Tips for Mobile Photography

It's true. It's all about the light.

That's what will help make a good image a great image. Check out the shadows that the sun makes on subjects. Notice the reflective light off buildings. Practice during the 'golden hour,' the period of time shortly after sunrise or just prior to sunset. Watch how the light from a window falls inside a room at different moments.

The smart phone is not the greatest in low light situations. It's best to capitalize on lighting conditions your device functions under best.

Do not ever use the zoom on your smart phone. 

Zooming in could be the first mistake made when taking a picture. Often the images will come out grainy or hazy. If you want to zoom in on something, use your legs and move!

This is mainly due to the size of the lens. If you had a larger lens, the quality of the zoomed image would be clearer.

Camera shake when taking pictures is very overlooked even on the large cameras. The key to fixing this is to practice how you hold your phone. 

• Hold it horizontal at all times instead of vertical. This gives you a wider frame.
• Try burst mode when snapping pictures of moving objects.
• Know what you will use for your shutter (either the button assigned, a software shutter button, a tripod and timer, or the volume on your headphones). The idea is to get you to a place where you take clear images with no camera shake. You'll be happy with the result.
• Try a tripod for stability. This frees you up to focus on better pictures.

Change your perspective on things. Changing your angles and your perspective not only gets you a better shot, it also shows how you see the subject.

So get down on the ground, climb up on a high vantage point, move to the side and change your point of view. Try as many different angles on your subject as possible.

Mobile photography is awesome because of the thousands of apps that are dedicated to the camera on smart phones.

These apps are incredibly helpful in editing your work. While you can't correct problems like bad lighting, you can improve other details to make a subject look acne-free, sharpen specific aspects of an image or let you add interesting text or other effects over the photo. 

Find your favorite photo app, learn to use it well, and you can take your already awesome image onto the next level.

It's a simple rule of thumb. Clean the glass on your lens. Much like when you have a dirty windshield, cleaning it can give you sharper view and improve results. 

A shot with a clean lens is always going to be better than a shot with your greasy thumb print.

Even thought your phone camera doesn't have as powerful of a flash as a digital camera, you can still get some interesting results by using it.

The flash can help emphasize shade, make colors brighter, or even add other interesting effects. Just experiment by taking one photo without, then one with the flash. Make notes and compare the differences.

Don't be afraid to take another shot. Snap away at anything and everything that suits your fancy.

The important thing here is that the more photos you shoot, the more comfortable you will get and the more you will determine the direction you'd like to take your mobile photography.

The only thing holding you back is how much storage is on your phone and how long your battery can last.

Mirrors, glasses, puddles and bodies of water, smooth and shiny surfaces all make for awesome reflections.

Push yourself to look for reflective surfaces and place your subjects at angles or in direct comparison to the reflection. Even simple shades of light can make amazing reflections. 

It's just fun, try it out.