These days everyone is on their phones, and they love having the ability to take photos from their phones without having to invest in a professional grade DSLR. Even though I’m a photographer, and I love my DSLR there are time where I just love having my phone camera handy.

So today I am going to share with you my top 3 tips for getting great photos right from your phone.

#1. Lighting

The key to any great photo is lighting. I always want to make sure I have my subject, or subjects facing away from the light.

Why?

If you place them in direct sunlight, they’ll squint because the sun is in their eyes. They will also have dark shadows under their eyes, and noses. Those kind of shadows are definitely not flattering.

For phones since you don’t have too much control over aperture settings, ISO settings, If you notice when you tap on the screen where you want your image to be focused, it will either lighten or darken depending on which way you take the image. Your phone is basically is trying to do your settings for you.

I find that if I take photos in a shaded area when the sun is in full view, they end up coming out much better. Magic hour is the absolute best time for capturing photos period. This is the hour in which the sun has not completely set, or has come up yet. But it still provides plenty of light for taking photos.

#2. Composition

— This can be tricky when doing phone photography. Typically we want to share the photos we take on social media. Facebook will let you upload as is without cropping. But Instagram has a specific size set for sharing. If you take a photograph horizontally, and your subject is placed to the far left or far right, chances are they could get cut out.

Make sure to leave a good amount of spacing on the right or left side, and on top, and bottom. As you can see from the image provided below, exactly how much Instagram crops.

3. Editing

— There are thousands of editing apps to chose from! You can edit your photographs on Instagram, but I’m actually not a big fan of the filters they provide. I have the VSCO app, which is perfect for my style of editing. I love that film look that it gives to my photographs, and it keeps them all uniform.

Another great app that I use to have is AfterLight. You do have to pay for this app, but it’s only $.99. Incredibly cheap for everything it has to offer!

When editing, just remember less is more. If you want it to have that professional look to it, get it right in camera first, then gently tweak it to fit your style.

Do you have any tips for getting great photos on your phone camera? Please share them with us below. We’d love to hear from you. 

Love,