With the development of technology and the improvement of cell phones, which led to an improvement in the quality of captured images, mobileography (among fans of Apple – iPhoneography) is becoming more and more popular. One of the main advantages of the phone over a “normal” camera is that it is always on hand. For the average person, the smartphone has become an affordable tool to take pictures and share them on social networks, gathering fans.
Below you will learn some valuable tips on how to make photos on your phone more interesting, especially if you like to travel – an eclecticism of photomania, lust for travel and blogging.
Use the sound adjustment button
When taking horizontal shots (and vertical ones, too), release the shutter by pressing the volume button instead of “poking” your finger on the phone. This is true for iPhones and Android phones. Ask why? Well, that’s easy – to reduce the effect of shaking hands, and therefore a blurry picture.
Taking pictures for Instagram
In the beginning of the popularity Instagram only allowed to post square photos but over the last years developers introduce more and more new tools and possibilities to increase your audience. It’s already possible to post horizontal photos, and storis are optimized for vertical frames, and there’s a separate article about video content. But still, Instagram is perfectly optimized for posting good old square shots, and if you want your feed to be consistent in style, it’s worth checking “square photos only” in your phone settings.
Transmitting scale of objects
It is not always possible to understand the size of the depicted object on the photo, our brain uses comparison with familiar objects for this purpose. For example, to represent grandiosity of architectural buildings, it is good to take a picture of a person in the same plane with these buildings.
Take shots in motion
The charm of this tip is that you don’t know in advance what the result will be. You can shoot from a moving car, a train, while riding a bicycle, or just from an outstretched arm and spinning on its axis. For convenience, you can turn on burst mode, take several shots and choose the most creative one out of them.
Seize the moment
Interesting things happen around us at the most unexpected moments. It’s a good idea to keep your phone within reach of others and to set and remember the hotkeys to turn the camera on and release the shutter so you can catch that moment.
Blend in with the crowd
Try to blend in seamlessly with the crowd and not draw too much attention to yourself. Backpacks and bags will draw the attention of thieves and prevent you from squeezing through the crowd to the place of interest. When photographing strangers, ask their permission, in order to avoid conflicts.
Get down!
The choice of the point of view is very important for the composition of the picture. Shooting from the ground level allows to visually magnify the subject and in certain cases to accentuate it and get rid of unnecessary things in the frame.
Use reflective surfaces
Interesting effects are obtained when a part of the frame is occupied by a reflecting surface. For example, it can be a mirror, puddle, car roof, etc., with a part of the object or bright lights reflected in it.
Nature has no bad weather
Unexpected rain or snow, or strong gusts of wind can present that very moment. So don’t rush off together with others to escape the inclement weather, but try to look around and take some catchy pictures.
Post-processing matters
No matter how good a picture you get on the phone, you can improve it if you approach color correction and processing wisely. You can widen the dynamic range by darkening the highlights and adding highlights to the dark areas; experiment with color filters and make the picture color-balanced (and don’t forget about black and white photos); increase the sharpness and contrast of the picture a bit. We advise to add vignetting, blurring and other effects very carefully and where it is really justified.