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Digital Photography  - Taking Photos with a Smartphone

Digital photography  -, taking photos with a smartphone, digital photography taking photos with a smartphone.

Digital Photography: Taking Photos with a Smartphone

Lesson 9: taking photos with a smartphone.

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Taking photos with a smartphone

A smartphone is probably the most convenient camera you can have. You'll always have it with you, it fits in your pocket, and it doesn't require any manual adjustments before you can take a photo. Even if you own a nicer camera, you'll probably still use your smartphone to capture unexpected photo moments. Therefore, it's a good idea to learn how your phone's camera works so you'll be ready when you want to take a photo.

As you can see in the photos below, each smartphone has different features and may put common features in different places.

Many phones have basic cameras that use a focus-free system (which means pretty much everything stays in focus all the time). However, more and more phones are starting to have high-quality cameras that require focusing.

As you learned in our lesson on Getting to Know Your Camera , most cameras use a two-stage shutter button to trigger the auto-focus. Some smartphones, such as the Motorola Droid, have a two-stage shutter button. To auto-focus the camera, you'll simply press the shutter button halfway down. Other phones, such as the iPhone, allow you to touch a specific area of the screen to focus the camera. When you do this, the iPhone will also adjust the exposure so the focal point of your photo will always look good.

Many smartphones have a digital zoom you can use to capture small or distant objects. On the iPhone, you can bring up the zoom slider by using a pinch gesture, while on an Android phone you can tap the plus (+) and minus (-) buttons. It's important to keep in mind that this is a digital zoom, which is of a lower quality than an optical zoom.

Scene modes

Scene modes are a great way to take better photos in specific situations. For example, the Landscape , Sports , Night Portrait , and Closeup/Macro modes are each tailored to different situations. Some smartphones allow you to select scene modes. For example, many Android phones allow you to tap the right side of the screen to access scene modes (as well as other options).

Other features

Some smartphones have additional features you can use to take better photos. Here are a few features your phone may have:

• Grid: The iPhone can display a rule of thirds grid on the screen to help you compose your photo. You can access this by tapping the Options button at the top of the screen.
• HDR (High Dynamic Range): This mode helps you capture more detail in the shadows and highlights of your photos. Generally, it will only work when your subject isn't moving.
• Flash: Many smartphones have a flash to help you take low-light photos.
• Effects: Some smartphones allow you to apply effects to your photos, which can include black-and-white , tinted , or vintage filters. On Android phones, you can tap the right side of the screen to access the effects.
• Front-facing camera: The iPhone has a second camera just above the screen. This makes it easier to take a photo of yourself, since you can see the screen while you're taking the photo.

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How To Take Good Photos With Your Phone

Other smartphone-related topics, use  a phone with a good camera, pay attention to  lighting, expos e properly, shoot in   m anual mode.

Don’t use digital zoom

Protect the  lens  and keep it  clean

Keep the phone  steady.

However, the best way to keep your smartphone steady when taking photographs is to invest in a good camera support system . The most popular support system is the tripod , although there are plenty of other options available. Even tripods themselves come in various types  and sizes, from the big and sturdy to the small and pocket-size.

Pay attention to your  subject

When choosing a subject for your photograph, choose something or someone interesting. If the subject of your photograph is naturally appealing and interesting, then you’re halfway to taking good pictures with your phone.

Or you can use props. For example, a picture of a dog is just like any other, except if you have the dog wear sunglasses. Then it becomes interesting.

Get your composition right

Limit the effects and filters

Filters may seem like a good, one-click solution to make your smartphone photos look good and interesting, but such a one-fits-all approach doesn’t always work. And in some cases, filters and effects can end up being distracting instead of enhancing the photo.

Instead of using filters on your photos, take the time to learn how to edit your mobile photos properly so that you can be in control of how the final image looks. Learn and master the photo editing app or software you use. It’ll make a huge difference in your photos.

Think creatively

Take your time

Pay attention to detail, learn, be inspired, and practice.

From there you can try to replicate what they have done and see if you can get the same results. If you notice that you’re not quite there yet, then keep going at it and practice until you get it right.

Nice articles you have here in your blog. I found the answer to what i was looking for.

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Photography Life

PL provides various digital photography news, reviews, articles, tips, tutorials and guides to photographers of all levels

How to Take Camera Phone Pictures

By John Bosley 27 Comments Last Updated On January 20, 2022

As many of you probably know, having a camera with you at all times isn’t always possible. As much as you might try, there will be times when you want to take a photo and don’t have a camera at hand. Or do you? Pretty much everyone these days has a phone in their purse or pocket that’s capable of taking photos. While you may dismiss your phone’s capabilities as a camera, don’t be so quick to judge. In this article, I will not only cover the basics of cell phone photography, including the camera basics and some of the differences between a few available camera apps, but also go over the process of using apps to post-process the images that you capture.

Table of Contents

Capturing Images

A camera is a camera… or is it.

In many ways, it doesn’t matter whether you use a professional DSLR or a cell phone to capture an image… the basics of photography remain the same. You still want to consider important factors that go into creating an image like your subject and composition , as well as the quality of light you have to work with.

In many ways though, cell phone photography requires you to be a little more aware of the equipment that you’re using. For example, on a cell phone you’re pretty much stuck with the default lens. It might have distortion and/or flare issues, as well as smudges on the lens from using your phone as, well, a phone. You’ll also have a variety of apps that you can use to take pictures, all of which perform differently.

A Few Notes Before We Get Started

First, a few assumptions. I’m going to assume everyone reading this has used the camera on their cell phone before, so I’m going to skip over steps like downloading and installing apps, opening the camera app and reviewing images. I’m also going to assume that most people are using a phone or operating system that’s fairly modern. I’m sure that there are some of you reading this who will not have the features or capabilities that I mention, and I’m sorry that you’ll be somewhat excluded from the technical aspects of this conversation.

One last note… most of my screenshots and app suggestions will be from my personal experience with an iPhone and my wife’s Samsung Galaxy Note5. I am not purposely excluding other Android or Blackberry users. Pretty much everything that I discuss will apply to photography using any cell phone. Unfortunately, most Android devices will have subtle differences in controls within the default camera app, so I find it easiest to just refer to what I know (which is currently an iPhone 7+ running iOS 10.2) and let you translate for yourself depending on which phone and OS you’re using.

The Basics Of Cell Phone Photography

As I already mentioned, the basics of cell phone photography are simply those of photography, so I won’t be going into detail on those here. Let’s discuss what makes using a cell phone for photography unique and what you need to know to get started. For this discussion, we’re going to assume you are using a phone with a touchscreen, rear camera and the ability to download and install apps. We’ll also assume you’re using the rear camera, not the front-facing camera.

There are some important things to know before you get started taking photos with a cell phone. Everything is controlled through the touchscreen, so it’s best to familiarize yourself with the interface of your particular camera first. Most cell phones will only shoot in JPEG, although some manufacturers are starting to add RAW capabilities. Also, most cell phones only have one non-interchangeable fixed focal length lens, although some manufacturers are starting to add dual lenses. In these dual-lens setups, one lens is a wide-angle while the other is a normal or telephoto (on the iPhone 7+, they have 28/56mm equivalent focal lengths ).

