MOBIOGRAPHY

Prior to the invention of smartphones, if you can remember vividly before taking a photo, one must have a camera, editing software and a computer, which are expensive and require time to learn how to use them.

However, credit to our mobile devices and editing apps that come with them, we can now take high-quality photos and edit them without too much spending or stress, using mobile apps like Snap Seed, Photoshop Express and iPhoto.

The fact that using one’s phone camera is convenient, fast, easy and inexpensive, made the use of camera and editing software optional.
Truly, taking a great photo on your smartphone is not as simple as pointing and shooting, that’s the reason for plenty of bad smartphone photos out there. I am sure you have seen at least a few.
Even though there are plenty of bad smartphone photos out there, do you know that you can still get a good camera quality and composition like that of a Nikko Camera when you use your Android/ iPhone/Tablet and get a photo looking extraordinary?
What’s the secret to taking great pictures with your smartphone?

There are a few of them, but check out these 10 basic tips below to take good pictures with your mobile device.

1. CLEAN UP YOUR CAMERA LENS

This is the first guideline, Always clean your phone camera lens before you take an image. While wiping your lens on your jeans might do the job, using coarse materials, like a cotton shirt, or a napkin you dipped in water, may end up damaging your lens over time. If you’d like to keep scratches at bay, use a softer material — like a microfiber cloth — to clean any smudges off your camera lens. This will enable you to have a clear result when you snap pictures.

2. USE GRIDLINES TO BALANCE YOUR SHOT

When taking pictures with your phone, gridlines help balance your shot. This is one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve the quality of your mobile shots. Turning on gridlines will place lines on your screen based on the rule of thirds, a composition principle which states that a photograph should be broken down into thirds, both horizontally and vertically.

3. ADJUST FOCUS AND EXPOSURE

Smartphone cameras have come a long way in a short time, and most handsets now give you some control over the focus and exposure of your shot. If manual focus is available, it’s usually activated with a tap on the screen, on the point where you the camera to focus and result in a perfect picture.

4. USE NATURAL LIGHT PREFERABLY

To have bright and beautiful looking pictures, it is advisable to use natural light rather than using artificial light to give lighting to your picture. Some photographers prefer to take pictures outside, where there is sunlight to give the picture natural lighting and
more beautiful features.

5. LOSE THE FILTERS

Filters were cool in the past, but these days they are seen as tricky. Rather than using the same fixed filters used by countless youth around the world, try your hand at editing or better still make use of mobile editing apps.

6. FORGET THE FLASH

If you want to take good pictures with your phone, you should forget about the flash. The light used is a small LED and this, combined with the fact that it’s not even an inch away from the lens, makes for blurry photos, strangely lit subject. Just give the world something natural.

7. TURN YOUR PHONE ON ITS SIDE

Make your pictures bold by aiming to produce horizontal pictures that take up the entire screen and not just a tiny slice. Turn your phone on its side and set the volume button as a shutter alternative to taking a perfect shot.

8. MAKE USE OF FRAMES

Creatively framing shots doesn’t mean you have to line everything up all by yourself. Luckily, you can employ your camera to assist you when it comes to framing and polishing your shots. Make sure you’re not capturing any unwanted subjects while you shoot. “Composition, composition, composition!” says portrait and nightlife photographer Kenny Rodriguez, whose subjects rarely stay in one place for long. “I would suggest making sure that everything in the frame is there want it there.

9. STEADY YOURSELF OR USE A TRIPOD

If your images during sunset is a bit blurry, you should familiarize yourself with the photographer’s most useful tool: the tripod. Sure, a steady hand is always better than a shaky one, but neither can match the tripod’s versatility when it comes to putting your spin on your photos. Pocket-sized tripods are perfect for smartphone photography, and are often device-agnostic, meaning you can use them with almost any phone. You can even purchase smartphone cases with built-in mounting threads to stick them on more professional tripods or other camera accessories like shoulder straps.

10. FORGET THE DIGITAL ZOOM

I know you’d love to get a closer look at that bridge, you might have to be content with a picture, but zooming in before you take the shot is not the solution. Digital zoom shots are simply cropped and resized images, unlike the optical zoom functionality you might find on a full-blown camera. Digital zoom will not yields a grainy image and also reduces the resolution of the overall photo and intensify any vibrations from your hands, leaving you with an inferior representation of that adorable canine. In short, avoid digital zoom as often as possible — but knock yourself out with the telephoto lens on your smartphone, if it has one.

The secret to photography, like any skill, is to keep learning and practising. There are more basic photography guidelines that will help you make the most of your smartphone’s camera app.

Are you taking wonderful pictures with your phone? What other tips can you share?