Practical tips for taking amazing photos with your phone: 16 unmissable tricks.
If you want to take high-quality photos, keep reading and check out today’s post.
When we go to buy a smartphone, one of the first things we look at is, without a doubt, whether the camera is good.
However, sometimes, even with a lower-quality camera, it is possible to get good results. After all, to take good photos, it is essential to know how to use the available features, even if there are only a few.
That’s why, in today’s post, I’ve selected some practical tips for taking amazing photos with your phone. It doesn’t matter whether you’re already an expert on the subject or just getting started, they will certainly be very useful.
Come check it out!
1- Before taking a photo, clean your phone camera lens
Yes, I know you’re probably thinking this is obvious, but many people forget to do it regularly. Sometimes, a blurry or out-of-focus photo can simply be caused by a dirty lens.
Not to mention that dirt on the lens affects the device’s sensors, which may not be able to focus or properly expose the scenes you want to photograph.
2- Watch out for backlighting
Backlighting can be the enemy of any photo. It happens when the light comes from behind the object or person you are photographing.
When this happens, the phone camera sensor usually adjusts the photo in a way that reduces the brightness emitted by a certain light source. As a result, the rest of the photo also ends up dark.
3- Indoors, stay close to windows
Naturally, indoor places tend to have less light than outdoor places. Even if we don’t notice it, the camera sensor does.
When this happens, the phone usually automatically sets itself to take indoor photos with longer exposure time and higher ISO. Because of this, the photo often comes out shaky or noisy.
4- Think about the light
When photographing a person, the light reflected by them is captured and reaches the camera sensor.
Therefore, if the person is in the dark, the photo will certainly be dark. To prevent this from happening, light the object or person you want to photograph well.
5- Avoid using zoom
Among the practical tips for taking amazing photos with your phone, this one is definitely worth it. Unless your device has more than one camera, avoid using zoom as much as possible.
When the phone has only one camera, zoom only crops a piece of the full image, and certainly does not actually bring the object closer. So, simply prefer to move closer to your subject!
6- Prefer softer lighting
Just as lighting is important in photography, throwing light around any old way doesn’t help at all. For example, in the case of flash, it can light what we want to photograph, but at the same time it creates shadows.
Therefore, the best thing is to create indirect lighting. Ask someone to turn on the phone flashlight, point it at a white wall, and then stand in front of that wall to be photographed.
7- Get the exposure right
Generally, almost all camera apps have an exposure adjustment, where you tap a certain point on the screen and the camera adjusts itself to properly light that point.
If you want to see up close how this works, do the following: open your phone camera and select a darker area of the image. You will be able to observe how the entire image becomes brighter to lighten that section.
8- Understand HDR
You’ve certainly already noticed this feature, which is usually at the top when we open the phone camera. HDR (High Dynamic Range) means high dynamic range.
When activated, when taking a photo, it takes three, with different exposure levels, combining the areas with the most detail from each one.
This feature can be excellent for photographing against the light or when the image is excessively bright, and can even help with landscape photos.
9- Too much brightness can be a problem
It’s normal that, around midday, the sun is at its highest position in the sky. Because of this, there is a lot of light everywhere, and when it comes time to take photos, that can make things a bit difficult.
When there is too much light, the camera has difficulty creating contrast between parts of the photo. Therefore, take photos an hour before sunrise or sunset, or even on cloudy days.
10- The background also matters
Certainly, among the practical tips for taking amazing photos with your phone, this one couldn’t be left out. A good background can complement your image very well, and even highlight a certain element.
If this is not planned, you run the risk of including something that should not appear in the photo.
A good alternative is to use the grid lines feature. If your phone doesn’t have it, imagine three horizontal and vertical lines over the image and align the scene based on that. This way, no object will be cut off by mistake.
11- Play with focus
In the same way that exposure can be adjusted, it is also possible to adjust focus. If you want to test it, do the following: select a nearby element and see how the background becomes blurred, or select the background and nearby objects will become blurred. Try it and see the results!
12- Try lenses
If you want to learn how to take landscape photos using your smartphone, it’s worth trying phone lenses. First, check whether your device has a wide-angle mode.
This type of lens helps capture wide landscapes with much more detail.
13- Test advanced settings
Generally, almost all phone cameras have an advanced mode, where you can manually adjust settings such as white balance, ISO, exposure, and much more.
Even if you don’t understand the subject, you can run tests and see the results.
14- Use photo editing apps
The recommendation is not to use correction filters while taking the photo. That way, if you want to edit it later, you can make all the necessary adjustments.
Thanks to editing, using an app, you can transform your photographs and achieve excellent results.
Among the best apps are: Snapseed, Lightroom and Remini.
15- Try a different camera app
If you want, you can also use a different camera app from the one that came with your device. VSCO has become quite popular lately, and it also works for editing photos.
16- Train your eye
To wrap up our list of practical tips for taking amazing photos with your phone, this one is essential! I’ll say right away that it requires more practice and dedication.
Photos usually aren’t that great at first, but over time you will learn to make better use of features and effects to create beautiful compositions.
