How to take beautiful photos on your phone. Is it worth buying the latest smartphone to take better photos?
Cole Rise is a popular photographer, traveler, and creator of the Rise preset for Instagram. His photographs are distinguished by the fact that even after processing they look natural. Cole shared his secrets on how to shoot on mobile phone and edit photos so that they are close in quality to images from SLR cameras.
1. Add light to shadows and darken highlights
Most photo editing tools have options for adjusting highlights and shadows. And you need to use this.
To enhance his nature photography, Cole balanced the exposure by adding light to the shadows and slightly darkening the highlights. He also applied the Winsy filter from the Litely app collection to the photo to bring warm tones to the image.
2. Add vignette and shadow effects to brighten your photo
The vignetting effect adds a dark border around the perimeter of the photo and brightens the middle. This is one of Cole's favorite tricks. The original photo would have been too dark, so Cole increased the saturation and added some sharpening to separate the balloon from the landscape. This allowed us to keep the photo natural.
3. Edit the image and then return all settings back to 50%
It is very important.
The trick is to make your photo look natural. Edit the image as you are used to, and then return all settings back to 50%.
Last year Instagram users finally got the opportunity to control the strength of the filters. To use these settings, simply select the filter and then click on it again.
And one more tip: don't use the LUX tool on Instagram. Its job is to correct the lack of contrast that makes the photo unnatural.
4. Film people wherever possible.
Landscapes look better when there are people in them. The person in the photograph is capable of conveying feelings. Best example How people add personality to a photo is the work of Murad Osmann, who photographs himself holding his girlfriend's hand in different parts of the world (photo series "Follow Me").
These are the ruins of the ancient city of Jerash. If we remove the person from this photograph, we will not feel the scale and grandeur of this structure.
6. Try taking pictures leaning out of a car window.
You will never know in advance what you will succeed. On an iPhone, simply press and hold the shutter button to take photos in burst mode. On a smartphone under Android control You can enable serial shooting by selecting the appropriate mode (Burst Mode) in the camera settings. On Samsung smartphones it may be called Burst Shot. Cole used Slow Shutter Cam to create this photo to add a blur effect.
7. To get an interesting shot, place your smartphone on the roof of the car
If there are clouds in the sky, their reflection on the roof of the car will add some zest to the photo.
8. Lower the gadget to the surface of the water to create a cool reflective effect
9. Hold your smartphone vertically when shooting for Instagram
To make things easier for yourself, hold the camera vertically: this makes it easier to fit everything you need for the frame into a square area. Better yet, set up your camera to shoot only square images.
10. When shooting landscapes, press the volume button to release the shutter
Did you know you can simply open the camera on your iPhone and press the volume button to take a photo? The same is true for Android phones. IN Samsung Galaxy S4, assign the shutter function to the volume button in settings instead of the default zoom function. This rearrangement of buttons will make it more convenient to hold the phone to avoid the effect of “shaky hands”, which can ruin the photo.
11. Get closer to the ground if you want to bring your subject to the foreground
Smartphone cameras have poor depth of field, so you can resort to tricks. For example, lower the camera closer to the ground.
12. Don't attract attention and don't carry a backpack.
A tourist covered in gadgets is an excellent bait for thieves. When traveling, Cole never wears provocative clothing, keeps his camera and phone close to him, and always leaves his backpack at home. Before filming a merchant or just a person on the street, be sure to ask his permission. You'll be surprised how responsive people are.
13. Bad weather = great photo
Don't run away when it starts to rain or hail. This excellent conditions in order to take a good shot. Overcast and cloudy days are an opportunity to capture interesting patterns in the sky. Don't sit at home even when the weather seems unflyable.
14. Be prepared to shoot even in the most unexpected moments
It’s not always possible to thoroughly prepare for a shoot; unexpected moments also happen. Like, for example, this shot of a low-flying plane. Therefore, if you don’t want to miss out on great shots, learn the hot keys on your phone. For example, at Samsung smartphones There is a Camera Quick Access option in the settings. And in new Galaxy S6 has built-in hotkeys, you just need to double-click the Home button.
