angle – it will make your photos different and interesting.
Use the focus/exposure
Unlike cameras, the smartphone camera doesn’t give you much of an option to play around with the focus, exposure or white balance of a picture. However, it does let you set the focus and exposure by gently tapping on the screen of the camera. If your subjects are prone to moving you can lock the focus and exposure by tapping and holding the screen until the setting locks.
Take multiple shots
Sometime good photography just comes down to luck so why not increase your luck by taking a few extra photos. It’s easy to do and you don’t have to worry about wasting expensive film. Now you can choose the best picture and discard the rest.
Use the camera grid
There’s an art to taking good photos and it’s about following rules. The “rule of thirds” states that subjects look visually pleasing when they’re one third of the way cross or down your image as oppose to in the centre of the photo. Smartphone cameras have a grid to help you with this, which also helps to ensure photos are straight.
Filter it
If you’re still not happy with your photo the upside of smartphone is you can easily tweak it. Filters are artsy effects you can apply to your photo to make it look better. Many cameras on smartphones will have filters already but if not, you can download picture editing and sharing apps that do. Apps like Instagram are hugely popular in part because filters tend to make even the poorest photos look good.