Decographic's Blog

How to Take Good Photos With Your Smartphone

Written by Guillermo Colombi | March 21, 2019

 

 

The invention of phone cameras made it way to easier and more convenient to take photos wherever you go. No need to carry with you a separate camera – people are too lazy for that nowadays. Also, there is no need to load it on your computer to view it in a wider screen, or so you can make some edits. Smartphones got you on that. However, one serious challenge is how to take good photos with your phones. Here are some tips you may want to try.

 

 

Use gridlines to balance your shot.

You may have heard about “the rule of thirds” which says that an image should be broken down into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, so you have nine parts in total. You have to position the most important elements of your subject and its surroundings along the gridlines or at the intersections where the lines meet so to capture the best photo.

 

RELATED: WHY GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY IS NECESSARY FOR YOUR BUSINESS

 

Set your camera's focus.

Oftentimes, we struggle in maintaining focus on our subject, which results in blurred photos. When taking a photo, make sure to tap on your subject so your lens focuses on it – that will sharpen your view.

 

Embrace negative space.

A large expanse of open sky, water, an empty field, or a large wall – these are some of the examples of negative spaces which you should include when taking a photo. This will give your subject more emphasis and will create a stronger view to your audience.

 

Find different perspectives.

Forget about the ordinary and experiment on taking different perspectives on your photo. Shots that create an illusion of depth or height with the subjects. You may get a view from above or capture a plane from below. Use your imagination to create something extraordinary out of your surroundings.

 

Avoid zooming in.

When we are too far from our subject, we tend to zoom it in – something we should really avoid because it causes a photo to pixelate and appear blurry.

  

Capture small details.

Close up images make a great visual content. The “little things” sometimes are the best part – a peeling paint, a gravel road, or a tile tabletop, subjects that are rich in patterns and textures.

 

Use natural light.

Nothing beats natural lighting! Some smartphones are more on “beauty” effects that make the photo look unrealistic somehow. There are those which alters the colors and which makes the photo overexposed. Sunrise, Sunset, night at the disco, streetlights and more natural lightings captured at the right place and time are way more creative and promising.

 

Take Candids.

Now this is our most favorite kind of shot. Taking photos of people while they are busy doing something, or someone enjoying their cup of coffee, children playing, people crossing the street, and a lot more are the most interesting subjects. Candid shots reveal the truest emotion of your subject at that moment – these are their naked truths. Candid photos are story themselves – when you capture a moment, you capture a feeling.

 

Don’t be Afraid to Edit.

Editing doesn’t mean altering the whole content of the photo; it’s more on enhancing the lighting, the effect, so to give emphasis and add something more pleasing to the eye. But do not over edit to the point where you won’t be able to recognize your art anymore. Editing your photo is a very critical step but with the right mix of photo enhancer and with the right editing applications, you won’t have to worry about having your shots tagged as “edited”.