Mobile phones have increasingly advanced technology, and nowadays, anyone can take good photos with their phone.
There have been phones with built-in cameras for many years, and although the photos they capture are good, they were never able to compete with a professional camera (DSLR, mirrorless, …). The evolution has been so great that it is now difficult to tell which photos were taken with a current smartphone or a professional camera.
However, to take a good photo, we are not only dependent on a camera with good technological quality, but also on the act of photographing itself.
8 Tips for Taking Photos with Your Mobile Phone
1. Check the Resolution
Most current smartphones already have Full HD or 4K resolution. However, many of them have a lower resolution activated by default, coming from the factory.
This is because more memory is used the higher the resolution of the photo.
2. Don't Use Zoom
Using zoom completely ruins the photo. When viewing the photo on the phone, it may look good; however, when you see that same photo on a larger screen, you will notice that the photo has no defined focus or sharpness, no matter how good the lens and camera of your phone are.
3. Don't Use Flash
Using flash is also a huge mistake made by many people. It may seem to help in dark environments, but it leaves the photo completely ruined and unpleasant. The colours lose fidelity with reality, in portraits the eyes often turn red, and furthermore, because the light is direct and too harsh, it ends up removing the sense of depth of field and the shadows in the photo are lost.
4. Keep the Lens Clean
This tip seems obvious, but it is one of the most important. Phones are in pockets and bags most of the time, subject to everyday dust and dirt. Consequently, the lens gets dirty with everything you can imagine. The most noticeable are fingerprints that leave the lens greasy, thus reflecting a blurry image. Before taking a photo, always clean the lens even if it looks clean.
5. Take Several Photos
A common problem when it comes to photography is thinking that the first photo is good, but it is almost impossible for the first photo to be good. Don't be afraid to take photos, it doesn't matter if you take too many, you can always select the best ones later.
6. Frame Well
All smartphones have the option to add a grid on the screen, which allows for a better sense of the photo's framing. It is essential to use this grid when taking photos.
Most people don't think about framing when they take photos, although they have some aesthetic sense that allows them to find beauty and harmony in a photo, even if they don't understand where these characteristics come from. To improve your knowledge of framing, spend some time looking at the work of professional photographers and understanding how they position objects in the photo. Then, review some of your own photos and try to compare and understand how you can improve the image by changing the framing.
7. More Light = More Quality
To get good photo quality with your phone, you need good light, whether natural or artificial; after all, photographing is drawing with light. After deciding on your photographic subject, pay close attention to the source of the light and how it behaves. The light doesn't need to fall directly on your subject; as a rule, indirect light works much better.
You also need to be careful with backlighting, avoiding as much as possible taking photos with the light pointing at the lens, as this will make the main subject of the photo or the background too exposed or overexposed.
8. Always Edit Your Photos
Most photographers today edit their photos before publishing them anywhere. Editing a photo means changing the colours, settings (such as exposure, hue, among others), and not just applying a filter on Instagram.
Here are some of the best apps to explore this area of photography:
– Adobe Lightroom – Professional Photo Editor;
– Snapseed – photo editor;
– Afterlight 2;
– SKRWT – photo editor.