The best camera is the camera with you! Most likely this is your phone 99% of the time, so here are some phone photography tips and tricks. You can join me in my New Years Resolution to take more photos of my family. Would you like to know how to use your phone to do that? Here are a few simple things to keep in mind and improve your phone photography skills. (These tips are based off of my knowledge of an iPhone, if you have a different brand phone, there are probably similar settings and capabilities available)
Clean your Lens
This might seem obvious, but I forget it all the time. Don’t forget to gently wipe off your lens with a soft cloth. I’m typically using the inside of my shirt for this 😉
Set Focus
You can select the focus of your camera by touching the screen on the subject/object that you want the camera to focus on. When you do this this also helps to make the background blurry (this is called bokeh). The bokah effect is really what makes a photo look “professional” because it helps to eliminate some of the other distractions in the scene.
Adjust Exposure
At the same time you select the focus by touching the screen this also gives you the option to adjust the darkness and brightness. You will see a little “sun” on a vertical slider. Slide this up to make the photo brighter and down to darken it. I find this is really helpful in capturing a beautiful sunset.
Look Around
I don’t usually get too carried away with getting rid of too much or cleaning up. The best thing to do is to move around and position yourself better with less distractions behind your subject. Don’t just take the picture, think about moving around to find a better composition. Look for the light and put your subject in it. Below, see what a difference it makes to put your subject facing the light instead of the light behind her.
Move around
Change your perspective- try getting up higher and looking down on your subject from above or get low and look up at your subject. Try all different things. This really helps tell the story and helps the viewer feel like a part of it!
Composition tips
Leading lines and rule of thirds are two common techniques of composition to bring attention to your subject.
This photo shows a little of both leading lines and rule of thirds. The leading line can be found in the driveway as it leads slightly from the left to the right, leading your eye over the photo and onto the subject.
The rule of thirds is found with the subjects near the interception of lines.
Don’t use zoom
Zooming in before taking a photo can make it more difficult to stay steady and will add camera shake to your photo. Rather you should take the photo and then edit and crop the photo afterwards
Flash
I avoid flash at all cost. In fact I usually just leave it off all the time and only turn it on if absolutely needed and it’s the only way to capture the moment.
Editing
There are a number of free apps available. My favorite and most vestitle is “Snapseed”. It has a lot of similar features to my computers editing programs. Lots of fun to play around with.
Print Your Photos
There are a number of different services available to make getting your photos in your hands easy! Personally My favorite is Chat Books, you can link it with you camera roll or Facebook/Instagram and it will automatically add photos to a book (or you can do it yourself) and when it fills 60 or so pages they will email you a proof and then mail you the book. Easy Peasy
I love photography and I’m so passionate about capturing moments and stories. Please reach out to me if you ever want help with your own photography! I love to help!
Every photo in this post is an iphone 6 photo