Another thing that’s unique to cell phone photography is the use of apps. All phones will come with a basic camera app, but you also have the ability to download and install more advanced camera apps. Additionally, different social media apps also come with their own built-in camera within the app. Which one should you use? I’ll get to that in a bit. First, let’s discuss how you actually create images with a cell phone.

Creating Images With A Cell Phone

Now it’s time to grab your cell phone and open the camera app. On many phones, there is a shortcut you can use to access the camera app without even unlocking your phone. I would highly suggest learning this for your particular phone so that you are able to quickly take photos without first having to unlock your phone. Once you’re in the camera app, you’ll see a variety of controls. Take a look at the iPhone screenshot below. You’ll see a lot of different icons and the label I’ve added for each one.

If you’re using an Android device, you might see something like this instead.

Fortunately, you don’t really need to concern yourself with these controls. I’ve found that for the majority of the photography I do, I really don’t need to change anything shown here. Occasionally I’ll turn on the flash if I’m photographing a person in a dark place. I also sometimes use the timer or switch to the front camera, but otherwise, I let the camera decide when to use HDR in an image and never use Live Photos or in-camera filters.

Of course, there is more to cell phone photography than just pressing the big round button and letting the camera make all of the decisions for you. One of the biggest things you can do to immediately improve most photos taken with your phone is to tell it where to meter. Here you can see the default exposure for this scene:

You can adjust that exposure by touching the screen on the part of your image that you want to be properly exposed (note: your phone will also focus in that same spot). Let’s say I want the shadowy side of the building to be properly exposed. If I touch the dark building, the overall exposure of the image increases. Notice that a square appeared on the building where I touched my screen:

Unfortunately, I don’t think any default camera apps give you control over settings like shutter speed and ISO, but most do allow you to adjust the exposure by dragging your finger up or down on the screen. Once you’ve touched an area of the screen and the exposure has adjusted, touch and hold your finger outside of the square and drag it up to increase exposure or down to decrease exposure. This should give you more precise control over the exposure of your final image. One word of warning: this adjustment typically resets each time you take a picture, so be prepared to adjust your exposure multiple times if you plan to take more than one photo.

If you do want to have the same exposure (and focus) for every photo you take, press and hold the screen until you see something like this:

When you see AE/AF Lock, your phone has locked the focus and exposure and you can take multiple images without the settings changing. To return the focus and metering back to normal, simply touch anywhere on the screen again.

Cell phones are also able to focus surprisingly close to subjects. This can make them great for photographing flowers and other small objects with a lot of detail. Again, you’ll want to frame your subject, tap the screen where you want the point of focus to be, adjust exposure and take the image. You’ll find, as with macro photography, any movement of the camera will be amplified relative to your subject, so if you’re photographing something very close up, be prepared to take a few images before you get one that is properly focused.

Using Advanced Camera Apps

For most people, the default camera app will be enough for them to create images that they’re happy with. For those who want more control over their camera settings or maybe just a different interface, there are many different third-party camera apps out there.

One of the first that I tried out when I started to get more serious about phone-ography is an iOS-only app, Camera+ . One of the most attractive features of Camera+ is that it has a manual mode, giving you full control over shutter speed and ISO. If you decide to shoot in Auto mode, you can independently set the focus and exposure points. It also has adjustable white balance, which is a feature that I feel is sorely lacking in most default camera apps.

One of the least obvious apps that’s available for both iOS and Android that offers full manual controls as well as DNG capture is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for Mobile . It may not be a dedicated camera app, but the camera is full-featured and a great example of a cell phone camera done right.

Of course, there are countless different camera apps out there, but ultimately they all more or less do the same thing. When choosing the best one for photography, I’d suggest you focus on a clean, easy to use interface that lets you quickly create images that you’re happy with. For most users, including myself, this is going to be the default camera app.

Using Cameras Within Other Apps

Not all cameras are created equal. Just as some apps offer more controls than the default camera app, some also offer fewer. Not only that, but some also create photos of inferior quality. For example, photos taken with dedicated camera apps should use your camera’s full resolution and lower ISOs and JPEG compression. Apps with built-in cameras (such as Facebook) will typically use the resolution that works best for the app and higher ISOs to prevent motion blur.

Compare these two images. One was taken with the default iPhone camera app while the other was taken and saved within Instagram Stories. Unfortunately, Stories does not record the camera settings, so I don’t know what ISO was used, but you should be able to tell that it’s definitely of lower image quality. It’s also much lower resolution (4032×3024 vs 1280×720). While they didn’t look any different on the screen of my phone, they do look a lot different when seen on a computer screen. Be sure to compare the detail in the wood grain and the cat itself.

Many apps like Facebook and Instagram also have limited camera controls and often by default don’t save photos taken through them. Almost all social media apps will allow you to post images that were taken outside of the app, so unless you only want to take a photo for quick sharing, I’d highly recommend using a dedicated camera app.

Other Considerations

Image Organization: In addition to deciding which app you plan to use for photography, you’ll also need to keep track of the images you’ve taken. Some apps create unique folders where they store images, meaning you might not be able to view all of your images in the same place. Other apps won’t actually show images that were taken with them until they are exported, meaning you might have taken a photo but won’t be able to view it with the rest of your images until you export it out of the app.

Sensor Limitations: The actual capabilities of a phone’s sensor is another major consideration. You’ll never achieve the same results with a phone that you will with a DSLR or mirrorless camera, so don’t go in with the same expectations. The high ISO performance and dynamic range capabilities are not in the same league, but of course, this should be pretty obvious. I mean, it is a phone after all.

Add-On Lenses: If you want to use something besides the standard lens, you might look into purchasing an add-on lens for your cell phone . They come in many different types, from macro to telephoto, so there’s surely something out there to fit your needs. Just be sure to do your research and read some reviews before your purchase anything, as the quality can vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Smudges: Speaking of lenses, be sure to keep your phone’s lens free of smudges. These can often degrade image quality, as well as add streaky lens flare if there are any bright light sources in the image. I’ll often find my lens covered in fingerprints, so I’ve made it a habit to wipe it off before taking any images.

Lens Distortion: Most cell phones lenses tend to distort near the edges of the frame. This is especially visible when you’re photographing a person from a few feet away with the phone in portrait mode. Be careful not to allow lens distortion to ruin an image.

Alternate Shutter Buttons: Most cell phones should also have a physical button that triggers the camera shutter when the camera app is open. For example, on an iPhone, the volume buttons trigger the camera shutter. I find myself using this feature when I only have one hand available for taking photos or am holding the phone in an unusual way.

Press Lightly: Regardless of whether you use the simulated shutter button within the app or a physical button on your phone, be careful of how hard you press. Many people will “peck” at the screen with their finger, causing the phone to move when an image is captured, thus creating a blurry image.

Capturing HDR Images: I have my phone set to auto-HDR mode, which means that it will capture a scene in HDR if it needs to. I also have the setting turned on that saves a normal version of each image that is captured in HDR. I do this because sometimes I prefer the non-HDR image over the HDR image. I end up with two images, but have made it a habit to review images at the end of the day and delete extras so I don’t fill my phone’s storage with duplicate photos.

Photographing Action: Using the phone on your camera to photograph action can be quite tricky, but not impossible. If you’re in a low light situation, you can forget about it (unless you want blurry photos). If you have plenty of light to work with, your best option would be to shoot a burst of images. Due to the significant “shutter lag” phones have, you probably won’t capture the peak of the action with a single shot. By shooting a burst (just hold down the shutter button), you greatly increase the chances of getting the shot you want.

