How to take great photos with your smartphone

How to take great photos with your smartphone

Your smartphone ain't just
called smart for nothin'!

Not all of us can actually afford to have a galaxy camera solely for shooting photos, no matter how cool James Franco looks using it to capture the 'beauty of the world'. Additionally, even if we can afford to have one, it would be unwise to spend more behind a principally secondary device. But that doesn't mean that we should kill our inner urge to capture memories and flying moments with the versatility of the magical device we have, our android smartphone.

Thousands of photography articles have been written already, and many of them are specifically for smartphone photography. But the topic is actually so spicy, that I couldn't resist myself from adding my two cents.

Inspiration is everywhere, you just have to look

So first of all, if you haven't already bought an android phone yet, and are planning to do that within a short span of time, choosing the right device matters. The following specifications, if checked properly, can help you choose the right device:



1. Camera quality: The camera should be at least 5 Megapixels, because the more megapixels you have, the larger the image becomes. Although technically not the measure of quality itself, a 8 MP camera can certainly do better than a 2 MP one. Nowadays, the prices of budget android phones with good in-built cameras are decreasing, thanks to steep competition in the marketplace. In the Indian market, a Karbonn A21 has a modest 5MP camera, while a Micromax A110 or A116 is packed with a 8MP one. Hence, gone are the days of sticking with 1.3MP cameras.

2. Flash and its intensity: Although not strictly a requirement (because phones, no matter how good, can rarely compete with real cameras unless you like a PureView one), having a flash literally brightens your photography. Not only does having one make your low-light photography or night-time photography better, but you can also use it as a fill-flash to improve the quality of daytime photos.
Many devices are packaged with LED flash nowadays, and some of them have even dual-LED flash. But always remember, it can't be said that a dual-LED configuration beats a single-LED system straightway. For example, original flash intensity in Micromax Canvas 2 could easily be beaten by that in HTC Wildfire. But as with the case of Canvas 2, it has been proved that software DOES affect flash intensity (with V2 ROM on the same device having better flash intensity than V1 ROM).

3. Screen size: While it's not mandatory, having a larger screen (>4 inches) makes it easier to view and edit photos. If you rely on your laptop or desktop to edit your photos, it's not essential. But a 4-5 inches screen can be a rocker, if you plan to start the editing job rightaway. Every single day more apps are being released for free in Google Playstore for photography and editing purposes. Ranging from Pixlr express to Picsart studio, we have a wide range of choices, and if used correctly these can make a difference. Here is where a much-despised (by some) 'phablet' comes into play.

If possible, add a title and a good border to your shot

But no matter what your budget is, your own photography skills have a large role to play in determining the quality of your photos. If you have a phone with 1.3MP camera only, don't give up! Specifications can only help you to a certain extent. Knowledge and experience can make up for the rest.

The following points should be kept in mind while using your phone to take photos. Follow them well, and within a few hours you'll feel the difference:

1. Always light your subject well

 No matter what your camera specification is, if your subject is well-lit you can have a detailed shot. When taking a portrait of someone, make him stand facing the light-source and take the photo from a distance of a few feet, straight into his face. It doesn't matter whether you have a flash or not, simply an adequately lit environment can do the magic.
However, it is to be kept in mind that daylight photography can be especially poor if make your subject stand in direct sunlight. This creates more shadows on critical areas of the face and thus hampers quality, and furthermore people may face difficulty in keeping their eyes open in bright sunlight. The ideal photo is taken under a shade during daytime.

2. Keep the flash on

Even in daytime, keeping the flash on can make a difference. Flash works as a fill-flash then, and lights portions of the subject well (which are otherwise obscured by shadows). This however consumes more battery, but that doesn't matter as long as you have a good battery backup.

But if you're trying to capture a long-distance scenery, and would not like to lose colour composition, be sure to switch the flash off.

3. Install a good camera app

A good camera app can improve your photos

 While the original camera app can be good, having a couple of extras installed doesn't harm. There is a wide variety of different camera applications available in the play store, and many of them are quite good despite being free. I personally like CameraMX and Fxcamera, both of which are quite robust. CameraMX has the auto-optimisation feature, which automatically enhances your photos, and the degree of detail is especially brilliant. Fxcamera employs a number of different effects and modes, such as Normal Plus, Toycam, Poster etc each of which has its own charm. The fish-eye or bubble feature is an interesting addition to the app, and used wisely, it can beauty even ordinary photos.
What I like in CameraMX is the clarity in the photos, especially with auto-optimization enabled. It takes a while to save your shot, but that pays back, trust me.
Fxcamera however has a small bug, it can't connect to facebook, twitter etc on many devices, saying 'internet connection is not available' even though you actually have a working one. Also, since Fxcamera gives you the option to share your shot each time you take one, it is more suited for social photography and if you don't mind going back to the camera every time after taking a shot. This feature can not be disabled as of now, and is a major disadvantage.

