7 Tips for Amazing Smartphone Photography
Smartphones now compete with promises and innovations in terms of photography. Quicker to shoot, it has changed your habits. Are you therefore better photographers today? Not sure. To achieve the perfect shot, the professionals of Ghoori Learning are here to give you some effective tips and advice.
Now the smartphone has become the favorite camera of all types of people! 10% take more than 50 photos a week with their smartphone! You can own the latest smartphone and are far from being a pro on the photo side. Even if the material helps a lot, taking a photo correctly can be learned. So without further ado, here are our 7 tips for taking good photos with your smartphone.
Shoot your subject from other angles
Small and easy to hold, your smartphone allows you to take photos from all angles. The options are much more numerous than with a conventional camera. Take pictures from a man’s height as you are often used to, but do not hesitate to innovate and try low-angle or high-angle shots.
Experts advise to take photos at ground level when the elements around you seem relevant to you. It’s up to you to see the desired effect! If you are outside, use street furniture, for example, benches, pedestals, barriers, stairs, walls, and any terrain in the area to get a new angle of view.
So here are 7 basic tips for successful shots with a smartphone. Don’t forget to join the Mobile Photography course of Ghoori Learning to know the keys to mobile photography.
1. Get moving and get your subject moving!
The reflex when taking a photo with a smartphone is often to stand in front of your subject, at his height, zoom in if necessary, and put him in the middle of the frame. STOP! Your photos will be much better if you follow these little positioning tips:
- Do not use the digital zoom of the smartphone, it will lower the quality of the image, get closer!
- Try to find a more original angle than right in front of the subject: from a low angle, through a window, try out tricks to make your photos on your smartphone original!
- Give your subject nice instructions to make them less static and more relaxed, for example, try to make them jump in place and trigger at the right time.
- When framing, your subject should always unless a deliberate artistic choice is 2/3 of your frame.
One thing is certain that with your smartphone, you have no limit to respect regarding the number of shots to take except if your storage space is saturated, but that’s another story. To highlight your subject as it should, click on the trigger as many times as you like!
Do not hesitate to go around your subject well to capture all its facets. An object, a work, a building, or other elements can quickly reveal another face if you take care to observe them from every angle. For example, adding a blurry element in the foreground or changing the light outdoors can give different atmospheres. After your shoot, sort to keep the most successful photos.
If you are a community manager, use one or two visuals for your next publication on this subject and store the others in a folder in your photo library. You can use them later when the opportunity arises again. In just one visit, you make the most of your time!
- Be a pro photo editor on your mobile with Photo Editing with Smartphone course.
2. Focus and stabilization
Taking great photos or videos with a smartphone will also largely depend on focus and stabilization.
To focus on a smartphone, you usually have the option of touching the place in the photo where you want it to be sharp. Aim for the eyes! If it is a person you are photographing, it is essential that their eyes are perfectly clear. And beware of Portrait modes on recent smartphones as they add a blur effect behind your subject to suggest depth and highlight the subject. It’s a shame if there is precisely a detail in the decor around the subject that interests you. In this case, simply switch to photo mode.
To ensure that the image is very stable and does not lose its focus at the last moment, there are several tricks. You can use a selfie stick or a tripod, for example, or lean against a wall to better stabilize yourself. Some smartphones have built-in stabilizers but it’s mostly for video and it doesn’t work miracles either.
3. Switch to landscape mode
If you take a look at your photos in your smartphone gallery, you might notice that many are taken vertically. This is normal because you are all used to using a smartphone vertically to call or read the news. But in photos, remember to turn your smartphone horizontally! In the same vein, take a look at your photo settings because most smartphones now take photos in 16:9 format thus very elongated while those in your family album are generally in 4:3 like the photo above by the way. If you want to print your photos and add them to the album, it is probably best to take them in 4:3 from the start otherwise you will have to plane the cousin on the side that does not fit into the crop.
4. Be creative
Admittedly, your grandma won’t turn 80 every day, but that’s not why you have to take her picture in front of her cake and her candles like every year! After having taken the traditional photo for safety, do not hesitate to test things: a reflection of the sun falling on the hair, a manual assembly with you holding a photo of her last year, an object unusual in the decor, a particular light at the beginning of the evening or at dawn with the dew, the fog, a hyperdynamic angle or a close-up on a detail of the hands or the face. No one said you had to be a pro photographer to take great photos with a smartphone! Dare!
5. Take care of the light!
Light is an essential component in photography. Start from a simple principle: no light = no quality (blur, noise, grain). It would take more than a blog post to talk about all the settings to make work in low light but let’s stick to easy tips: find the light! If at least one element even just one eye is brightly lit, you can focus on it and have a correct result on this part.
The best times to take photos in natural light are the famous GOLDEN HOURS: up to an hour after sunrise and up to an hour before sunset. The rest of the day, the light will be too harsh and the shadows too hard unless it is wanted, for architectural photography, see the photo on the right.
Otherwise, do not hesitate to arm yourself with a torch that you point at a panel of aluminum foil or white cardboard opposite the face of the subject in order to unclog the shadows and illuminate your subject well, or buy a reflector if you really want to get into the portrait.
The flash? It’s up to you, but often the result will not be there: either the subject will be burnt — too bright and too white, or your flash will not be powerful enough to make up for the lack of brightness.
6. Be creative and experiment
Nothing could be simpler, explore your phone’s photo features and play with the different modes offered. Panorama mode, burst mode, macro mode, the possibilities can quickly be numerous. Shoot with the one that seems to be the most appropriate and if you are not satisfied with the result, extend your shoot by trying other things.
Creativity and inspiration will not come to visit you overnight, you must above all practice to exercise your photographer’s eye! You can also observe the composition of the photos of recognized talents to have some leads. Use the elements around you, play with the light, and show your ingenuity on the ground when the time comes to take photos in various formats!
Check the below courses to be a professional in the photography business.
7. Approach your subject and pay attention to the composition of your photo
Your smartphone is most certainly equipped with zoom, but do not use it! Unlike the optical zoom of a camera, the digital zoom of your phone only crops your photo. Unfortunately, this zoomed-in illusion only degrades the quality of your image.
In journalism school or during your experiences as a press photographer, you were always advised to approach the subject as soon as possible. In a few steps, you will see that the difference in rendering is obvious! Do not hesitate to position yourself, assume your presence even if you feel like you are in the way if there is a crowd, and trigger your phone to take the photo.
It could not be easier! Activate the grid feature on your smartphone, an option available on iOS and Android with just a few clicks. This grid will help you apply the famous rule of thirds. With a screen divided into 9 equal parts, all you have to do is place the highlights of your photo at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal lines or along them. A perfect ally to put an end to tilted horizon lines!
BONUS: Find inspiration everywhere!
As you will have understood, being creative is not limited to putting a lo-fi or lomo filter on Instagram even if that is already good. Browsing through the gallery of ideas below and browsing networks like Pinterest or Instagram, you’ll discover tons of ideas you’ll be eager to replicate. Yes, it is by copying that you learn and then find your own genius ideas! The most important thing is to have fun and create memories that look like you and have meaning and emotion for you.
To sum up
By applying these 7 tips, you will already have an excellent foundation for successful photos with your smartphone. Work on your eye on a daily basis and don’t hesitate to invest in equipment including an external battery, stabilizer, tripod, lenses, etc. if you want other renderings or if special needs arise during your photo outings. Afterward, a smartphone will never replace a camera, that’s for sure but it allows you to get quality photos. It’s up to you now!
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