Photography isn’t limited to point and shoot cameras and DSLRs. A lot of phone manufacturers are putting high resolution cameras into their phone making them viable photographic tools. Apple, Samsung, HTC, etc. are pushing the phone photography into a new level.
Almost all mobile phones have a camera. Unfortunately this has no effect in the output of mobile phone photographs. A lot of them are still of poor quality. This article will help you to maximize your mobile phone camera and take better pictures.
Good Lighting
Photography is about light. If high end cameras require good lighting to capture great photographs, the same is also true for mobile phones. When taking a picture, always take note of the light. If shooting in daylight, find a shade. If shooting at night, turn on some light or use your phone’s flash. You can also use the flash as fill when shooting outside.
High Resolution
DSLRs can opt to use RAW or various JPEG settings. The same can be said for phone cameras with their resolution settings. A lot of users use the smallest resolution possible to save space. However, this means that you don’t capture all the details possible. And when you try to print or post your pictures online, the quality will be sub par. Storage space is very cheap right now so buy a high capacity memory card and take high resolution pictures.
Post Process
Straight of the camera pictures from your phone would be better if you edit them. You can use applications the edit them in your camera but ultimately you will achieve better pictures when you edit them in your computer. You have more flexibility and the possibilities are endless.
Proper Posture
The dimensions and weight of a mobile phone differs greatly from a DSLR. This means that you hold them differently. With a DSLR, weight is an advantage since it can help you stabilize more. It also forces you to use both of your hands achieving less blurry photos. With a mobile phone, you are used in holding it with a single hand. And pressing the shutter while using a single hand will inevitably create blurry pictures. To fix this, use both of you hands when taking a photo. Much like what you will do when using a point and shoot camera. Try not to lean too much when taking a photo. And remember that your camera will have what they call shutter lag. Unlike DSLRs, your mobile phone will take a second or more to take the picture so keep your hand still for that time.
White Balance
A lot of crappy photos from mobile phones are a result of wrong white balance settings. The camera phone’s system of detecting the proper white balance isn’t that good so you’re better of putting it in manually.
However, you can play with the white balance too to achieve some cool color effects.
Composition
The most common composition rule is the rule of thirds. This is the easiest to follow and can create stunning photos. However, don’t shoot all your photos with this rule in mind. There are a lot of composition rules out there that you can use. And when you are familiar when them, you can start experimenting and using your own style of composition.
Using a mobile phone as a tool for photography is not much different when using a DSLR. The basic element of photography is still there. The only thing that changed is the tool you use to create it. You’re also limited in some aspects but those can be easily fixed. With this in mind, try to use your mobile phone camera, keep on shooting and embrace the light!
