This guide is for those that want to improve their phone photography skills since not everyone always has an actual camera at all times. Unless you’re one of those people who either has to work with one or loves bringing one. There’s a saying that…
The best camera is the one that you have with you
I find that true. While I do truthfully mainly rely on my Sony, It’s not practical to always carry it around everyday. I have to bring a backpack for that and it’s just not practical doing that everytime I go out.
Smartphone photography has leaped into huge improvements because of technology. So make sure to utilize everything it has to offer especially in the world of photography.
zoom with your feet
I will only tell you this right now. Just don’t use zoom the zoom feature if possible. This results in distortion and noise in your image. Editing that out would result in a lower image quality. Get close to your subject and zoom in with your feet.
Tap to meter
Smartphones automatically adjust to the brightness of an area for better quality but there’s no smartphone hardware out there (yet) that can cope with such a wide dynamic range, The best way you can correct this is to tap image on the screen to tell the device where to meter the light. Don’t rely too much on the automatic exposure. Try tapping the dark areas to expose the shadows.
When faced with a brighter subject, try doing the reverse. If you want to capture the details on the brightest sections of your image, tap on that area to underexpose your image.
Use Grid View and Horizontal Level
You need to learn the features as to what your phone camera has. Now if you’re not familiar with using grid lines. Now is the best time to put that to practice. The grid view is when you see those lines going across your camera that is created a mini grid. This serves as a guideline to creating an image with excellent composition.
The gridlines can help you position different elements in the photo. I’ll talk about the rule of thirds on another post if you want to learn more about it. To sum up the rule of thirds, if you place points of interest in these intersections or along the lines, your photo will be more balanced, level, and pleasing to the viewer.
The horizontal level on the other hand is indicated as those two crosshairs you see in the middle. You may have noticed that one is white and the other is yellow. You can use these to get perfectly level shots and top-down pictures. If those two crosshairs align then that means that your phone is completely balanced and vertical to the object you’re taking a photo of.
Use the hdr setting
I used to remember there was an HDR fad some years ago that people used this style so much that it made portrait photos look burnt out and rough. High Dynamic Range or HDR mode is one of the camera modes that lets you see more detail in your shots by widening the exposure range. This results in a photo with a lot of details from the highlights and shadows. It’s best used when the sun is too bright.
I personally like to keep it on auto. But learning how to balance exposure is necessary in the long run as we don’t want to rely on the HDR feature too much.
Shoot in manual mode
If you have this feature, I strongly recommend you learn how to use it. If your phone doesn’t have this, you can download a third party app.
LEARN TO Post-Process CORRECTLY
Learning how to do basic photo editing is a must-have skill nowadays. I’m not talking about filters and yes they’re also an excellent and efficient way to improve your photos. But it is so much better if you edit your photos before putting in a filter. Ask any photographer and they will tell you that most of them post-process their photos. Now this may be daunting at first with so many settings and adjustments but its quite WYSISWYG but simple adjustments give you more control than filters.
I use Snapseed and VSCO because their interfaces are very simple and easy to use. Plus they’re both free! Which is something I like. Another app I’d recommend that is great is Lightroom Photo & Video Editor which is both available on IOS and Android.
Clean your lens
This one is often missed and the top culprit to blurry photos. We always take our phones everywhere and anywhere, so there’s a good chance that your lens will be left with fingerprints, dirt and other residue. Keep your lens clean by simply wiping it with a clean fabric. I can’t stress how much this often needs to be done before especially attempting to take decent photos.
Smartphone photography accessories
If you really want to get serious with your photography with a smartphone, then it’s time to invest on accessories that will improve your craft. These accessories are sure to take your images to another level. I’ll be talking about more about these in my upcoming blog post plus a couple more.
- Portable battery pack / Powerbank
- External lenses
- Small tripod
- Portable LED panel
- Remote shutter control
Take more photos
Practice makes perfect and photography is no exception. You get to develop the ‘eye’ for taking excellent photos by simply taking more photos. We humans are innately tuned to anything that is proportion and aesthetic. It’s so much better to hone skills when you’re doing it hands-on. With a camera in your pocket, it’s easier to press that shutter.