15. To get better shots, go further than others.
The only way to discover beautiful places is to force yourself to explore. Do you want to get non-standard shots? Move further away from crowded tourist areas.
In general, as Cole says, live a vibrant life, then great photos will appear.
Tips from Jason D. Little, which I, the site administrator, want to convey to you.
Most believe that good camera in your hands guarantees a quality photo, but great photographers take great photos no matter what camera takes the photo. A professional can take a photo with a camera phone that novices would never take with an expensive DSLR.
Given the ubiquity of camera phones, and their ever-increasing quality, there are many people who are quite happy with their mobile phone also serving as their only camera. Even Jason D. Little himself admits that he takes more and more photographs with his phone.
But nevertheless, you must learn a few rules in order to get a high-quality photo taken on your mobile phone.
1. "Vision". The main advantage of taking photographs with a mobile phone is your increased mobility. You can spend much more of your time just observing, choosing or wandering around an interesting place. The phone has a minimum of settings, so you need to learn to “see” and feel the subject you are shooting.
2. Legs. Use your legs. Have you ever used the zoom feature on your phone? If yes, then you remember how terribly the pixels blur. It's all digital zoom. Why do we need legs?.. That's right, turn your legs into a means of approaching an object. So, forget about lenses, if you want to shoot close-up, get closer.
3. Searching for light. Despite the fact that light sensors in phones are improving every day, they are still far from being “DSLRs”. To compensate for this, you need to learn to find good lighting, be it natural (wait a moment for the cloud to pass) or artificial (turn on the light in the room).
4. Don't forget the rules. Composition is most important. Now phones have learned to help photographers with an additional grid. But the main thing is the “rule of thirds”. Use it. Train your skills and then you will feel the edges and be able to take a beautiful photo by breaking them.
5. Don't forget your DSLR. Pair the DSLR with the camera in your phone. Sometimes with the help of a camera phone you will find a good shot for a DSLR, and sometimes a camera phone will help out if you need to take quick photo.
6. Maintenance . Most people are very careful about their belongings, especially cameras; they constantly wipe the lenses with a special cloth and regularly check the charge of the battery and sometimes even several. Don't forget that the same rules will work well for your camera phone. Don’t go on a photo hunt with a half-empty charger and be careful with fingerprints on the camera glass.
7. Sound assessment. Of course, although progress does not stand still, camera phones are still far from being “DSLRs,” but look at the world soberly. What do you need a camera for? Modern camera phones have practically killed the market for digital point-and-shoot cameras, and many people used point-and-shoot cameras. Don’t rush to buy a “DSLR” if you only need to take photos for social networks. Save your money for something more useful.
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The main commandment of smartphone photography: it doesn’t matter how cool the camera is, what matters is who’s holding it. And with the most luxurious DSLR you can make clear, but boring photos. The kind that lie on disk and no one opens them for years.
And you can take interesting photos with your smartphone, especially since this equipment is always with you, you don’t have to uncover it for a long time and you won’t forget to remove the lens cap. And for the most part, smartphones are cheaper than DSLRs, which is also very pleasing.
website I have collected some tips for you on how to do cool photos filming on a smartphone.
Programs
A camera in a smartphone is, first of all, a program that maintains the lens and matrix. Therefore, you should not stop at what Android or iOS dictates to you. You may want to use different programs For different cases shooting. Some give a more interesting color rendition, others - a little more close-ups: Pudding Camera, CameraMX, Photosynth, VSCO Cam, Slow shutter cam, Pro HDR, Camera+, etc. Why limit yourself if you have a choice?
Having chosen a program, it’s worth delving into the settings. Install a high resolution pictures, remember that in difficult cases you can play with white balance, ISO and turn off autofocus. And in general, find out what interesting things a specific program can do.
Zoom
Cropping as a replacement for zoom.
It’s better to forget once and for all that your smartphone has digital zoom. Such an increase in most cases is achieved by serious losses in image quality. The best zoom is the legs: come closer, move further away.
