Top 7 Tips To Improve Your Smartphone Photography

There’s always that one person on your Instagram feed who never posts an imperfect smartphone photo, whether they’re displaying their toes in the sands of South Beach or their favorite pistachio ice cream. And this year, you’re trying to be like them.

Or even better.

Research shows that the average individual has a total of 630 pictures on their cell phone. But chances are that most of them have not mastered the art and science of capturing the perfect photograph.

Fortunately, with smartphone cameras only getting better, your smartphone photography skills can improve right along with them. Here’s a rundown of the top seven tips for improving your smartphone photos.

Let’s jump in!

1. Apply Composition Principles

One of the most important tips for improving your smartphone photography is to apply key composition principles, like the rule of thirds.

If you’re planning to take a photo of a person or object, you may be tempted to place the subject in your camera frame’s center spot. However, this will make your photo less balanced aesthetically.

Instead, place the subject on one of the lines that separate your camera frame into three sections either vertically or horizontally. Note that vertical shots are best reserved for portraits, whereas horizontal ones are ideal for landscapes.

By following this rule, you’ll produce a more visually interesting and impactful image.

2. Get Rid of the Flash

Another tip for improving your smartphone photography is to avoid using your phone camera’s flash feature.

A camera flash’s light can be immensely harsh. For this reason, it can create strange shadows and highlights. This may affect your subject’s color and cause hideous reflections.

In light of this, it’s best to turn the flash off unless you have to use flash to capture an image at all.

Fortunately, many newer phone cameras include a feature called night mode now. This feature makes it easier to capture more attractive photos in dark conditions. However, to use this feature, you have to hold your smartphone steady for two seconds.

You can also use a smartphone tripod to capture excellent low-light photos.

3. Don’t Zoom With the Camera

Perhaps you need to take a photo of a subject up close. Avoid using your phone’s zoom feature, as this can reduce the quality of your image.

The zoom feature is digital, so you’ll get noise and distortion in your photograph. Even though you can edit or crop out a photo’s noise distortion, this will detract from your photo’s quality.

Rather than zooming on a subject using your camera, move closer to the subject to photograph it instead.

You can practice doing this by taking zoomed-in pictures of objects at the distances you would normally stand away from them. Then, walk closer to them and photograph them. You’ll notice the higher quality of the images right away.

You may also purchase a zoom lens for your smartphone camera. This will allow you to capture winning shots even when you can’t draw close to the subjects you’re photographing.

4. Avoid Overusing Filters

To improve your smartphone photography, consider using photo filters as well. However, don’t overuse them.

Photo filters are widely used on social media sites such as Instagram. However, you can also find apps that will allow you to apply specific combinations of effects to your photos.

Still, you should not apply filters to every photo you take. That’s because many filters are exaggerated, so when you use them, the viewer can tell that you’ve used filters.

This takes away from the natural beauty and authenticity of the photos you have captured. In addition, filters don’t suit all kinds of photos.

Although professional photographers sometimes use preset filters on their photos, these filters usually aren’t as dramatic as standard filters are.

5. Maintain a Clean Lens

Before you take a photo with your smartphone, double-check how clean the lens is.

As part of the 97% of Americans who own cell phones, you likely take your phone everywhere you go. This means they’re often kept in pockets, bags, and purses. You might even give your phone to your toddler.

As a result, your smartphone camera lens will likely become dirty at some point. Even specks of dirt can impact your photos’ quality.

So, wipe down your camera lens often with a camera lens cloth. This will keep your camera lens free from oils, muck, and dirt that may otherwise ruin the ideal photo.

Consider also protecting your phone and its camera with a case designed to go over your smartphone. This will further help you to produce crystal-clear shots every time.

6. Embrace Natural Lighting

As you take photos, try to use natural lighting as much as possible. This type of lighting — compared with light from your camera’s flash as we mentioned earlier — will usually produce more realistic and attractive shots. This is especially true for a portrait shot.

But what happens if the weather is cloudy when you’re trying to snap an outdoor photo? Or, what if you don’t have access to natural light when taking pictures indoors?

In these situations, you should look for artificial lights that are strong enough to produce the photography lighting you need.

You can also try to reflect the small amount of ambient or natural light that is present in the area. For instance, use a car dashboard sunshade or large white posterboard to illuminate the object or person you’re photographing.

This will help you to create a more beautiful photo overall.

7. Learn How to Edit Your Photos

Finally, don’t be afraid to use your cell phone’s editing tools to enhance your smartphone photos.

There are so many native smartphone tools that offer basic photo adjustments such as cropping and color enhancement. Once you have outgrown these tools, you can upgrade to more specialized photo editing apps. There are a variety of photo editing apps available on the market today. Apps such as Adobe Lightroom mobile have tools that can do almost everything imaginable to your photos. Indeed, for most of these apps, imagination is the only limit.

How We Can Help With Smartphone Photography

You can easily improve your smartphone photography by applying composition principles and maximizing your natural lighting. Learning how to edit your photos will further take your pics to a new level.

At Improvefoto, we take pride in being your go-to source for everything related to photography. We’re ready to help you to hone your photography skills so that you can enjoy and pass down attractive, awe-inspiring photos in the years ahead.

Check out our portfolio to learn the latest in photography today!