I get asked ‘What camera/equipment do you use for your photos?’ and ‘Who takes you photos?’.

The answer? My phone, and my phone only. Yes, answer for both questions. And my phone is not even the latest, most expensive, or advanced phone. Occasionally someone might snap a picture for me (after long list of instructions hahah!) who happens to be in a same place at the same time, however usually the phone is balanced on a rock or backpack, or fixed into a pocket size tripod as timer counts down and I am running to a distance. (Oh how many times I have rolled my ankle thou doing that lol!)

It is not a technology what makes a good photo. It is a visual side - things like balance of the image, colour, lighting, contrast, focus points… the list goes on. Did you see anything about pixel counts, or what was the brand of the phone?

Here are few quick basic tips you might think with your next shot.

Clean lens

Pretty simple really, yet I forget this as well. Carrying a phone in a pocket and constant use of it without covers, the lens can have marks, dust or oil in it. Nothing worse than having an unwanted glare or blurry image. Unless of course you want that cool ray of light beaming out of the light source which appears, when lens is partially covered or some substance has been applied into it such as oil.

Focus

Your phone sets up the focus automatically, however it is a good practice to set it manually just by tapping the object, or area in a screen, to make sure you are sharpening of a spot of your choice. This is crucial especially if you are taking a picture of motion. Tap right before capturing the image gives you sharp, solid photo. Best advice is to focus on one subject only due the limitations of a smartphone camera, and this way quite a point of interest into an area odd your choice.

Exposure

Another automated function your phone does, is exposure. By tapping your subject in a screen resets the lighting to be optimal, however even then you might have to adjust it slightly to achieve best results for light and shadow. Nothing worse than overexposed or fully dark photo you can’t save with filters and adjusting level later on.

Lines

Using a natural lines such as natural curves, buildings, roads and trees and such - can be used to draw attention to point of interest you wish to highlight, and also give depth. This is neat way to make a feel of a well planned image, and give a certain feel such as movement.

Surprise action shots

I hate posing. I become awkward and most aware of the camera and shots become unnatural. You probably noticed already most of the photos I am not facing the camera or I am in the middle of a movement. This automatically draws the attention into surrounding rather than me, however you are still able to have a sense of scale of the surrounding. By taking photos when people are not aware of the situation and in the middle of the action adds another layer of excitement, story and emotion. Beauty of this digital era is to be able to take as many shots as you like and choose the best later on.

Natural light

Phone flash, avoid it! Only time it can help with the photo lighting is to use it in a day light to soften some hard shadows. Using natural light gives a more organic feel for a photo, even when there are less light. You can always adjust the levels of brightness later on within limitations available.

Zoom… not

I am my own zoom. I love having a space to play around with the image, and even with a portrait I walk closer to the object and let the surrounding tell a wider story. The camera zoom tends to make image blurry, pixelated and highly unstable. This practice gives a higher quality photo to work on and have a same sense of the scale as at the time photo was taken.

Rule of thirds

Easy trick to balance your shot is to turn on grid-line. Usually this follow the rule of thirds. Basically screen is dived in three equal size of blocks both vertically and horizontally. By placing your object in these intersection or along the lines should give the viewer more balanced feel.

Sneaky video, burst and live.

Play with the functions and use them to other purpose as they are designed for.

Take a video which allows you to go distance and capture a screen shot from it. Either by screen grabbing of a paused image, or use separate app.

A burst function do fills up your phone with crazy amount of images, however you can choose the best and delete the rest. Just like a video, this allows you to capture wider images with you in a distance. Or you achieve an incredible sense of motion of your moving object with this.

And don’t forget the live function if available. Using it allows you to change the function to loops, or long exposure to create smoother effects, such as stunning waterfalls and rivers.

Apps

Yes, these little wonderful softwares. The list of them is endless for every occasion such as photography, editing, night photography, filters etc… I don’t use many, but aim to get best shot with the basic camera. The ones I got are for night photography, grabbing tool to get frames shot from the video, and simple editing to remove unwanted objects such as glares due the sunlight. Nothing major, just little helpers to get wanted shot rather than heavy editing tools as I believe purity of the photography.

Editing

And last, feel free to edit the photos. I personally don’t use much filters. Only thing I might adjust is contrast and brightness to match with my memory.

There are no one set of rules for photography as it is an art form. We all have our own taste and we all see things in our own way so make it fun! Be playful, try things out and play around the photo. Digital photography gives you endless possibilities to create your own masterpiece with preset filters or your own taste of editing options. Some say even slightest editing is photo-shopping the photo which is true, however what’s stopping you being you?

Happy snapping, go crazy and play around prior big adventures!!