Optical vs. Digital Zoom: Unless you have an optical zoom on your phone (typically only available if your phone has more than one lens), you should probably ignore the zoom option. Once you start using digital zoom, image quality quickly deteriorates. For serious photography, you should refrain from using the digital zoom.

Low Light Photography: Low light photography with your phone is difficult, but not impossible. Your phone will usually set the shutter speed quite low, which means there’s a greater chance of motion blur. Of course, if you’re aware of this, you can compensate. Here’s an image I created by panning with the streetcar as it rolled along the tracks of Market Street in San Francisco.

Capturing Images on a Smartphone: Summary

If you’ve been ignoring the camera feature on your cell phone because you think it’s not capable of producing good results, you should definitely give it another try. Most modern cell phones have great cameras that can produce surprising results. Of course, you have to realize that it does have limitations and not expect it to perform miracles. With a little practice, though, you might just start leaving your “real” camera at home once in a while.

If you find that the default camera app doesn’t offer you enough control over the camera settings, you might try downloading an advanced camera app. These can offer a variety of different options that are missing from the default camera app, including full manual controls overexposure and RAW capture mode.

Regardless of if you choose to use the default app or download something more advanced, make sure you take the time to familiarize yourself with it. Just like with an expensive DSLR, you won’t be able to create the best photos possible if you aren’t familiar with all of the options available and how to use it.

If you prefer to use a “real” camera, by all means, feel free. There’s no question that DSLRs and mirrorless cameras are superior to the cameras found on any cell phone today. But, if you don’t want to be weighed down by carrying around a bunch of heavy and expensive gear, you might try heading out one day armed with only your cell phone. Personally, I find a certain type of freedom when I’m out walking around with only a phone in my pocket. There are times I wish I had my DSLR with me, but usually, I’m completely content seeing what I can create with just a cell phone.

More Image Samples

In the next section, I will cover a few of the different apps that are available for editing photos. For now, here are a few images that I’ve taken (and edited) with my cell phone. Hopefully they demonstrate that modern phones are indeed capable cameras that should not be dismissed as unusable for personal photography:

Editing Images on a Smartphone

In this section, I want to go over how you can edit photos with different apps on your phone. Of course, you can always import photos from your phone onto your computer and edit them with your software of choice, but if you plan to share images on social media and want to upload them directly from your phone, you can save a few steps by doing everything on your phone.

For the purposes of this section, I’m going to assume that you have experience editing photos on a computer. I’m not going to cover the basics of photo editing and what all of the different controls do (if you need more information on editing basics, this is a great place to start ).

Why Edit Images?

If you’re used to using your DSLR or mirrorless camera for photography and typically shoot JPEG, the images probably come out of the camera looking pretty good. Of course, almost any image can benefit from a few adjustments in post-processing, but this is especially true with phone photos. The lenses on cell phones don’t have the same quality glass and special coatings as the lenses for your camera, so you’ll often find the images you capture with your phone need edited before you’re happy with them.

If you followed my advice in the last section, your images should be properly exposed, but there’s more to a good image than proper exposure. At the very least, almost every phone image can benefit from a boost in contrast and saturation. You might also need to adjust the tint and white balance a bit. Finally, editing images is an opportunity to put your personal touch on an image and make it your own.

Throughout this post, I’m going to use the same image and edit it in different apps. Hopefully, this will show that they’re all pretty similar in the results they can produce. Of course, the more editing options an app has, the more complicated your edit can be.

Image Editing App Choices

Once you start looking for an app that you can use to edit photos, the first thing you’ll notice is that there are a lot of them out there. How do you decide which to use? I’m going to go over a few of the most popular options out there, as well as offer up my personal opinions about each one. Most are free, so there’s really no reason not to try out a few different ones and see which you like best.

One thing to keep in mind is that you are editing JPEG images. Images that you’ve captured with your cell phone camera are always going to be JPEGs (unless you specifically used a phone and app that can shoot in DNG), so expect some limitations on how far you can push things.

There are going to be some differences in which apps are available for iOS and which are available for Android. All of the apps that I discuss in this post are available for both (with the exception of Camera+). Almost every default camera app will have some basic editing capabilities built-in. Since all different builds and brands of Android phones will have a different default camera app, I can’t promise that the one that you’re using will be able to edit photos. Also, they’re all going to have different options, so I suggest exploring the options within your phone’s camera app and deciding if it will work for you or if you need to download something that gives you more control over the final look of your image.

Default Camera App

Let’s start out by covering the default editing capabilities that come with your phone. I shoot with an iPhone 7+ (running iOS 10.2), so that’s what I’m going to cover first. The editing options aren’t actually found inside the camera app, but can be found when you’re reviewing images. View an image that you took (either in the camera app or inside Photos) and at the bottom you’ll see three lines that look like sliders. This gives you access to the editing options.

If you just want a quick fix, you can press the magic wand in the upper-right corner and some quick adjustments are made to the image. If you want more control, you’ll need to go through the icons on the edge of the screen. From here you can crop and straighten, add filters, adjust image properties like exposure, contrast, highlights/shadows, color and even have control over properties of B&W conversions like intensity and grain.

As for Android, the only example I have is my wife’s Samsung Galaxy Note5. I was not at all impressed with the editing options on her phone. They were very basic and had strange names that don’t really relate to most editing software. If you have a different phone or even a different version of the operating system, you might have different options, but I personally would not use the default editing app on her phone.

Regardless of what phone you’re using, the editing options that are part of the default camera app are basic and capable of some quick image corrections. If you have a little image editing experience, you should be able to take a photo from boring to polished without much trouble.

One of the most popular photo editing apps around is VSCO (pronounced “vis-co”, stands for Visual Supply Company). One of the reasons for it’s popularity is that it has presets that can quickly and dramatically change the look of your images. If you apply a preset but want to personalize it, you can tweak it until you’re happy with the look of your image. Unfortunately, when you apply a preset you can’t see what changes were actually made to the image, so it’s tough to adjust one specific aspect of a preset. Sometimes you’re stuck with the changes that were made. For example, if the preset you like adds too much fade, you can’t reduce the amount of fade, you can only increase it. On the other hand, if it cools off the image too much, you can always warm it up by adjusting the white balance.

If you’re not a fan of presets, you can also edit your images with manual controls. You’ll notice the tools aren’t named, which means there is a bit of a learning curve as to what each one does. You’ll have to take my word for it that a lot of the adjustments in VSCO are the same ones that can be found in the default editing app. In addition to those, you also have options like perspective control, skin tone, vignetting, and even split toning. VSCO is my go-to app for photo editing. I’ve used it to create both clean, simply edited images and complex, moody images.

Many people who use their cell phones for photography also choose to share their images on Instagram. By default, Instagram comes with capable photo editing tools. If you want to share images on Instagram and don’t want the extra step of editing your photos in a different app, here’s what you can expect to find when you open it up.

You can download Instagram here. You can also take a look at my Instagram page , which is strictly cell phone photography (although I mainly use VSCO for editing my images).

Lightroom Mobile

If you’re used to using Lightroom on your computer, Lightroom Mobile will be very familiar. Of all the different apps I’ve tried, this one is definitely the most professional and photographer-friendly. In addition to the expected filters and basic adjustments, there are lens correction and even curves adjustments available! Of course, the more advanced controls that are available to you in the computer version of Lightroom aren’t available on the mobile version, but it’s still one of the most feature-rich apps around.

