{"id":21557,"date":"2020-10-03T20:20:04","date_gmt":"2020-10-03T20:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/21557\/the-essential-guide-to-taking-better-pictures-with-your-smartphone\/"},"modified":"2020-10-23T15:50:00","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T15:50:00","slug":"the-essential-guide-to-taking-better-pictures-with-your-smartphone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/21557\/the-essential-guide-to-taking-better-pictures-with-your-smartphone\/","title":{"rendered":"The Essential Guide to Taking Better Pictures With Your Smartphone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you seen some of the stunning photos<\/a> taken with smartphones and wondered why yours don\u2019t measure up? Believe it or not, you can get the same results!<\/p>\n

The key is understanding your phone\u2019s camera settings and some of the basic principles of photography. Once you learn how to take better pictures, you\u2019ll be amazed at your results! Start with these simple tips.<\/p>\n

How to Take Better Pictures? Start With Your Settings<\/h2>\n

One of the best smartphone photography tips you\u2019ll read today is also the simplest\u2014start by understanding exactly what your phone\u2019s camera can do. If you\u2019re just opening the camera app, aiming it at your subject, and hitting the button, you\u2019re not even scratching the surface!<\/p>\n

Most smartphone cameras have a full array of capabilities and settings, some of which will blow your mind. If you want to learn how to make your phone take better pictures, you need to understand how it works.<\/p>\n

There are many guides (both free and paid) that will help you learn about the options available to you. Familiarize yourself with them, and you\u2019ll be well on your way to taking better pictures.<\/p>\n

Use Grid Lines<\/h2>\n

You won\u2019t have to use your gridlines forever, but it\u2019s a great way to improve your photos when you\u2019re first starting out. This will help you with the \u201crule of thirds<\/a>,\u201d which is a basic tenant of good photography.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The idea is that you\u2019ll want to break images up into thirds, both vertically and horizontally. While you might instinctually want to center your subject, this is a mistake. Using your grid, you can make sure that your subject is aligned artfully.<\/p>\n

To turn gridlines on using an iPhone, you\u2019ll want to go to \u201cSettings\u201d and then choose \u201cCamera.\u201d From here, toggle on the \u201cGrid\u201d setting. On an Android phone, you\u2019ll open the Camera app and go to \u201cSettings.\u201d Then scroll down to the \u201cGrid Lines\u201d setting and toggle it on.<\/p>\n

After you get used to following the rule of thirds, you can go ahead and turn those lines back off.<\/p>\n

Avoid Digital Zoom<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s normal to want to get close to your subject when taking a photo, but you\u2019ll want to avoid using your phone\u2019s zoom feature whenever possible\u2014most devices us a \u201cdigital zoom,\u201d which causes pixelation and blurring.<\/p>\n

When you can, consider simply getting up closer to the subject. Otherwise, you\u2019ll be better off taking the photo from where you are and then zooming and cropping later in the editing phase.<\/p>\n

Some of the newer phones, like the iPhone 11 Pro, have an optical zoom. This technology allows you to zoom in without losing photo quality. You may want to Google your phone model to see if you have this feature, but unless you have a newer, high-end phone, you probably don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Learn How to Focus<\/h2>\n

Most newer smartphones are really smart when it comes to mastering the art of focusing in photography. Using the Portrait\/Live Focus modes, you can focus on your subject while blurring the background. This will give your images a very professional look.<\/p>\n

If your phone doesn\u2019t have this option or you prefer not to use it, you can also manually focus on your subject. For example, if you\u2019re taking a picture of your cat, you can tap the cat on the screen. This tells the phone that you want the camera to focus on the cat and not the background behind it.<\/p>\n

Take Multiple Shots<\/h2>\n

Unlike back in the day when you had to develop and print a photo, digital technology allows you to take as many pictures as you want without any hassle. While learning how to take better pictures with iPhone or Android devices, you\u2019ll want to take multiple shots of each image you capture.<\/p>\n

If your subject is moving, you can also use the burst feature to get a series of different shots with almost no effort. Later, you can go through them and choose the best ones.<\/p>\n

Start by Taking Photos Outdoors<\/h2>\n

When you\u2019re first getting started, you\u2019ll enjoy better results if you take photos outdoors, ideally using natural light. Indoor photography<\/a> is a bit of a challenge, so outside photos using natural light are much more rewarding for novice photographers.<\/p>\n

Play around with lighting and see how it can impact the tone, mood, and atmosphere of your photos. Don\u2019t be afraid to have fun with this!<\/p>\n

Use HDR<\/h2>\n

Most newer smartphones have \u201cHDR\u201d mode, which stands for \u201cHigh Dynamic Range.\u201d This will almost immediately create better images, particularly if you\u2019re taking landscape photos.<\/p>\n

HDR mode helps you achieve a balanced exposure, adding light to areas that otherwise would be too dark and darkening areas that are too light. It adds extra detail to your photos and gives you an overall better effect.<\/p>\n

Learn Some Simple Editing Tricks<\/h2>\n

While this last tip won\u2019t actually help you take<\/em><\/strong> better photos, it will give you a better end result. Your phone likely has a built-in editor, or you can use more advanced programs, like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop.<\/p>\n

Any of these apps will let you correct the color and brightness, crop your photos, and do other touch-ups in just a few seconds. This will allow you to fix any issues you come across and make some changes to correct them the next time you\u2019re taking photos.<\/p>\n

Start Taking Better Pictures Today<\/h2>\n

Now that you know the basics of how to take better pictures with your smartphone, you\u2019re ready to start experimenting with your new skills! Keep browsing through a few more of our blog posts for even more tech tips you can use today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you seen some of the stunning photos taken with smartphones and wondered why yours don\u2019t measure up? Believe it or not, you can get the same results! The key… Continue reading “The Essential Guide to Taking Better Pictures With Your Smartphone”<\/span> <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21557"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21557"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21605,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21557\/revisions\/21605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upgifs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}