Have you been experiencing problems with your smartphone’s camera? Do you sometimes have trouble getting the perfect shot even though the scenery seems fine to your naked eye? Well, we’ve all been there. Photography has always been a bit of an art and taking photos on smartphones is no exception. If you want to take better pictures with your phone, then the following tips, tricks, and tools will help.
Learn to use lighting to your advantage
Lighting is arguably the most important element of any photo. It’s also one of the most difficult to control when you’re using a smartphone’s camera because it’s so small and light-sensitive. For this reason, the best way to work with lighting on your phone is to strengthen or weaken it as much as possible.
One basic trick is to plan your photoshoots around the lighting of your location. If you have more control over the environment, then you can use various forms of artificial light to improve the quality of your images. For example, you can buy a smartphone mount that acts as a portable studio for your phone. Using tools like this one will help you take better pictures with your smartphone.
The most important thing to remember about lighting is that it’s all about the source. Just like with studio lights, you want to position your light so that it’s pointing directly toward the object you’re photographing and not at an angle. This will eliminate shadows and ensure that everything looks as good as possible. It can be difficult to achieve this if you’re using a single light source, so practice as much as possible and continually re-position your phone until the lighting is perfect. Also, be sure you’re not flooding the lens with too much light as this will lead to overexposed images.
Use your camera’s low-light capabilities to their full potential
If there’s one thing that smartphone cameras are good at, it’s taking photos in low light. It can be hard to take great pictures at night, but there are a few shortcuts you can take to improve the quality of your photos. There are also a few tricks that will make it easier for you to capture images in low light.
First of all, try not to use flash unless you really need it. The glaring light of a mobile flash is distracting and makes it difficult for your camera to focus. If you want to capture a picture of something in low light and there’s no other light source, first try switching the camera to low-light mode and see if it helps.
Another trick is to make sure that your smartphone’s manual aperture and shutter speed controls are set up exactly how you like them. Many smartphones allow you to take control of these settings, and you can use them to capture the perfect photo every time. For example, using a slower shutter speed will let more light into your image for a brighter overall picture. Similarly, adjusting your aperture size will help your phone focus properly on darker objects.
Learn how to set up group shots
Remember that Facebook album you made of all your friends when you went on vacation last year? You probably don’t remember all their faces anymore. A lot of people have trouble taking group photos because they’re just too darn hard to set up. Fortunately, there are a few ways that you can improve the quality of your smartphone’s camera group shots.
The first thing you need to do is make sure that everyone knows what’s going on. A lot of people won’t pay attention to the fact that they’re about to have a photo taken, so having a formalized plan will help a lot. You also want to choose a good background and avoid busy scenes with too many things going on. It can be difficult to focus on a group shot when there’s too much going on in the background.
The second thing is to make sure that everyone stands at different distances from the camera. This way, you can ensure that every person looks as big as possible in your photo and no one ends up looking tiny or blurry by comparison. People also tend to move around a lot in group shots, so your best bet is to have everyone stand still and look at the camera when you take the picture.
Sometimes it’s helpful to try taking a selfie shot with a tripod if there are just too many people to get in one photo.
Editing brings out the beauty in photos
A lot of people like to edit their smartphone photos after they take them. This is perfectly fine, but you should definitely try not to overdo it. If everything in your image looks too bright or dark, or if the contrast is way off, some simple editing can make a huge difference.
There are lots of great apps available for smartphones that let you take control of your photos in a lot of different ways. You can do things like adjusting the brightness, contrast, saturation, temperature, and more with editing software. If Photoshop is too much for you, try VSCO Cam or Photo Editor by Aviary to get just the right look for your pictures without spending too much time on them.
A lot of people tend to stick with the same filters or editing effects when they edit their photos because it’s easier than taking the time to experiment. But if you want to take your smartphone photography game up a notch, try changing things up! You’ll probably be surprised by how much better your pictures look in different colors and with different lighting.
Play around with perspectives and angles
Even if taking good smartphone photos with your device is pretty easy, it can be tough to take images that look unique and stand out from the hundreds of other shots people post every day. One way to make sure your images always look interesting is by experimenting with different perspectives and angles.
It’s a lot easier than it sounds! For example, consider the fact that most people take photos of their faces or selfies from eye level. Try taking a photo of your face looking up at the camera instead, to make it look like you’re looking up to whoever is looking at the photo. This can be really fun if there are other people in the image too – just try to avoid making anyone look short and stubby!
If you’re looking to mix things up a bit, try taking photos from down low or up high. Taking shots from the ground is a great way to highlight beautiful landscapes and architecture. And sometimes it can be fun to take photos of people hanging out on roofs and cliffs so you get really different perspectives than what people are used to seeing.
Consider third-party camera apps
Sometimes it’s not enough to have the right lighting or an interesting perspective – to really take great smartphone photos, you need to consider what kind of tools are at your disposal. While most smartphones don’t come equipped with many options for third-party camera apps, there are a few that can do things traditional cameras just can’t.
Take Manual mode, for example, it doesn’t come with most stock camera applications, but it can be extremely useful. Manual mode lets you adjust settings like focus, exposure time, and white balance all on your own. Most people don’t bother with these camera settings at all, but just a little tinkering can make a huge difference in the quality of your images.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell what kind of differences third-party apps will have until you start playing around and adjusting things yourself. But once you get the hang of it, it’s definitely worth spending some time experimenting with different camera modes to see what kinds of results you can get!
Lens accessories might help
Practically any modern smartphone out there will take photos that look pretty good; but if you want to make sure you’ll always get the sharpest, highest-quality shots possible, lens accessories might be your best bet. While most people think of DSLR cameras when they start looking for lens kits and add-ons, you can actually use specialized ones with smartphones, too.
There are mobile camera lens kits to give your images a whole new vibe. You can try standard wide-angle or zoom lenses, but if you want to take things to the next level you should definitely try out macro and telephoto attachments too! These could make all the difference in getting sharp, clear shots of specific objects from far away.
Practice makes perfect!
Don’t be discouraged if your first few shots don’t come out the way you want them to – it’s normal to take a few duds as you’re learning how to use your device and its camera better. The great thing about smartphone photography is that it really doesn’t require any special equipment or professional-grade software to take great photos.
All you need is your smartphone, some of these tips and tricks, and a little bit of patience. So don’t be afraid to experiment with what you’ve got! If you keep practicing, you’ll see yourself getting better at taking great shots in no time.
Learn to take spectacular photos with your smartphone or mobile device to make the most of your mobile photography experience. Whether you’re taking a picture of your food for Instagram, using Snapchat filters to spice up your selfie shot, or trying out different photo filters and editing effects to take it up a notch, you can create art with any camera.
Make sure that you’re taking full advantage of your smartphone’s video capabilities as well. There are a lot of great mobile apps out there, and it never hurts to have a little fun with them! Just remember to hold your phone still when you’re shooting video or else everything will shake and look blurry. You will also want to make sure that you’re in a well-lit area and your subject is close enough for the camera to focus.
If you know what you’re doing, there’s nothing stopping you from becoming a great mobile photographer. It can be hard when your photos always end up fuzzy or dark, but the more time and effort you put into it, the better your images will be.