One of the most well-rounded image editing apps around today is Snapseed. It includes a set of filters and just about every tool you could want, including curves adjustments, spot healing and even a brush tool. If the amount of options sounds overwhelming, you have no need to fear… Snapseed even includes tutorials on how to use it’s more advanced features! Here’s a look at the main editing screen.

One thing that I found to be different than other editing apps is the fact that once you make an edit to the image (say a +10 Contrast adjustment) and click the checkmark to apply the adjustment, if you go back to adjust the contrast again, the slider is reset to 0. The previous adjustment is still applied, but you can’t see what adjustments you’ve made to the image without going to a separate section to view edits. It’s a small thing that doesn’t really affect the performance of the app, but I find it slightly annoying that I can’t see if I’ve already adjusted something in an image while I’m editing.

Here are the links where you can download Snapseed for iPhone or Snapseed for Android .

Editing DNG Cell Phone Images

Is it worth it to use an app that can shoot DNG images on your cell phone? How much more dynamic range is available to you? Do all of the traditional reasons for shooting DNG apply? Do the images look better without the default camera’s JPEG compression? Let’s take a look.

Here are two images that I took at roughly the same time. The first is a JPEG that was taken and edited with the default camera app on my iPhone 7+, while the second is a DNG that was taken and edited with the Lightroom Mobile app. Please ignore the differences in color temperature, as I edited them separately and didn’t match them perfectly.

As you can see, there really isn’t much of a difference. You can’t see more detail in the DNG compared to the JPEG and it looks like there’s the same amount of shadow information.

I wanted to see if editing the DNG on a computer version of Lightroom made any difference. I figured the compression on export might be less noticeable and show a bit more detail. Unfortunately, before I ever got started I ran into a snag. Apparently, if you use Lightroom Mobile to shoot images in DNG, they are stuck within the Adobe ecosystem. It prevents you from exporting or downloading the DNG images from your phone (unless you sync Lightroom Mobile to Lightroom CC). Fortunately, you don’t have to use Lightroom Mobile to shoot in DNG.

To work around this restriction (since I’m not a Lightroom CC user), I had to go out and shoot some new images. This time I used Camera+, an app that’s only available for iPhone. With Camera+ , I was able to shoot in DNG and then download the images to my computer to edit in Lightroom.

Here are the 100% crop side-by-side results of an edited DNG. One edit was done on my computer in Lightroom, the other on my phone using VSCO.

You can see that I was able to recover more of the highlight and shadow detail when I edited the same DNG file in Lightroom instead of VSCO. What really surprised me was how much noise is present in the image that was processed in Lightroom. Even though it says it was taken at ISO 20, there is a lot of noise in the shadow areas and even some in the sky. I guess this is why images processed in apps look so soft… it’s not the JPEG compression, but the noise reduction that gets applied.

Non-Destructive Editing: One very important thing to note is that many apps like VSCO and Lightroom Mobile are non-destructive editing tools. The edits you make in them do not actually alter your original image. On the other hand, if you edit your image with the default editing app, chances are your original image will actually be altered. On my phone, the edits made with the default app are saved and can be reverted, but this might not be the case on all phone models. As a rule of thumb, if you have to import your image into the app, it should be non-destructive.

Spot/Blemish Removal: If you usually edit images on a computer, you’re probably used to having access to spot removal tools. Unfortunately, other than Snapseed, very few image editing apps have such tools. The only other app I’ve found that includes full editing capabilities, as well as a spot healing tool, is Photoshop Express . They are very limited capabilities, but in a pinch can be useful.

Other Apps: The apps I’ve mentioned are by no means the only ones out there, they are just the ones that I find myself using the most. Here are a few others I’ve used in the past that you might try out: Afterlight and Priime .

Editing Images on a Smartphone: Summary

There are a lot of different apps available for you to use to edit images on a cell phone. Your phone should include basic editing capabilities within the default camera app itself. If you want something a little more advanced, Lightroom Mobile is a great choice if you’re used to using Lightroom on your computer, or VSCO is a great choice if you like creating images with a bit more mood and toning to them. For a well-rounded editing app, you can’t go wrong with Snapseed.

If you plan to shoot in DNG, unless you’re a Lightroom CC subscriber, I’d highly suggest that you use an app besides Lightroom Mobile. To be honest, I don’t know if there’s even a need to shoot in DNG. I’m using the latest phone out there and there is so much noise in the images, even at ISO 20, you’ll need to add so much noise reduction your images will look about the same as if you’d just shot and edited a JPEG. While you might get better highlight and shadow recovery, I personally don’t think it’s worth it.

Regardless of whether you choose to shoot in JPEG or DNG, if you decide to edit images on your phone you’ll have a lot of different editing apps to choose from. Be sure to download a few different ones and try them out, as they all have something different to offer.

About John Bosley

John Bosley is a wedding and portrait photographer in Denver who loves creating authentic, emotional images with his clients. He has a soft spot for functional antiques. You might see him writing with a fountain pen from his collection or shooting with one of his many film cameras. You can view his work on his website or see what he’s been up to lately on Instagram .

You forgot the most important tip of all: Turn the damn thing sideways! Nothing worse than a portrait mode picture that should have been landscape – which is 99% of all non actual portraits.

Interesting discussion. I’ve installed Snapseed for Android but generally use PC software for anything I want to share.

I was most interested in the discussion of DNG, which my phone doesn’t support but is of future interest. I don’t compare the phone with a DSLR but do with my Canon s110 and have found RAW/DNG dramatically improves low light performance for the small sensor models (and i really hate the default NR in recent consumer cameras.) With RAW/DNG on the compact I can hand hold and get usable results with low ISO by “underexposing” on overcast days or indoors, and can speed up the shutter for tolerable motion captures, not possible on my DNG-less smartphone. I noticed your DNG comparisons were of – optimal for small sensor cameras – naturally well-lit sunny day scenes, and wonder if you’ve tried the same in more difficult lighting.

I didn’t really do any testing with more difficult lighting. Now you’ve got me curious. I’ll have to give it a try one of these days and let you know what I find out.

Agree heartily with Marcus about Snapseed. I have used it since it came out a few years ago and find it terrific. They periodically update it with new features, like Tonal Contrast a while ago.

Anthony, see the above reply to Marcus’ comment. I added a section for Snapseed. Thanks!

You missed to talk about Snapseed (available for iOS and android). Crazy, amazing App for editing. You will never miss photoshop, believe me.

About iphone7 image quality. It looks strange but in my opinion the quality from iPhone 5 or 6s to iPhone 7 drops dramatically. I compared face to face the same shot that I took from iPhone 5, iPhone 6s and iphone7. The iphone7 images look always like watercolour (especially if you shot in low light) and unnatural. The best picture comes from iPhone 6s with great resolution, details and pleasing without strong NR that flat the image. This is unbelievable how I was disappointed after I bought new iphone7 and discovered this issue. I tried several iphone7 from a friend of mine and all of them have the same bad quality. When I made the comparison between different iPhone no one of my friends can believe that the shot was took with iphone7. Have you faced with this silimar issue?

Marcus, I just updated the article and added a section on Snapseed. I met with a non-photographer friend yesterday and she mentioned that she uses it. Once I heard that and saw the comments from you and Anthony, I knew I needed to include it.

