Click, edit and upload, that’s how it goes with the mobile photography. In today’s social media friendly world, a majority of smartphone users love clicking photos while they are travelling, enjoying with friends or family and the most trending form of photography – Selfie.
While you were purchasing yourself a smartphone, being a serious mobile photographer you must have opted for a smartphone which comes loaded with a brilliant quality camera. Well, even if it is an average camera smartphone, it would not stop you from clicking amazing photos.
Taking a great click using a smartphone is not that difficult, all you need to do is follow some basic mobile photography tips which can take your mobile photography skills to the next level. In this blog post, we are going to share 7 essential mobile photography tips that you must follow to increase your followers on social media:
1. Clean the Lens
Usually, we keep our smartphone in our pockets or the bag for a good number of hours, which making the phone dirty as the dust particles get attracted to the surface of the camera lens. As a result, this hampers the quality of images clicked.
Though it would not be visible to you, but even small dust or fingerprint spots can block a good amount of light from entering the mobile camera lens. So it is always advisable to clean your camera lens properly using a soft cloth to click those breathtaking photos.
2. Say no to Flash
If you are looking to click something from a closer distance, try and avoid using the so-called LED flashlight, placed just next to the camera. Do not be in the misconception that the mobile flash can be used to freeze the action (long exposure image). Moreover, it kills the mood of the scene and can completely change the color temperature.
Always look for the natural light source to illuminate your subject, to give it a professional touch. Moreover, you can use a torch light from a direction to add drama to your frame.
3. Do not Zoom – Get Close
Did you know, the zoom feature in your mobile camera is actually a digital zoom, not an optical zoom. This means that when you zoom using the ‘+’ key or finger gestures, your image gets cropped as the mobile camera comes loaded with the digital zoom. Which means, the more you zoom, the poorer your image output.
Never use the zoom while clicking a photo of a subject located at a far distance. Instead, walk closer to the subject you wish to click and click without using any zoom. In a situation where you cannot get closer to the subject, click the image as it is, without using the zoom and later crop it while editing.
If you want to get even closer, you can also try using mobile camera lenses easily available on Amazon for less than Rs.200. I can assure you that the macro lens can help you capture great results if you patiently focus on the subject.
4. Set the Focus
Always make sure that your main subject is in focus by manually tapping on the screen where your subject is placed. If you don’t, your mobile camera will automatically focus on the subject closest to the lens (maintaining the minimum focus distance) and that might be something that you would want to avoid. It is you who decided where the focus needs to be set and not the mobile camera sensor.
While clicking portraits or macro shot, make sure you focus on the subject correctly to get a nice and shallow depth of field along with maximum sharpness.
5. Use HDR more when necessary
In a situation when there is high contrast in the scene, you should switch to the HDR mode in order to increase the dynamic range. The HDR mode basically clicks three images and stitches them into a single image to get a perfectly exposed photo with high dynamic range.
While using the HDR mode, try to keep your hands still as your camera clicks three continuous images internally and minor shake might result in poor quality HDR image. To know more about HDR mode, click here.
6. Editing
Editing a photo is like packaging a finished product, which helps you attract more eyeballs. Be it changing the exposure, color tones or giving your image the HDR touch, you would need apps which help you edit the photo as per your needs.
Personally, i love using the Snapseed app on my android smartphone (also available on iOS). You name it and this app has that feature, from crop tool to selective changes, Snapseed is an all-purpose app.
7. Keep clicking
The best part about the digital photography is that you can click as many numbers of photos you desire (till your memory card does not get full), which includes your smartphone as well. So get clicking using various features and filters in your camera app, experiment with your composition and once you are home, you can delete the unwanted photos. Upload the best ones.
How helpful did you find these mobile photography tips? Do let us know in the comments below.
Related Posts:
Understanding The Light Meter: Incident and Reflected
3 must have lenses in your camera kit
Fashion Photography – 10 things to keep in mind
8 Free Online Photography Courses and Lessons
How to create HDR using a single image