Take Better Photos With these 5 Great Tips
Check out our better tips for photography.
Get a Phone with a Good Camera
Thanks to innovation in the smartphone industry, you will come across a wide array of phones that take fantastic photos with minimal effort. However, you will want to use a relatively new handset like an iPhone 13, iPhone 14, Google Pixel 4, Samsung Galaxy S22, OnePlus 7 pro, and other flagships. Find great deals on used mobile phones at surplus database. If you are using an older device, chances are the camera won’t produce great photos. You can watch or read reviews of the smartphones we have mentioned to determine which one is best for your needs.
Look for Good Lighting
The latest smartphones come with extremely bright lenses with special modes that enhance an image that has been captured in low light. This feature is known as night mode and has been shown to work best with iPhones, Google Pixels, and Samsung flagships.
Even so, for the best outcome, it is advisable to look for a source of light to illuminate the scene. Whether it is sunlight from a window for an indoor picture or a street lamp for a night photograph in the city, you will want to look for some environmental illumination. Avoid the flash function in functions, as it tends to leave a lot to be desired.
Tweak the Exposure
Smartphones are without a shadow of a doubt, the current point-and-shot devices. However, most of them come with applications that provide a degree of manual control, with the Sony Xperia providing the most comprehensive control. That being said, you can make adjustments to the exposure to brighten or darken a scene. If you use this feature correctly, it can turn a dull photo into a fantastic one. Use the exposure setting to brighten a shot of your food at the restaurant, making it ideal for Instagram, or to darken shadows for a more dramatic look.
Keep in mind that this setting is not always called the same across all phones. On the iPhone, for example, you will need to drag the sun icon, found to the right of focus. Scroll up to brighten your photo or drag it down for a darkened effect. For most Android Smartphones, you will be looking at a more conventional + and – icon for the exposure feature.
Enable the Grid
Professional SLRs tend to have grids on the viewfinder window in order to assist you in better squaring up shots and also conform to compositional guidelines such as the rule of thirds. You can learn more about photo basics including composition in our photography basics guides, which apply not just to professional cameras, but smartphones as well.
Smartphone camera apps also allow you to turn on the grid. These lines allow you to keep the horizon straight, which is a major benefit if you are taking a portrait photo in front of a landmark. With the exception of landmarks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it is advisable to keep structures vertical in your snapshots. Here are some other good photography tips.
Know all the Features of Your Camera
As mentioned earlier, smartphone cameras nowadays come with a lot of capabilities that even the average person doesn’t know. The innovation and advancements in this industry have given us the capability to take SLR-level images using a smartphone.
Still, you will need to learn what your camera does and when to use the available features. For day-to-day photography, you will want to enable HDR. Turn on Night Mode for photos after dark or indoor photography. Most smartphones also come with Portrait Mode, which blurs the background behind the subject. This is also referred to as the Bokeh Effect. These are just a few of the features that come with the latest smartphones and you should take the time to learn them. Comprehensive reviews online should help with that.