I haven’t done any direct comparisons between iPhone models, but I might give it a shot. I still have the 5 and 6, so it might be worth looking into. I do notice what you refer to as a “watercolour” look that I assume is caused by noise reduction, but haven’t noticed that it’s stronger on images from my 7 than previous models.

Just another comment that I missed before….. You said: “… once you make an edit to the image (say a +10 Contrast adjustment) and click the check mark to apply the adjustment, if you go back to adjust the contrast again, the slider is reset to 0.”

This is not exactly true. You can always view all the changes that you did, and you can also readjust that specific parameter and retain the changes that you did after.

If you click on “undo” button, and then to “see all changes” you have the possibility view changes and also to re-edit previous changes. This is pretty useful like adjustment layers in photoshop.

Hi John, before you give you old iPhones away, just try to compare them with last 7 model. I’m curious to read someone opinion. Thanks

Thanks John for your reply. I’m really snapseed addicted and it’s a very powerful tool. It has all necessary to do a professional and artistic retouch.

Please try yourself to compare iphone7 and other models. Stood indoor with low light and you will see what I mean. Especially in portraits you will see watercolour effect and hairs and beard are totally destroyed. Also during landscape shot, grass leaves doesn’t have fine details. This is unbelievable how on the web this issue is poorly reported. If you look at EXIF data the ISO rating is always very low compared to the same shot taken with other iPhone model. Somewhere I heard that iPhone 7 takes several shot and combine them in one RAW to produce better image resolution and quality. This can cause gosts in fast moving object. Sorry for this OT.

Great article, very timely…please publish more articles on this type of mobile phone photography…its very educational. Topics like mobile phone apps that you find useful, post processing tips, accessories, etc…I do use Lightroom CC and hope to hone my skills using the mobile app for travel photography….thanks.

Thanks Willy! I’m currently working on an article that covers apps and post processing in general. Maybe if these are well-received, I can do some that go into more detail about specific apps.

Awesome article…

Thanks for reading RK!

There’s an app called pro cam for Iphone, it let’s you shoot raw, set ISO, white balance, shutter speed. it gives a lot of of control over your basic camera. I really haven’t had time to really use it yet but so far so good.

Thanks for the suggestion, Mike. I’m currently working on a post that covers a few different apps. This one sounds like a good one!

A lot of Android apps will set volume buttons for shutter release (or other handy purposes as well). Personally I’ve found setting a two-second countdown before shutter release helps steady the phone (same for any compact camera without a viewfinder) against both shutter release and the awkwardness of holding it in an unsteady pose. (I’ve had no success capturing action with handheld phones or compacts – if there’ are tips for that bring them on.)

Albin, setting a timer a great tip if you’re ending up with blurry images. I just added a section for capturing action. In short, it’s not easy, but by shooting a burst of images you increase your chances for getting the shot you want.

It’s just about one year ago that I began taking smartphone photography seriously and I was on my first vacation without taking my beloved Nikon D700 with me. At first, it felt like an experiment and I was really not used to both traveling light and being so fast when it came to taking a picture. But after a few shots I really began to enjoy my new freedom, realizing once again that not the camera is the tool everything depends on, but the photographer. I don’t want to sell my DSLR equipment – to me, smartphone photography is an extension, it is the possibility to take a photograph whenever I want to and to have the opportunity to just go somewhere without having to think what lenses I should take with me, what bag would suit them and so on. And finally, it just depends on what you want to shoot – just remember that (in most cases) it’s just a wide angle lens that you carry with you!

By the way, I started off with a Microsoft Lumia 640, which gave me a very decent image quality in daylight situations but, at least in my opinion, has three major drawbacks: it only offers JPEG files, it’s low light performance could be better, and finally, the front camera is a stub (yes, that selfie thing – but my wife and I enjoy having pictures of ourselves at places where we have been). So this fall I upgraded to a Lumia 950 and what should I say – it’s just a pleasure taking photos with that great camera. So finally I have DNG & JPEG files, an optical image stabilization and (also due to that) a good low light image quality. Ah, and a front camera that deserves the name “camera” – just to be complete ;-)

So, whatever smartphone you have – I think that nowadays there are some great cameras built into them and that we would miss something if we didn’t use them. Have fun!

Matthias, you’re so right in saying that it’s a freeing experience! I feel the same way every time I’m out without my DSLR. I often take photo walks and intentionally bring only my phone with me. It’s always a good exercise and often makes me feel much more creative for some reason.

Dear Matthias My experience has been close to yours. Lumia 64 then iPhone 6+ and Huwai 9 for its B&W performances. But when it is low light or fast action it is back to d810 or Summilx. The good thing is that your telephone is with you all the time. Be well

Interesting. What is the crop factor on a phone camera?

Richard, there is no consistent crop factor, as it varies from model to model. Even in the iPhone 7+, each lens has a dedicated sensor, which are each different sizes. But, to give you an idea, the sensors on an iPhone 7+ are approximately 7.21x for the main sensor and 8.6x for the telephoto sensor.

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Home » How to take the best smartphone photos

How to take the best smartphone photos

Expert tips on optimising your phone camera photography..

Top smartphone photographer, teacher and author Jo Bradford shares her tips for taking the best smartphone photos that go beyond the predictable. With or without the best camera phone , be sure to follow these tips to get the best shots.

Smartphone photos inspiration: Books

Books on smartphone photography are (almost) ten a penny, but Jo Bradford is internationally recognised as an authority on the subject. Jo’s first book, Smart Phone, Smart Photography , was published in 2018, and since then she’s become a regular fixture on the camera club circuit, as well as running workshops for the RPS and appearing on the judging panels of several prestigious competitions.

‘ Smart Phone, Smart Photography’ was the first book about smartphone photography to top the digital photography best-selling book lists on Waterstones and Amazon,’ Jo notes with justifiable pride. ‘When I wrote that book I was not convinced that anyone would buy a book about phone photography – but it remained a best seller for four years!’

Jo’s latest book, Smart Photos: 52 Ideas to Take Your Smartphone Photography to the Next Level , is full of intriguing and original ideas for smartphone photos beyond the obvious. From panning to pinhole, any remaining smartphone photography sceptics may just be converted. We caught up with Jo to get some expert advice for better smartphone photography, including handset choice, and editing.

‘Every year more people embrace smartphones, but the biggest change I’ve seen since my first book is the rise of algorithms and computational photography,’ Jo observes. ‘As well as powerful image processing, the latest iPhones and Android phones have very effective night modes , for example. The algorithms are using the image data in a much more intelligent way. The hardware is coming on in leaps and bounds, too, and we’re seeing a lot of handsets with three, even five, cameras on the back.’

A painterly scene was created by panning handheld with a slow shutter app on an iPhone 11 Pro Max. Widemouth Bay, Bude, Cornwall. Image: Jo Bradford

It starts with s olving problems

Jo wrote the new book to show just how creative smartphones can be, pushing the boundaries of how they are mostly used – typically for selfies, street candids and conventional landscapes. ‘I still shoot with analogue and digital cameras, but I find myself reaching for my phone more and more in my professional work,’ she explains.

‘I wanted to show just how powerful smartphones can be when combined with creative thinking and a bit of know-how. So, I started to look at more complex images that people make with conventional cameras, such as image stacking and panning, and explore how you can do it on a phone. The fun is in the creativity – trying to do something different and problem-solving.’