If this is not possible, then it is wiser to cut from great photos the frame you need. The framing function is available even in the most simple programs. Plus, you don’t waste time adjusting the size, you just take it off. And already in a calm environment, you correctly compose the frame, without missing details that you could accidentally crop out while using the zoom in the field.
Series
Take several shots of the same scene. Subsequently, you can choose the most successful photo and work with it. And, before deleting photos from your smartphone, it’s a good idea to view them on your computer, since you may not notice them on your phone’s small screen nice photos just because they will appear overexposed or underexposed.
If it doesn’t turn out interesting, you should change the shooting angle.
When photographing something or someone, don't be afraid to change angles. You can take a photo head-on, or you can change the angle a little and get an interesting shot. Moreover, compact dimensions smartphones allow you to take angles for which a photographer with a large camera will have to work hard.
Light
The flash on a smartphone should be used very carefully. As a rule, it “deads” the photo, distorts colors and shadows. Flash is only good when you need to take pictures immediately, otherwise you'll miss the moment.
At the same time, light is main tool photographer This is also important for professional cameras, but for smartphones this is much more important. Therefore, always look for the light, pay close attention to how it falls on the subject, and you will get the shot.
Good light in the morning and evening. On a sunny afternoon you will have to work with too much high contrast, which threatens with artifacts in the pictures. The pre-storm sky gives luxurious effects.
Object shooting
On the left is a photo with a lack of lighting, on the right is with a flashlight.
If you want to take a photo of something or someone at home, the smartphone can become stubborn - there is rarely enough light in the room. But you can take a simple one led flashlight and a sheet of white paper to compensate for the shadow being too harsh. Let's say a flashlight is shining from above on the right, we bring a sheet of white paper to the left, which reflects the light of the flashlight and additionally illuminates the object, and press the button on the phone.
Lens Cleanliness
Frame through a fingerprint.
It would seem that an obvious thing is the cleanliness of the lens, but smartphone lovers often come across this issue. The phone is used constantly, lies in your pocket, and when you take it to answer a call or SMS, the last thing you remember is that you left a fingerprint on the glass of the lens. When shooting, this print gives, of course, a slight mysterious blur, but, as a rule, this is the effect you do not expect in the intended photo.
Response delay
It is important to take into account the fact that the shooting program in a smartphone in most cases operates with a delay. You have already pressed the button, but the camera is still thinking before taking a photo. Therefore, it is important to think proactively, like a hunter who shoots not at a hare, but at the place where, according to his assumption, the hare will be at the next moment.
Let's say you are photographing a flower in a field, and it is windy on that day, you need to take into account the speed of the camera and at the same time capture the moment between gusts of wind. It’s difficult, but the result will be more valuable due to the effort spent.
Post-processing programs
Simplest editing on Instagram.
Most professional photographers do post-processing of photographs, absolutely always in commercial photography, and for smartphones this is a vital necessity. You cannot adjust the shutter speed and aperture on a smartphone. This limitation is compensated for by a variety of post-processing programs. This is beyond the well-known Instagram and Flickr.
- VSCO Cam. Allows you to apply a variety of filters and settings. Distributed free of charge.
- Afterlight. Good for color correction. Costs 34 rubles.
- Touch retouch. This simple tool allows you to remove minor imperfections in a photo and clone parts of the image. There are free and paid versions.
- SnapSeed. Great amount filters and effects, such as tilt-shift and focus adjustment, sharpness and color adjustment. Distributed free of charge.
- Pixlr Express. Big choice filters, frames, effects. Completely free.
- Photoshop Express. None special settings does not, but there are a lot of different filters that make the processing process as fast as possible. Can work with RAW files. Free of charge.
- Rookie. There are both free and paid features. IN standard package The application has a lot of vintage filters adapted for different genres of photography: portraits, landscapes, city sketches, macro, etc.
- Phonto. Allows you to add any fonts you wish to your photo. Distributed free of charge.
- Moldiv. Free app in Russian, which allows you to make collages by combining up to 9 pictures.
- MultiExpo(for iOS). Interesting application to create a multiple exposure effect. Distributed free of charge.
