If you are interested in photography, you don’t need to splash out on an expensive camera. As a beginner, you can take amazing photographs with something you already have – your smartphone! Phone cameras nowadays can take incredibly high-quality pictures, which makes them great for beginners.
Amy Elliot-Meisel is currently pursuing her Master’s degree (MEd) from Loyola University while working as an academic program coordinator. She also has a passion for photography. Today she shares her top 7 tips for taking pictures on your smartphone.
- Remember to carry around a lens wipe. Since you are handling your phone a lot more than you would a regular camera, you are smudging your lens a ton without even realizing it.
- Do not use flash. It just doesn’t look good. It is always best to use natural lighting. For some incredible shots, shoot during the ‘golden hours’, which is one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset.
- Use the grid on your camera. Most phones have a setting that shows a grid when you take pictures. This is great for creating stunning compositions with the rule of thirds.
- Do not zoom in on anything, ever. Taking a photo while zoomed in will decrease the quality of your pictures dramatically. Just get closer to the subject.
- Tap on the screen where you want the camera to focus. The last thing you want is a blurry subject, but thankfully, smartphones make it easy to set the camera focus.
- Use the Smart HDR setting on your phone if you have it. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and is perfect for taking landscape photos because it balances the highlights and shadows.
Leave a Reply