People with very different skill levels can still get good images from smartphones, which is a big part of their appeal for Jo. ‘Most of the time even total beginners will get a shot with a phone, but beyond that, there are lots of ways to get more- sophisticated results – for instance, by using advanced apps, using the phone cameras in manual mode to control exposure, and so on.’

Are the best smartphone photos shot in RAW?

With algorithms now so advanced, often producing perfectly exposed images straight from the phone, is there still much point bypassing them and shooting in raw? ‘I do shoot in raw but save out the images as a TIFF rather than a JPEG,’ Jo explains. ‘The apps I use – Moment, Halide or Camera Pro – enable me to do this.

Everything I produce will either be printed or exhibited, which is why I prefer TIFF. As you say, when you shoot raw on your phone it enables lots of flexibility at the editing stage, but it does override the often excellent JPEG algorithms that makers have spent a lot of money developing.

Shot in a studio using an iPhone 11 Pro Max, with lighting provided by two torches covered in coloured cellophane recycled from sweet wrappers. Image: Jo Bradford

‘You can get great quality in your photos without needing to shoot raw, however. If you stack images when shooting in low light, using an app like Slow Shutter Cam, can be a great way to reduce noise. As the noise is randomly generated in each image, when the app stacks them, the noise is automatically removed.

You can end up being able to print really big – I go on stage at The Photography Show and invite people to come and ‘pixel peep’ at my prints. Even with photos taken on an older iPhone, there is hardly any image degradation. So don’t feel compelled to shoot raw, but it’s well worth trying – there’s a raw-editing tool in Snapseed too, which automatically opens when it recognises the file.’

Editing smartphone photos and Instagram

This writer is guilty of sticking with a very small toolbox of editing apps , mainly VSCO and Snapseed , and I’m not alone. Jo encourages people to be more adventurous. ‘Snapseed is amazing, I wrote a whole book about it, but there are lots of other, more specialised apps out there. Snapseed has a very basic retouching function, for example, so you can use TouchRetouch for better results – or you can try SKRWT for fine-tuning leaning-in lines and perspective.

I’m also a big fan of editing on my tablet, which gives you more room to edit. VSCO’s film simulations are great too, particularly with black & white; though you often have to dial the filter effects down a bit. Slow Shutter Cam for iPhone is also fantastic for long exposures and image stacking.’

Slow shutter apps, or Live mode, are great for capturing more of the light display at fireworks shows. Using this method you can capture the vertical light that precedes the main burst of colour, too. Shot on an iPhone 13 Pro Max. Image: Jo Bradford

Instagram is the default sharing platform for many smartphone photographers, and Jo has some interesting observations on how it tends to be used. ‘A lot of Instagram users become obsessed with gaining likes and followers, so you start to see a lot of similar kinds of pictures on there.

As creative photographers, we should be innovative and find our own voice , not just emulate other stuff on Instagram – the standard filters can render a lot of images to look alike, too. People want results quickly, however, and don’t always want to put in the time. This is what separates serious smartphone photographers from snappers and hobbyists.’

Read more on how to use social media as a photographer here.

Smartphone Photos – The optical issue

When it comes to future technological developments for smartphones, Jo is keen for more options to control depth of field optically , rather than digitally. ‘I’d really like to see a wider range of better-quality lenses for smartphones. It’ll be interesting to see where we are in five years – whether the makers are still trying to solve everything through algorithms, or go back to finding an optical solution.

Image stabilisation and low-light handling are getting better too (see the new Night mode on iPhones). Again though, it’s doing the same thing, shooting lots of photos in quick succession and putting them all together. It’s the optical side that still lets smartphones down.’

Though clip-on lenses seemed to be dying out, Jo reckons they are growing again in popularity, especially the better-quality ones. ‘I find the lenses from Moment in particular are great. They are not easy to get hold of in the UK and are relatively expensive, but they feature beautiful glass and very low aberration. With the Moments macro and wide angle lenses, you don’t get that overprocessed look you sometimes end up with when the algorithms try to emulate optical lens effects.’

Evangelist yes, zealot no

Jo gives lots of talks and lectures and enjoys challenging traditionalists who still don’t believe phones are up to the job of creative photography. ‘Yes, there are still areas that phones need to improve on, such as astrophotography and underwater shots. For the book, I got Rob Layton to share his techniques for underwater, for example, as he has more specialised knowledge, so I wanted to share his wisdom.

But a lot of anti-phone people end up being my biggest converts when they see what can be achieved. A lot of older photographers aren’t keen on lugging around heavy conventional cameras and lots of lenses, either, which is where phones really come in. It’s almost as if they want “permission” to use smartphones.’

To conclude, it shouldn’t be assumed that Jo is some kind of anti-camera zealot. ‘I love my conventional cameras – mirrorless, DSLRs, and my old film equipment. I’m a big fan of printing my own analogue/film photography in my colour darkroom, and I exhibit and sell analogue fine-art photography in galleries around the world.

As for lenses, for now, nothing beats a big, beautiful piece of hand-ground glass. I would hate to see phones cause the death of all this. For certain genres, such as street photography, I believe smartphones are the best choice, but for a portrait in a studio, you would still be better off with a “proper” camera and lighting rig. It’s about choosing the right tool for the job.’

Creative ideas for your smartphone photos

Fun with freelensing.

Ferns photographed with the Samsung Galaxy S21’s camera’s telephoto lens selected. A small detachable smartphone macro lens was held in front of the camera to give a shallow depth of field, thereby creating a pleasing background blur. Image: Jo Bradford

‘I really enjoy freelensing, which is a great way to play with any of your old lenses – a standard 50mm prime lens, for example,’ says Jo. ‘You need a tripod to hold the phone while you experiment with the camera and lens combinations.’

How to do freelensing:

• Select a phone camera lens – the standard and telephoto lenses on your smartphone work best for freelensing. You are simply handholding the lens near the camera, and trying to look through the extra lens.
• Position your external lens in front of the phone camera and compose your image. Practise finding focus and lining the lens up so that you can’t see the black edges of the lens housing in your frame.
• No tripod? Not a problem. You can also attach one end of the lens to the top of your smartphone with a piece of tape. This will hold it roughly in the right place so that you can move the lens up and down and left and right without losing it. Experiment with various different lens combinations until you get the results that you are happy with.

Rembrandt lighting

Shot in a studio with an iPhone 13 Pro Max and a Badger Beam light, with a barn-door light modifier from Interfit. Image: Jo Bradford

In this technique, named after the Dutch Old Master, a subject’s face is half-lit, with a triangle of light appearing on the shadowed side of the face. ‘It’s easy to achieve with your phone and a few household props,’ says Jo. ‘The base of the triangle should sit across the top of the eye, extending along the side of the nose on one side and the cheekbone on the other, with the point sitting roughly on the edge of the lip.’

How to get the Rembrandt look:

• Set up your backdrop. It needs to be non-distracting and absorb rather than reflect light. Use a dark grey studio backdrop roll or a large piece of dark fabric or board. For a textured, classical look, paint the board in a dark shade or hue with visible brushstrokes.
• In a darkened room, place the light high on one side of the subject’s face and bring the light forward until the triangle appears. Adjust the light until the triangle is in the right position on the subject’s face.
• Use the telephoto lens on your camera. Drag the exposure down to darken the image, creating a silhouette. You’ll find the exposure function on your smartphone when you tap to focus.

