By Try thinking about the camera phone as a “real” camera and you’ll soon find that there’s much more to it than convenience. With a little experimenting, you can learn to work around the limitations of a camera phone and start producing high-quality photos. Here’s six tips to get you started:
Know the size of the capture area
The screen on a camera phone may not display all of what will end up in the final photo. There may be menu bars, clocks or other phone utilities blocking the full view. Take a few photos and see what you come up with, then experiment by shooting things that are presumably in the hidden area. You will soon realize the true edge of the viewfinder, which will lead to better photos.
Use the brightness adjustment for a better exposure
Play with the brightness adjustment on your camera phone to achieve different lighting levels, even if the image looks good as it is. This is an easy way to capture silhouettes or artistic overexposure.
Move the camera!
Although we are taught to hold still when shooting photos. Moving the camera can produce some exciting images. Try moving your camera phone while shooting some bright lights or hold the camera still and shoot images moving objects. The results will surprise you.
Shoot with the highest resolution and lowest compression available
Higher resolution allows you to save the image in a larger format with more data. More data means better photo quality. Lower compression may use more space, but it will retain much more data in the image. Using these settings will produce higher-quality photos.
Know how close you can get
Experiment with how close you can get to an object without losing focus. An arm length is a good rule of thumb, but the distance varies. Once you learn this, the process of composing a shot will be quicker and easier.
Treat your camera phone as if it were a top-quality DSLR
Just because it’s a camera phone doesn’t mean you can’t take quality photos. Think of your camera phone as if it were a professional DSLR. Get this in your head and you’ll see that a little attitude adjustment does wonders for image quality. Remember, it’s not the camera that takes pictures – it’s the person behind the camera that takes them.
Apply these six tips the next time you break out the camera phone and you’re bound to see instant results. Happy shooting!
