Taking Better Pictures with a Cell-Phone

Today's Photo Tips: There are a lot of the things that you can do to capture better pictures with your cell-phone; many being some of the same techniques you would normally apply to taking pictures with any ordinary hand-held camera. Here are just a few …           01 – Try to use natural light sources. Natural lighting will make your photo more clear without washing out your subject. Don’t allow your subject to be illuminated by several light sources with different temperatures, e.g. warm incandescent lighting and cool outdoor lighting. 02 – Whenever possible, avoid direct sunlight. If your subject is a person, they’ll look squinty and uncomfortable. Try to get closer to the subject. An overcast day is always best for photos. If it is a bright and sunny day, use the hours of sunrise and sunset for your pictures. 03 – Narrow the subject. Focus by only selecting what you really need to be in the photo rather than trying to get it all in. Find a "clean" background. When taking portraits it’s important to think about not letting the background steal too much attention. Avoid having things stick up behind people’s heads. 04 – Hold the camera still. Stabilize your phone while you’re taking a photo by putting your arm on any flat, stable surface you can find to make sure the photo isn’t blurry. If you can’t find a stable surface, hold your arm against your body. If you’re taking pictures indoors without a flash, this is essential for getting a sharp focus. Lean against a wall, door jamb or a chair for support. 05 – Anticipate movement. Remember, a subject appears to approach slowly, but disappears like lightning. If you know where something is going to happen, try to place yourself right there in plenty of time. 06 – Keep it natural. Try to capture true sensations in your snapshots. Be sociable when you take photos; downplay the situation and shoot even when the subject isn’t prepared. 07 – Learn your phones camera settings. Today's newer phones offer dozens of changeable settings such as mode, exposure, focus, flash, anti-shake, metering, burst, photo size, face detection, night detection, etc. I can't emphasize this tip enough. I had my new Samsung Galaxy S4 phone for several months before I took the time to study and learn how to use all of its capabilities and functions. It literally took me several hours of "playing" to learn everything it had to offer. The upside is that now I am able to capture much better pictures!   08 – Take advantage of all of the great photography apps available for your phone. Today there are literally dozens of photo apps for both iPhone and Android that provide you with many post picture taking editing options that will improve or enhance your pictures. 09 – Take lots of photos. Last, but not least, the best advice used even by all pro photographers: Take lots of photos and you will increase your chances of taking some that are good.