Top tips for making your smartphone photos stand out

Jo’s advice for smartphone photography:

Handset choice

iPhone back camera lens

‘My favourite handset is still the iPhone – I use the iPhone 13 Pro Max . Huawei phones are great for zooming and there are some really good Android phones, but iPhone images don’t look so overprocessed by the algorithms.’

The power of touch

‘When doing talks I ask how many people touch the screen to focus or set exposure, and few do. This is really important as you are taking creative control. You need to get beyond the point-and-shoot mentality with smartphones.’

After party

Image: Jo Bradford

‘Image capture is just one element. How will you craft the image afterwards? I stack photos, print them, make collages, throw paint at them, and experiment with household props. Don’t be afraid to play with your smartphone photos.’

Make the grade

‘It’s actually really easy to do your own colour grading, which really makes your images stand out. I’ve shown people how to get the Edward Weston look, for example, rather than just relying on the standard Instagram filters and getting the same old look.’

Third-party lighting

Interfit Badger beam

‘Interfit’s Badger Beam, a versatile LED video and photo light (priced at $219/£199), is a good entry-level lighting set-up – it also has some great accessories such as colour gels. I also experiment with making my own coloured lights using sweet wrappers and a small torch.’

‘Don’t just ape what’s trending on Instagram – think about developing your own photographic style.’

More tips from Callum McInerney-Riley:

Use the grid for composition.

Without a viewfinder, it can be difficult to compose your shots and get everything evenly within the frame. Turning on gridlines in your camera app settings can help you with composition and ensure you don’t have to crop too much in post-production.

Use your main camera and try manual camera mode

Many of the latest smartphones have an array of cameras with different uses. While the telephoto lens might get you closer to the action, it usually relies on an inferior sensor or lens to your main camera. Stick to the main unit for the best results.

Many smartphones allow you to shoot with manual controls. Often, it’s called something like ‘Pro’ mode when you launch your smartphone’s default camera app. If you don’t have this, you can always use a third-party app such as Adobe Lightroom Mobile or ProShot , which is available on both IOS and Android. Using manual mode will give you more control in comparison to the automatic modes.

I always try and work a bit of colour science into my edits. This orange and blue edit works so well together and brings back great memories of Ibiza. Image: Callum McInerney-Riley

Use spot metering

For speed, use spot metering, touching the interesting area you want to expose for – tapping areas of bright sky or shadowy foreground elements will ensure your exposure is good. You can adjust the rest of the image in post-production but you can’t get back picture information in a blown-out sky.

Edit creatively

Your style is subjective and you can do what you like with the image once you have captured it. However, adjusting highlights, shadows, exposure and manipulating colours, sharpening, contrast and tonality will all make your image pop. Be playful with editing and find a look you really like.

There are a variety of apps available but generally, I prefer Adobe Lightroom Mobile . I like the way it syncs to Lightroom CC on my laptop and I can view my images on a big screen and tweak them before I share them. Snapseed and Adobe Photoshop mobile are also fantastic and will work just as well. Editing will allow you to make the most of golden sunlight, bring out detail in the skies, enhance the colours and be creative. For more options, take a look at our list of the best photo editing apps for your phone.

Using the Xperia 5 II’s Pro Camera App, I was able to shoot with a slow shutter speed and keep the ISO low. That’s given me maximum dynamic range and a good-quality raw file for editing this final image. Image: Callum McInerney-Riley

Look for light

You can have the most technical know-how and the best kit in the world… but if your scene is boring and the light is ‘bad,’ your image will be uninspiring. First light or even before is great for travel photography as places are usually less crowded and the light is usually good.

For more insight read our complete guide to outdoor light in photography and tips on how to get great shots in strong summer light.

The late evening has great potential too. Find good light, take great images – it’s a very basic tenet of photography but without it, your shots are going to be dull.

The best apps for smartphone photography

Jo has tried a very wide choice of apps, but these are her current favourites for shooting and editing, covering iPhone, iPad and Android platforms.

Best apps for shooting smartphone photos:

• Pro Camera by Cocologics (iOS): Very reliable and offers manual functions. Price $12.99/£12.99
• Halide Mark II – Pro Camera (iOS): An App Store Editor’s Choice, this is an award-winning powerful camera app that costs $2.99 monthly, $11.99 yearly or $59.99 as a one-time purchase.
• Slow Shutter Cam (iOS): My go-to app for making long exposures and light trails. I also like using the clever stacking function to deal with low-light shooting and related noise issues. It costs $2.79.
• FOCOS (iOS and Android): A clever app for shooting and editing that lets you mimic a wide array of lens effects and depth of field. Experiment with the aperture shapes over light to create beautiful bokeh. Monthly subscription $3.99, yearly $7.99, lifetime unlimited access $12.99
• Pro Camera by Moment (iOS and Android): Another app for manual controls and long exposures, with quick access to the settings and many features of a DSLR. Priced at $6.99, pro bundle $4.99, slow shutter $3.99

Best apps for editing smartphone photos:

• Snapseed (iOS and Android): A great all-rounder for basic editing, with advanced features like double exposures. Free.
• SKRWT (iOS and Android): A great app for adjusting issues with lens distortions and converging verticals, enabling you to edit with more precision. Cost £1.99.
• TouchRetouch (iOS and Android): A superb app for removing unwanted bits in your photos, leaving you with a cleaner look! £1.25 a month, £14.99.
• LD Photo Editor (iOS and Android): Enhance your photos with beautiful light and elegant overlays.
• VSCO (iOS and Android): This is an editing app and photo-sharing platform, which combines beautiful presets and premium-quality filters such as classic film styles. Annually $29.99.
• Affinity Photo (iPad): This feels like a fully fledged desktop editing tool, but with the freedom to go anywhere. One-off purchase price is £19.99.

See more smartphone photography apps here.

Take a look at our best budget phones for photography guide for more budget-friendly phone options.

Your guides:

Jo Bradford

Jo is a widely published photographer who runs workshops and courses on photography and editing. She also lectures at Falmouth University. See www.greenislandstudios.co.uk and Instagram: @greenislandstudios

Smart Photos – book by Jo Bradford

Smart Photos: 52 Ideas to Take Your Smartphone Photography to the Next Level is published by White Lion. It’s available from a wide range of booksellers – visit www.quarto.com

Callum McInerney-Riley

A keen photographer for over 15 years, Callum McInerney-Riley is a former Technical Writer on Amateur Photographer. He now runs a company that creates photography and video content for a host of large brands. See his website here .

Found this article helpful? Why not also check out our street , portrait , black & white , and macro smartphone photography guides?

Want the chance to be featured here on our website and across our social media? All you have to do is share your photographs taken on a smartphone on social media tagging  #APSmartphonePicoftheWeek . You can also send in photographs to  [email protected] with “Smartphone Pic of the Week” in the subject line.

Related articles:

• Smartphone vs Digital Camera – which one is better?
• How to take great macro photos on a smartphone 
• Best camera phone tripods and mounts
• How to edit photos with Snapseed

Follow AP on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , YouTube and TikTok .

I am the deputy editor of Amateur Photographer, working closely with the team to make the website and magazine as good as possible. I've been working on magazines since 1995 and am also a keen travel and portrait photographer when time allows, reaching the finals of the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year contest in 2015 and achieving my Licentiate from the Royal Photographic Society the year before. I also keep my wedding-photography hand in by shooting a few ceremonies a year. I am particularly interested in how photography can help people express their creativity more effectively, or deal with mental health issues and other challenges.