- Photo Grid. Free application for creating collages. Can work with high resolution files.
- LensLight. The application allows you to add glare, glow and bokeh effects to your photos. Costs 99 rubles.
Now many amateurs are asking a fairly reasonable question: why should I buy a bulky, expensive camera if I have good phone with normal optics?
Better explain how to take pictures with this phone correctly! - customers of many stores and online portals ask.
It is clear that any SLR owner will find 100 or more reasons to buy a SLR camera. But to an ordinary person, who does not plan to develop professionally in the field of photography, this is really not necessary. With basic knowledge, you can get normal pictures that are not inferior to cheap and some point-and-shoot cameras in the mid-price range. If a photographer not only knows how to take photographs, but also understands what composition and harmony are, then real masterpieces are produced on the phone!
I present to your attention 10 tips on how to take beautiful pictures with your phone:
Disable the Zoom function
In any modern phones, even the most minimum magnification immediately leads to a strong decrease in photo quality. Noise appears almost immediately in the image, which in turn reduces the already lousy sharpness. In other words, if you need to get closer to your subject, move closer to him. I repeat once again, in order to take good photographs with your phone, never enlarge the picture! No way to get closer? Take photos as is, and later trim off the excess in the editor. You should also remember - the closer the object is from you, the better quality photos.
Lens Cleanliness
In order to take photographs with your smartphone as correctly as possible, always keep the lens clean and do not scratch it. To wipe the front lens, it is better to purchase a special accessory - microfiber or a pencil. The cleanliness of the front lens is practically unimportant for SLR cameras, but for soap dishes and phones it is a very important nuance!
A few shots!
If you have never shot professionally or have not interacted with serious photographers, then it will be news to you that these people always take takes. In different shooting conditions, the number is different, but copies are always made! This approach is professionalism.
Notice the quality of the cameras and optics is very, very high. Let's draw conclusions. A lot of identical photos– this means taking photos correctly with a smartphone! This approach should become your habit!
You should also set aside a few more minutes a day to delete all unnecessary and failed frames.
Lighting during shooting
If you want to take good photographs with your phone, make sure how, what quality and where your subject is illuminated from, existing source Sveta. This point is probably the most important for all photographers, and when shooting with a phone, light becomes extremely important! Try to shoot with high quality daylight. Don't shoot into the sun, but if you do, turn on HDR and be prepared for a lot of takes.
At the same time, be aware that the phone’s matrix will not be able to convey strong contrasts. So you need compromises: bright good light and reduced contrast.
Quality and resolution
If you want the best your phone can produce, then forget about saving space! Before taking photos with your smartphone, set the highest possible quality and resolution of the pictures! This is the only way you will succeed!
Automatic settings
Unlike expensive high-end cameras, phones have quite limited various parameters, but instead there are many automatic settings that can really help. For example, for photographing with close range– macro photography. Portrait, panorama and others. Also, almost all phones have settings such as white balance and ISO sensitivity. If you understand these parameters, you will be able to take great photos!
Photo editing
In order to take photographs correctly from your phone, it is worth mastering such an operation as image retouching. In other words, correction. For this purpose, many various programs, including on your phone, but they are often of poor quality and even if they make something “beautiful,” when viewed on a computer it turns out that it is a defect.
For processing, use more serious programs:
– Photoshop;
– Ligtroom;
– ACDSee et al.
You don't need to fully master these programs. To improve your photos you will need:
– sharpening;
– white balance correction;
– saturation;
– contrast;
– possibly brightness and exposure.
All these settings are very easy and quick to carry out, you only need to watch how it is done a few times. Fortunately, there are a great many similar lessons and articles on the Internet, including on this blog.
Shevelenka
In order to take photographs correctly with your phone, master such a thing as shutter speed. That is, control your hands, or take a more comfortable position in which they shake less. This will allow you to improve the quality of your pictures significantly. This advice is especially relevant in low light conditions.
Additional Applications
Strange as it may seem, but third party applications, and often the free ones are very helpful in taking photos from your phone or getting a certain effect. For example, panorama, HDR or ready-made color and tone processing.
