5 Ways to Improve Your Phone Photography

Most of us have access to a phone, so learning how to take good photos with it can really help your photography improve.

Even though DSLR cameras (digital cameras that have changeable lenses) do take the best quality pictures, sometimes it just isn’t logical to pack one around. Or maybe you don’t have the money to afford one. But there is an easy solution. Phone photography.

Not everyone has a DSLR, but almost everyone has a mobile phone. And while the quality isn’t 100%, it is pretty darn good! So here are 5 simple tips that can take your phone photography from snapshot to spectacular.

1. Clean Your Lens

Clean lens = clean photo

This one may seem pretty obvious, but it’s a simple thing a lot of us forget to do! Our phones are in our hands and pockets all day and the chances that they will gather fingerprints and dust is really high. If your camera lens isn’t clean you’ll end up with smudges and blurs in your photo.

If you are somewhere really sandy or dusty make sure to blow off your camera lens before cleaning it. Blowing on the lens ensures that you won’t scratch the lens, which would mean a permanent smudge in your photos.

Cleaning your lens is the first step to really great photos.

2. Set Your Focus

Since you are the one who knows what you want the photo to look like, you are the one who needs to set the focus of the image.

Another thing that we often forget to do is set our focus. While phones do have auto focus, your phone doesn’t know exactly what you want the focus of your image to be. So setting it before you snap the photo makes sure that the focus is exactly where you want it to be.

It can also be helpful to lock the focus. This makes it so that whatever you focus on is set no matter what else in the frame might be moving. This is especially helpful if there are people walking around in the background.

The way to set this lock is really simple. When you are setting the focus for your image, just tap and hold down for a couple seconds. You should see something that confirms you are in focus lock. Then you are good to go. To get out of focus lock just tap anywhere else on the screen.

3. Adjust Your Exposure

Adjusting the exposure before you take the photo lets you nail what you want every time.

Exposure is just the level of brightness in your photo. Your phone tries to decide what that should be, but sometimes it isn’t what you want. Adjusting your exposure before you take the photo gives you more control over what the end result will be.

After you set the focus of your photo, you can adjust the exposure to get what you want. Usually the way to do this is to slide the adjuster up or down. Your phone may also have an iso setting, and adjusting that will let you change the exposure to your desired result.

4. Don't Zoom!

Tripods are great! But sometimes you need to forget being stationary and move your feet closer.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in phone photography is zooming. Your phone is not like a DSLR camera and when you zoom it decreases the quality of your picture. If you want to get closer to something, move your legs! Unless it’s something dangerous, getting closer is always your best option.

If necessary, you can always crop the photo later. As long as you aren’t planning to print it out a really large size, copping won’t decrease the quality all that much.

5. Try New Things

Everyone has a phone and everyone takes pictures. You have to figure out how to make your phone photographs stand out!

This is true of all photography, but I think especially for phone photography. Finding new perspectives and trying new things is so important! Most people snap a photo from chest height, because that is where it is easiest and most comfortable to take a photo. But because of this, trying a new perspective can take your photography to the next level.

There are lots of other things you can play around with as well. Look for reflections, use negative space (which is just empty space around your subject) to your advantage, and pay attention to small details. These are all things that can make your phone photography shine above the others.

Photography is something that can be done no matter what kind of camera you have access to. And it is something that everyone can learn and enjoy.

If you have an iPhone, Apple has a really great site dedicated to getting the most out of your iPhone camera. Check it out!

Do you use a DSLR or a phone camera more often?