Photography is an art that involves capturing the perfect image, which mainly relies on the photographer’s ability/skills in capturing a scene with the proper settings.
Technology has so evolved much that phone cameras can produce quality pictures. Though it isn’t up there with the DSLRs when it comes to consistency in the quality of the photograph, they are getting better and closer to DSLR quality.
Now as said earlier, taking quality pictures requires some set of settings. This is why we will be discussing the necessary tips for capturing quality and stunning photographs on your smartphone.
Proper Definition of Mobile Photography
Mobile photography or Smartphone photography simply involves taking/capturing pictures with your phone. And thanks to technology, both Android and iPhones have great cameras with the ability to produce quality photographs.
Advantages Of Smart Phone Over Traditional Cameras
Accessibility:
Accessibility is one of the main advantages of mobile photography. Without having to carry around heavy equipment, we can capture moments as they happen with a smartphone camera that is always at our disposal.
This is especially helpful for people who are travelling or otherwise on the go and want to record their experiences but don’t want to carry around a lot of gear.
Additionally, mobile photography enables simple connectivity and sharing through social media platforms, allowing us to share our lives in real time with friends and family.
Versatile: A further advantage of mobile photography is the freedom to experiment and have fun with different artistic methods. Numerous filters and editing tools are available in apps like Instagram, VSCO, and Snapseed to improve photos and give them a unique touch.
For amateur and professional photographers who use their phones as a tool for experimentation and inspiration, this has opened up a new world of self-expression and creativity.
Convenient: Mobile phone is convenient to use; after all, the phone belongs to you, and you just carry it and all you do is click, edit, and post. And no matter how much editing is done, the convenience that it’s all happening on the same phone, and no stress of compressing, transferring, etc.
Inexpensive: Owning a phone is less expensive than a DSLR. The average price of a high-end mobile phone is $1000, and a DSLR costs a whopping $25,500 to $5,499.
Fast: Yes, this is fast and also easy to use, especially for beginners. And along with it being fast, its saves time and also money.
Tips For Capturing Stunning With A SmartPhone
1. Learn What The Camera’s Ability:
This is important, to know how to work around your phone’s camera ability when you want to take photographs on different occasions. Analyze the auto mode and study how it focuses and takes exposure to light.
As in manual settings, some phone cameras allow the user/you to use manual settings like shutter speed, ISO, white balance, autofocus, etc. These settings are great in ensuring a better quality of photos; when you know how to use them.
2. Shoot now, Zoom Picture Later:
When shooting photographs, you want to preserve the quality of the picture; so it is always advised to zoom into the pictures to preserve the quality considering phones have less resolution than DSLR cameras.
3. Adjust the Focus and Exposure:
Before shooting the picture, it is important to adjust the focus ao the focal point of the picture is sharp and properly exposed. And also adjusting the light exposure of the mobile camera is important to ensure the best outcome after the shoot.
4. Utilize Girdlines to Balance The Shot:
Probably the best way to improve your photos. Turning on the guard line superimposes a series of lines on the screen that are based on the rule of thrids- helping you to place points of interest in these intersections or along the lines, your photo will be more balanced, and level, and allow viewers to interact with it more naturally.
5. Utilize Natural Light:
Using a flash makes a photo look overexposed. Most of the time, using flash affects the photograph negatively, altering colours and making human subjects look washed out. Natural light is an advantage, enabling you to play with shadows, as you can see in the photo below.
6. Download Better App:
Most times the default apps on the phone are usually good, but they don’t give you the freedom to tune the camera as a dedicated camera and editing. Some good dedicated camera apps for phones are.
To learn more about the best and most important apps needed by mobile photography, click Here
Camera Apps
Snapseed is a powerful camera tool, that works both on iPhone and Android, which allows you to edit your photos using the filter-like feature. One of the best things about Snapseed is its Vast selection of tools, and it’s also free.
Footej Camera App
Footej camera is an easy-to-use camera app, with a unique interface, with all its controls located at the bottom.
Its best feature however is that it allows the user to change the exposure from manual to auto quickly, and also the manual controls are at the front centre, so it is easier to adjust the Shutter Speed, ISO, White Balance, and many other functions.
Though there be some limitations in the free version, for most users, the free version works well enough.
Photo Editing Apps:
Snapseed is one of the best-known photo editing apps, with a line-up of professional-quality editing tools to adjust the colour and exposure of the photo.
Its capabilities make it best-suited for experienced content creators/photographers searching for a mobile editing interface. And while the platform is simple, it may be overwhelming to beginners.
While Snapseed has more filters and options compared to other editing apps, the learning process is said to be intimidating to beginners.
Adobe Lightroom has to be the best editing app with snap seed. Apart from being a free app, its user interface is very simple and easy to use (especially for beginners).
It has features such as collaborative tools, custom categorization, mobile access, intelligent image search, import/export, etc. And one of its unique features; is its ability to control with seamless access across all your devices (Mobile, Desktop, Web), but this feature is only unlocked for premium subscribers.
7. Utilize Burst Mode/Increase Shutter Speed For Beautiful Action Shots
This mode is best in cases of moving objects. Especially when you find it hard to capture a perfect shot because you are unable to match the speed of the object when pressing the shutter button.
As a photographer, especially a mobile photographer using either iPhone or Android. It is hard capturing a moving object.
So as an iPhone user, you can turn on “Burst Mode” to capture such images. And android users can turn up the shutter speed in the Pro Options.
Once you discover burst mode/shutter speed, capturing moving objects will be as easy and smooth as butter.
So what is burst mode? And how do you use it?
Suppose you use iPhone 11 upward, you can activate burst mode by sliding the shutter button to the left. The camera will keep taking photos in quick succession until you release your finger.
And as for those with an iPhone XS or older, just hold down the shutter button to activate burst mode.
And among the burst of images that you capture, you should have at least one photo with your subject in the perfect position or pose.
To avoid filling up your phone’s storage, you can keep the best images from the burst and delete the rest.
Burst mode/shutter speed mode is such an easy camera feature to use. And it will instantly improve your chances of great stunning action photos.
So ensure you use it whenever there’s movement or unpredictability in the scene.
This mode is suited for capturing children and animals. And also great for street photography, especially when people are moving.
You can also use it to capture stunning water splash images, as shown below in the image.
Trust me Burst mode really will take your cell phone photography to the next level!
FAQ:
Which Phone Has The Best Camera, iPhone or Android?
Well, there are both good, but according to my experience as a mobile photographer for 3 years. iPhone is more consistent while androids are known for having the picture overturned by the AI.
Final Words
Nonetheless, Android is amazing for mobile photography as well as iPhone. It all boils down to your budget. So get a phone according to your budget, and start capturing stunning pictures following the tips provided in this post.
Remember limitation is only in your mind, pick up your smartphone and start shooting. If you’d like to know more about How To Be Successful In (Mobile) Photographer 2023, click on the link below.