Theory and practice
It may not be clear to you, but in order to take photographs correctly from a smartphone, you need to understand how photographs are taken and the internal processes of this complex phenomenon. Usually practice is more useful than theory, but in such a serious matter as beautiful photography from a phone, I think theory is even more important!
Good luck with your shots!
You can have a phone with a camera and amaze the world with beautiful pictures.
Professionals have long noted the convenience of taking photographs with a smartphone - pictures can be edited right on the spot and immediately sent to their intended destination - by mail, using social services, photo hosting sites or through cloud storage. At the same time, the quality of images the right approach is not inferior to the results of working with professional equipment. Thus, pictures taken with a smartphone even ended up on the covers of glossy magazines.
So, let's begin.
The phone camera needs to be cleaned
While the camera capabilities do not allow you to take a macro photograph of dirt accumulated on the optics, bacteria can add blurriness and spots.
Set quality settings to maximum
Set it in the camera settings maximum resolution image, as well as the best quality value. Choose 4:3.
Turn off effects
Black and white mode, sepia, inverted colors and the like have a right to exist, but all these settings are best used when editing photos on a computer.
Set white balance
The human eye adjusts to lighting, and white is perceived as white in any light. However, the camera “sees” the illuminated object ordinary lamps incandescent, redder than the eye can see.
Don't use ZOOM
IN modern smartphones Using even the most minimal zoom results in a sharp deterioration in picture quality. Noise appears on it and sharpness is lost. If you want to photograph an object closer, approach it.
Don't forget about the universal pillars of photography - composition, subject and focus.
Focus
All smartphones have autofocus skills, but in order to show your device who’s boss, you can specify the point yourself, and some devices have full-fledged manual focus.
Avoid photos in front of a mirror and selfies taken at arm's length. Mirrors often “fool” the autofocus mechanism. It's better to ask someone to take your photo. If you prefer to take the photo yourself, use a timer, lean your phone against something and stand in the frame.
Light
Try not to take photographs in poor lighting, as at least, if you want the subject to be illuminated evenly. The phone's built-in camera sensor is quite weak, and at a high ISO (light sensitivity), which allows you to shoot indoors without a flash, the noise level will also be very high. Therefore, successful indoor photographs will only be taken in bright light.
If you need to take a photo indoors, pay attention to the sources of artificial light in it. Avoid fluorescent lights, as their light gives objects a green tint.
When shooting in low light, make sure to keep the camera steady. With built-in cameras, when there is a lack of light, the exposure time increases greatly, and any movement will result in a blurred frame.
Use the rule of thirds
When composing a frame, imagine that it is divided into equal parts by two horizontal and two vertical lines. Let significant lines or boundaries coincide with them (for example, the horizon line runs at a distance of 1/3 from the upper or lower boundary), and compositionally important elements fall at their intersection points.
Use flash
Using the flash built into a mobile phone is not the best the best option, but still it's better than nothing.
Do not take photographs with a mobile phone flash at a distance of more than 3 meters, but not closer than 1.5, to prevent overexposure and underlighting.
Finally, take a photo
Hold your phone steady when you press the button. After taking a photo, continue to hold it in place until the image is recorded. If you move your phone right after pressing the button, you may end up with a blur instead of a photo!
Take several photos or use a series. Don't count on one shot, it won't always be successful.
Take photos with the camera positioned at eye level of the people being photographed to avoid distortion caused by the wide-angle lens on your mobile phone.
When photographing on the move, turn off autofocus. The mobile phone camera will begin to respond to the press of the photo button much faster. In this case, everything in the frame will be sharp, starting from 1.5 meters.
Use third party camera apps
Typically, third party apps like Camera 360 for example have a large number of options that are hidden in standard application. This is especially true for Nexus smartphones, where camera settings are always very limited.
Practice
Read literature on photography, practice it yourself. Understand how optics work, what exposure, ISO, aperture, shutter speed are. After all, even the most expensive DSLR will not turn you into a pro, and on the contrary, a real photographer will get good pictures from a smartphone.