UPDATE: Camera360 and Cymera are far better options than the ones I've mentioned above, featuring all their advantages as well as some extra goodies. 

4. Abstain from using pre-shooting effects 

While it can be charming to employ effects such as reflection, kaleidoscope, green-glass etc it is far better if you actually take a clean, detailed shot at the beginning and them experiment with effects. This is because many effects can actually degrade the quality of the shot slightly, and takes a bit more time to save the image. If you have the shot taken already, you have plenty of time to experiment later with a vast multitude of effects.

5. Make use of good editing apps right on your phone 

A photo I shot and enhanced with textgram. Editing is magical!

Thanks to the versatility of android, we can now enjoy (for free!) a variety of superb editing apps right on the comfortable device we call 'smartphone'. Choices are many, from Instagram to Pixlr Express, from Pixlr-o-matic to Picsart studio, and even many of the camera apps themselves allow basic photo editing, such as CameraMX itself. But it would be better if you use separate apps for editing your photos, and not your camera app itself. This gives you more choices, control and being specially designed for editing, those apps can actually enhance your photos using better effects and algorithms. My choice in this regard is a combination of Pixlr Express and Picsart, with occasional usage of Textgram to add beautiful texts to my photos, to make them 'speak'.
Pixlr Express is a must-have app, and employs a vast range of effects and features all of which are easy to use. What's especially tantalizing in this app is the beauty of borders and smart effects. If you have a large screen, this becomes even more convenient. Pics-art studio has some beautiful glass effects and a vibrant art community, but is usually slightly larger and more complicated.
Also, additional use of Textgram on modified photos can add to their beauty.

6. Avoid using digital zoom 

Digital zooming makes photos more pixelated, and thus affects the quality. I would recommend not using digital zoom at all. This is a major disadvantage smartphone photography faces, when compared to digital camera photography. Since these are not dedicated cameras, no lens configuration for zooming is actually provided.

7. Don't delete bad quality photos 

Badly shot photos can be harsh to look at, but they have their own usage. Always remember that as you progress more, your photography techniques and strategy automatically improve. With cheap disk space available and no need to use darkrooms, it is laughingly easy and free to store as many photos as we want. We can always experiment with crippled shots, and there's always room for improvement. They also teach you automatically about improving your techniques.

8. Take as many shots as you want 

The previous point continues here. Disk space is cheap, so take multiple shots of the same subject, experiment with different angles and distances, and keep the good ones safe. This gives you more control and understanding over photography.

A good angle can enhance an otherwise ordinary shot

9. Bring the phone close to the subject 

No matter how powerful your phone camera is, if you stand at a great distance from the subject there's no way of preventing him/her/it from being little more than a dot in the distance. While taking potraits or shots of something specific (small-scale photography, such as taking shots of a person or animal, a flower or plant etc), keep the camera at a distant of a few feets from the subject. Also, don't bring it extremely close either, that makes photos distorted.

10. Use manual focus 

While automatic focusing algorithms are increasing every single day, it is important to override it with manual focus at times. I take many shots of animals and plants, and often the automatic focus is targetted to something other than the subject itself. This can make the subject blurred. To prevent it, use your finger to set the focus.

11. Buy a memory card with large capacity 

A daytime photo shot under shades

With memory chips getting cheap everyday, it's not very tough to buy a 8GB or a 16GB one for your phone. Many novice photographers are often forced to take low-quality shots while travelling, just because their devices have run out of space. Always remember this very basic principle of digital photography, clearer and larger photos = more space consumed. Also, no matter what your device's internal memory is, external storage is always recommended.

12. Make full use of your camera resolution

Always take photos with the highest possible resolution. This guarantees more clarity, details and scope to implement high-quality features such as focal blur, reflection and whiteboard texturing. Remember that you can reduce the quality of a 12 MP shot if required, but there's no way a 3MP shot can be improved to become a 12MP one. Also, experiment with different MODs available on XDA and similar development forums if you prefer to tinker with your phone, because often a modded camera app can do the magic.



13. Keep your hand steady 


Many people shake away their phones just after shooting the photo, but this is not recommended. This turns your photo into a blurred one. Always give some time to your device to collect enough data to prepare a good shot. So, keep your hands unmoved for at least 5 seconds before and after every shot.


14. Keep a photography diary or blog


Thanks to blogger and wordpress, we can step into maintaining our own little corners of the web showcasing our stuff and talents. While it is good to share your shots on facebook or picsart community, keeping them for display on a blog makes things even better. It's like your own free art gallery, easy to setup and easier to maintain. Also, this becomes even spicier if you have a travel blog. Remember, you don't need to be an expert journalist to write things. Just follow your own style, and one day you'll get appreciation. In this way, you're also contributing to the development of the world, by producing more information on the web for others to read, learn and understand.