Knowing how to take good pictures with your camera phone is particularly useful. I think a lot of people don’t even use any other type of camera anymore. Another wonderful thing is that it is usually close by and easy to carry, making it much faster to snap those candid moments. You can take really amazing pictures with your phone, yes perhaps the quality of a good camera is better (sharper, more vivid colours, greater control over depth of field and capturing movement), but with some techniques you can really get the most out of your phone.
1. Keep it clean
This might sound obvious, but we use our phones a lot and they do get dirty. So, clean the lens of your phone camera regularly to make sure your pictures aren’t blurry.
2. Know the shortcut
On most phones there is a shortcut to go straight to the camera, without unlocking your phone first. So, find out how to do this, so you can access your camera phone quickly.
3. Don’t zoom
Do not use the zoom because it can lower the quality and cause your photo to be more pixilated. Instead, use your feet to get closer to your subject.
4. Turn on the grid
The grid will help you keep your lines straight, so that your pictures don’t come out wonky. The grid also helps you with your composition, by aiding you to use the rule of thirds. The grid only shows on your screen of course and not on the pictures themselves. To find out more tips on how to take better pictures, download my freebies for parents or for businesses.
5. Tap to focus
Tap on the screen of your camera phone to tell your camera where you want to have the focus. When you tap and hold, your focus will be locked in place and will not move when you reposition your camera.
6. Manual exposure
You can control how much light you want to let into your camera. Your camera doesn’t know how much light to let in due to there being all different light levels in your frame. Especially handy to darken the overexposed faces and bring back the details. In my camera it is a +/- button where you can adjust the exposure. In other phones you can do it by tapping the screen to refocus. You’ll see a small sun icon and a vertical scale, and you can swipe up or down to adjust the light levels.
7. Alternative shutter button
You can often click a different button on your camera to take a photograph. For example, by clicking the volume button instead of the red/white round button on the screen. This can be much more convenient in keeping your phone stable when taking a picture.
8. Editing
You can edit your photos to enhance the colours, exposure, and the composition of your photos. Be careful not to use filters that are too extreme as they are more likely to look dated in the future. Some good apps to use are Snapseed for Android or iPhone and is free. You can also use Adobe Lightroom or VSCO.
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