The camera in your phone is probably of more use than a dedicated SLR or digital camera that you might own. However, a phone’s camera is nowhere near as good as a dedicated camera when it comes to the overall image quality. However, with the tricks and tips explained below, you can take pictures with your phone’s camera that can rival those from any discrete digital camera.
Explore Different Options
In earlier phones’ cameras, there was not much you could do as far as playing around with the settings was concerned. However, smartphones today based on the Windows and Android platforms provide you with many options to snap some very creative and attractive photos. Some of the common options you can fiddle around with for quality snapshots are white balance, ISO and even the self-timer. Most modern day phone cameras also allow users to take pictures either in the macro mode or the normal one.
There are even options to lower the shutter speed or enable the continuous shoot mode, aka the burst mode. Even an iPhone, which is known to skimp on many camera options, allows its users to take HDR snaps, turn on panorama, control flash, and a few more.
Multiply Your Camera’s Abilities with Apps
What many smartphone cameras lack by default can be covered up for by the use of third-party apps. This is one space where no digital camera or SLR can stand up to smartphone shooters. For example, because of their pretty small sensors smartphone cameras possess a very deep field depth. You can work around this problem by the use of an app like AutoFocus.
This app allows you to simulate a shallow field depth, something that’s common with portrait pictures snapped by a DSLR. The app is available for both Android and iOS phones.
Take Pictures in Bright Environments
Digital cameras give the best results when they are used in presence of light. The same also applies for smartphone cameras as they tend to produce a lot of noise in pictures when used in darker surroundings. This is also due to their very small sensors. For the best results, try to shoot as often as possible in daylight. In case you need to shoot indoors, turn on every possible source of light. Additionally, if your phone is HDR capable, then use that feature instead of relying on flash for taking pictures in low-light or dimly lit scenarios. The final outcome will be much better than snapping pictures using the phone’s flash.
The key to taking better shots with your smartphone camera lies in practice. Some of the other things you can do to improve your smartphone camera skills include keeping the device steady, timing the release of your finger off the screen perfectly, and tapping on the screen to improve focus or set exposure.
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