Life

Shoot Smart with your Smartphone

Mobile cellphones are as good as DLSRs when it comes to taking photographs. Some useful tips to improve your smartphone photography skills

Sentinel Digital Desk

Many of the best photos are single-subject. Put more time into a shot. Two-thirds of the photo should be negative space, say some photographers, to make the subject shine out. Touch your phone's screen to focus and illuminate the camera on your topic. After shooting a photo, utilise filters and programmes to add colour or crop it. Before the smartphones came into existence, taking photos was a pain. No expensive cameras or editing software are needed for phone photos. But how do you shoot good phone photos? Use gridlines to balance your photo Gridlines can be used to enhance mobile photographs. The "rule of thirds," a composition theory that splits an image into thirds both horizontally and vertically for a total of nine pieces, is superimposed on the camera screen of your smartphone. Your shot will be more balanced and encourage natural viewer interaction if you arrange points of interest at intersections or along lines. Focus camera Phones focus on the foreground, but not every snap has a distinct topic. Press where you want the lens to focus in your camera app. Moving subjects may be challenging for a camera to track and refocus. Before taking the photo, adjust your phone's focus to capture the moving subject. On your camera's screen, a square or circle focuses your photo. Try HDR HDR balances contrast in high-contrast photos. It can give photos a creative or artsy vibe, yet it's used to generate realistic shots. Phone cameras have problems balancing light and dark. Someone in the shade against a bright background or in poor light against a bright wall can be photographed. Exposed background may underexpose topic. Subject exposure might overexpose the background. Shadow and highlight information are preserved using HDR. Skylight Flash smartphones are rare. They overexpose, alter, and wash out human subjects. You may make a silhouette with traffic and buildings or play with shadows. "Exposure" in a photo editor can brighten without blurring. Focus Many of the best photos are single-subject. Put more time into a shot. Two-thirds of the photo should be negative space, say some photographers, to make the subject shine out. Touch your phone's screen to focus and illuminate the camera on your topic. After shooting a photo, utilise filters and programmes to add colour or crop it. Adjust brightness, contrast, and saturation on your phone. Hold the phone Smartphones enable us shoot photos on the go, but their cameras are motion-sensitive. Camera stabilisation prevents blurry or warped photos. Lean against a friend or wall to prevent arm shaking, or prop up your phone with books. Use a portable tripod Mobile devices make it easy to shoot images on the go, but it's never been easy to ensure they're level and balanced—especially if you want to be in the frame and not just take a selfie. Mobile tripods allow hands-free photography without bulky equipment. Small, bendable mobile tripods are common. Mini-tripods improve mobile video. Negative space Negative space is the area around and between image subjects. A "good" photo can be made "wonderful." In photos with lots of empty space, the subject stands out more. Negative space is often sky, field, wall, or water. Multiple views Unique viewpoints give photos depth and make them more memorable. Mobile photographs are usually taken straight on or from above, which helps them stand out. Try using the sky as negative space, as in the first photo. Tilt it down. Take stock Sky reflected on water is lovely. We love reflections in photos. Mirrors, larger pools of water, sunglasses, drinking glasses, and metallic surfaces are examples. Get arrows A line in certain photographs captures the attention. Think staircases, building facades, train tracks, roads, and woodland trails. Leading lines give depth and make a photo look deliberate, even if you found a good shape by chance. Sync Symmetry is harmony and balance. Symmetry is a great way to compose a photo. In photography, symmetry involves creating mirror-image images. Patterns repeat Lines, geometric shapes, forms, and colours generate repetitive patterns when repeated. A tiled floor photographed with these patterns could be stunning. Sometimes they appear spontaneously or unintentionally, like the fire escapes. Mix colours When a black-and-white photo has one colour, it's cool. Apps exist. Touch Color renders photos grayscale and enables you colourise parts. Colour blocking can enhance a plant or bright colour in a photo. Colour blocking makes a subject stand out like negative space, while other visual elements remain intact. Don't zoom Zooming in on a remote photo is seductive. Photos might become grainy, hazy, or distorted when zoomed in. Move closer to your subject, unless it's a wild animal, in which case you should preserve your distance. A larger image is easier to work with and doesn't lose quality. The details "The tiny things" is a phrase. This applies to photos. Images with small details are interesting. Look for peeling paint, gravel, and tile. Use your photo app's "sharpen" tool to sharpen details. Clarity is a Camera+ filter. No flash at night Night-time flash is rarely useful. Dark images make your phone's flash look obtrusive and uneven. In well-lit situations, flash softens shadows behind or under your subject. When composing your next photo, look for vertical or ground shadows. Flash your camera app if you notice any. Using "auto" on your phone's flash won't reduce shadows. Turn off the flash. When photographing products, consider how flash might emphasise or disguise details. Exposure must be set manually Exposure can be set manually. Touching your phone's camera screen refocuses and adjusts the light. This isn't ideal. Toggle it. Press your camera app's screen to adjust exposure. A sun icon and vertical scale appear when the lens refocuses. Drag your finger up and down to adjust lighting. Abstracts Abstract photos reflect an object's essence without the full landscape. They take interesting images of regular things. Clipping an abstract element from a regular photo or capturing close-ups of things can generate this look. The repeated patterns make fantastic abstract photography subjects. Get candid Posed photos can capture happy moments with friends, family, or stars. Images of people doing activities or with others are more intriguing, candid photos capture more emotion and soul. The finest shots are when the "stars align"—everyone's eyes are open, one person tilts their head just so, and you catch your usually glum friend beaming with his teeth. Un-conventionalise A good photo's subject and composition are crucial. Best images originate from unique notions. Images elicit more emotion than text; your photos should say something. Use interesting or uncommon subjects to surprise your audience. Laugh Laughing images are more memorable. We admire an older woman sporting a "Hi Hater" shirt since it's surprising. The second shot mimics Instagram meal photos with a dog toy on a plate. Your shot will be liked by those who laugh. Clean your phone's lens Smartphone cameras are portable yet not protected. Your phone is in your pocket or purse when out. The camera lens gets dirty. Before shooting, clean the lens with a tissue. Make sure the lens is clean before taking a photo to avoid having to start over. Fix a lens External lenses can be used. Fish-eye and wide-angle lenses boost smartphone camera photos. Research phone lenses. add-ons. Edit Composing and snapping a smartphone photo is the start. Then edit the photographs. Filters may fix images and make meals look more appetising. Thanks to modern mobile devices and editing programmes, we can take high-quality photos and alter them with few bells and whistles. 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