Photography has come a long way – from the time of the pinhole camera which passed a small ray of light through a hole to produce an image on a dark screen, to the latest and greatest smartphone which can produce an award-winning mobile phone photo at the click of a button. The advent of the smartphone age, which gave birth to mobile photography, has completed transformed photography as it existed.
The Last “Camera”
Not too long ago, before smartphone photography became commonplace, every household mandatorily owned a standalone camera which also included a film roll. The film captured the images clicked by the user near statically (which means there was no concept of “deleting” images). Once the roll was used up, it had to be taken to a studio for processing. Studios were physical brick-and-mortar locations which, amongst other things, processed images into photographs and returned them to the user in about 2 days (depending on the rush at the location). The camera was a very dear instrument to its users, and was kept under lock and key, only to be used for special occasions – an outing, a picnic, a wedding, or a birthday!
The Coming Of Smartphone Photography
The camera is one of those instruments that has been completely disrupted by the mobile phone. The bulky camera has given way to the sleeker smartphone, which can fit into any pocket. The film has been replaced by a storage card – which means you can take as many shots as you like, to get to that perfect mobile phone photo. You simply delete the ones you don’t like. Your mobile phone photo becomes instantly available on the display, unlike that trip to the studio and the wait times to process the film into a photograph. All these conveniences have ensured that smartphone photography is here to stay, and is expected only to get better. People these days no longer purchase a standalone camera, because their smartphone camera simply gets the job done!
Below we will give you a few mobile photography tips that can help you improve your smartphone photography skills.
Keep Your Lens Clean
This is one of those smartphone photography tips that is very easy to accomplish, but which is very easily forgotten by most. Fingerprints, dust particles, smudges are all common on smartphone camera lenses due to its extensive usage. They simply get carried over onto your mobile phone photo if you don’t clean your lens. A soft cloth or even your shirt can do the trick.
Auto vs Manual Focus
Because of the differing depths (distance between objects and camera) in your scene, your camera’s auto-focus will not always focus on the object you actually wish to focus on. In this case, you should do a manual focus. Smartphone photography makes this super easy. Simply clicking on the object on the screen should change the focus to that object. This is one of those phone photography tips that can produce stunning photos that blur the background.
Exposure
The essence of photography is light. But too much of it results in very bright photos (overexposure) and too little of it results in very dark photos (underexposure). You need just the right amount of light for that perfect click. Clicking on the screen gives you the option to change exposure levels. Simply swipe the “sun” you see on the screen Up or Down to get that perfect mobile phone photo.
Contrast
You will often encounter contrasting areas in your scenes. For example, a scene that has a brighter sky in the background and a darker object in the foreground. This high-contrast can confuse the camera’s auto-focus, resulting in a complete hash of the picture. The HDR (High Dynamic Range) mode in your mobile phone helps you capture high-contrast images perfectly. Simply go to Camera Settings and turn HDR On.
Capturing Fast-action Scenes
Fast action scenes like sports races or wildlife chases have always been extremely challenging to capture with a regular camera, even for the professional photographer. Mobile photography has made this really simple. Burst Mode allows you to capture images in quick succession by simply keeping the Shutter button pressed. You can then delete the images you don’t want.
Steady Hands
One of the basic smartphone photography tips that any professional will give you is to keep your hands steady while shooting. A lightweight phone, as opposed to a heavier camera, can actually make this more challenging. If your hand moves while composing a shot, especially under low light conditions, your photos will turn out blurred. So practise, practise, practise to keep those hands steady!
The Rule Of Thirds
This is an incredibly powerful composition technique and one of those mobile photography tips that can separate a good mobile phone photo from a great mobile phone photo. But it takes a while to master. The technique is simple though – use the phone Grid which divides your screen into 9 frames (the screen is thus divided into a third, horizontally and vertically). Try to place the important objects from your scene on the lines or at their intersection for spectacular captures.
Leading Lines
This is another one of those phone photography tips for creating great photos. Leading Lines are lines (like a road or a bridge) in your scene that can be made use of to create depth in your photo. This requires lots of practice, but results can be well worth it.
Different Perspectives
Most mobile photography users take photos keeping the camera at their chest level. But the smartphone is an easy device to experiment on – you can try clicking from close to the ground, or from directly above the object, or even by tilting the phone at 45 degrees. Different perspectives often produce interesting results.
Keep It Simple
This is the last, but not the simplest, of our mobile photography tips. It requires skill which comes with practice. Sometimes the simplest of images can be the most powerful ones. Try to focus on only one object, or try and see that the background is uncluttered, or whether you can eliminate the background completely. Your photo could turn out to be a winner!
To Conclude
Although there is a science behind smartphone photography, a lot of it is pure art. You can get better at it with regular practice. There are several online courses too to help you, like this one here. They will teach you a lot more about mobile photography so that you can better your chances of clicking your best ever mobile phone photo!
Looking to sharpen your smartphone photography skills? Join our top-rated professional diploma in smartphone photography today!