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Want to Take Better Smartphone Photos? Try These 10 Tips From Pro Photographers

Smartphone cameras have only gotten more phenomenal in the past three years, with companies beefing up photo resolution, adding more lenses, and integrating photo storage options that keep you snapping without fear of filling your camera roll. Ask anyone with an Instagram account and you’ll soon discover the camera is the killer feature on any smartphone.

If you’ve got the latest and greatest smartphone, you should step up your photography game to match. So here are some tips from professionals, along with some accessory recommendations, that will take your snapshot game from amateur to Ansel Adams.

First, start with a clean slate

Before you shoot a single picture, you’ll want to make sure your gear is in order. Often, that means doing a bit of pre-shot cleaning. “That’s the first rule for me,” says portrait and fine art photographer Henry Oji. “Always clean your phone camera lens before you take an image.”

While wiping your lens on your jeans might do the job, using coarse materials, like a cotton shirt, or a napkin you dipped in water, may end up damaging your lens over time. If you’d like to keep scratches at bay, use a softer material — like a microfiber cloth — to clean any smudges off your camera lens.

A little framing goes a long way

Artfully framing shots may require a more creative state of mind, but that doesn’t mean you have to line everything up all by yourself. Luckily, you can employ your camera to assist you when it comes to framing and composing your shots.

In iOS, visit Settings and select Camera . From there, enable “Grid” to deploy a rule-of-thirds overlay in the Camera app. That grid will help you better compose your image, and keep your shot parallel with any vertical or horizontal lines in your shot. On Android devices, visit Settings > Apps > Camera , and select “Grid Lines” to choose between a rule-of-thirds overlay or a square overlay for perfectly framed Instagram images.

That framing is one part of composing the image itself — and so is making sure you’re not capturing any unwanted subjects while you shoot. “Composition, composition, composition!” says portrait and nightlife photographer Kenny Rodriguez, whose subjects rarely stay in one place for long. “I would suggest making sure that everything in the frame is there because you want it there.”

Ditch the digital zoom

As much as you’d love to get a closer look at that dog across the field, you might have to be content with a picture. But zooming in before you take the shot is not the solution. Digital zoom shots are simply cropped and resized images, unlike the optical zoom functionality you might find on a full-blown camera. Digital zoom will not only yield a grainy image, it will reduce the resolution of the overall photo and exacerbate any vibrations from your hands, leaving you with an inferior representation of that adorable canine. That includes shots taken on phones with multiple camera lenses, like the iPhone XS or Samsung Galaxy Note 10+.

In general, avoid digital zoom as often as possible — but knock yourself out with the telephoto lens on your smartphone, if it has one.

Look for light before making your own

The flash of an LED light from a smartphone doesn’t flatter anyone, no matter what pose you’re striking. And that glaring light coming from a single source will more often than not give your images a harsh, odd-colored look compared to light being diffused from one or multiple sources.

Instead of depending on an underpowered light to properly illuminate your subject, try to find other sources of light you can use, be it the waning sun, some indoor lights, or even some candlelight if you want to get artsy with it. If you’re really at a loss for light, you could always employ another smartphone’s flashlight mode to provide a more consistent light source.

Watch out for cloud storage shenanigans

Cloud storage services, like Google Photos or iCloud, can be a great way to take a ton of photos without worrying about how much space is left on your phone. But some of these services don’t automatically store the highest possible resolution version of your photos, or, if you take lots of pictures, you may have to pay a monthly fee to back up all your high-res photos. “A cloud-based backup service is actually one of the best investments you can make,” says architecture photographer João Morgado.

If you’re willing to sacrifice image quality for increased storage space, then feel free to send only low-res photos to the cloud. But if you want to hold onto every pixel, or prize image quality above everything, storing photos in their original format and paying the premium of a few bucks each month might be worth it.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by João Morgado (@joaodmorgado)

Steady yourself — or use a tripod

If your shots of the city skyline look a little off-kilter, or your images during sunset seem a bit blurry, you should familiarize yourself with the photographer’s most useful tool: the tripod. “A good tripod … is absolutely essential, but for smartphone photographers it is usually left out,” says Morgado.

Sure, a steady hand is always better than a shaky one, but neither can match the tripod’s versatility when it comes to putting your own spin on your photos. “It gives you an amazing range of new techniques and photography styles: long-exposures, time-lapse, low light photography, light painting and many many other uses.”

Pocket-sized tripods are perfect for smartphone photography, and are often device-agnostic, meaning you can use it with almost any phone. You can even purchase smartphone cases with built-in mounting threads to stick them on more professional tripods or other camera accessories like shoulder straps.

Go remote with a shutter button

Hate setting a timer and sprinting into frame only to get an awful picture out of it? Sounds like you need a remote shutter, an ideal accessory for shooting images that require a more steady hand, or self-portraits. “Tapping the screen, no matter how careful you are, it will cause vibrations that will affect your photography,” says Morgado, whose architecture photography often requires long exposures. “It is a no-brainer for long exposures and night photography and it will for sure improve your technique.”

Some devices, like Samsung’s Galaxy Note series of smartphones, feature an included stylus that doubles as an inconspicuous remote shutter button, and can be concealed in your hand or pocket when you’re ready to take the shot. Not an Android fan? Remote shutters are pocketable, inexpensive, and connect to your phone via Bluetooth.

Or tell your (Android) phone to take a picture

Since your smartphone’s already constantly listening, waiting for you to demand its attention, why not make it take your selfies, too?

On Android smartphones, you can ask your Google Assistant to take a photo, selfie, or timed image and watch your smartphone open the camera app. On Google’s Pixel smartphones, you can have Google automatically detect the perfect moment for a photo, be it a big smile or a kiss, thanks to its AI-powered face detection features like Top Shot and Photobooth.

On iOS, Siri will open the camera app for you, though you’ll have to press the button yourself.

Experiment with exposure

Exposure can make or break any photo, and is the difference between showcasing a subject in all their splendor, or ending up with a shot that leaves them looking like a shadow of their real self. “Always tap the screen to lock focus on the subject you’re photographing,” says Oji. “This is particularly useful when shooting people against skies. It prevents you from having dark images.”

Of course, if that’s the artistic look you’re hoping to showcase to all of your followers, there’s an easy fix. “If you want silhouettes, just tap the sky, to underexpose your subjects.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Henry OJI (@bighstudios)

Portrait Mode works when there’s light

Using any device’s “portrait mode” feature, which simulates the shallow depth of field found in photos shot on professional cameras, will usually net you a more visually appealing shot. “It’s better for taking portraits of people,” says Oji.

While everyone loves the look of a photo from an expensive “real” camera, relying on it too much can hurt more than it helps, especially if your environment isn’t exactly conducive to portrait shots, like in dimly lit rooms. “But if you’re using an iPhone, use portrait mode only when you have sufficient light.”

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Phone Photography 101: How to Take Good Pictures With Your Mobile Device

Published: September 07, 2023

Before the days of smartphones — if you can remember such a time — taking a great photo was a labor-intensive process. Now, it’s easy to learn how to take good photos with your phone — no fancy cameras or desktop editing software required.

Brands are catching on, too — these kinds of visuals remain important to marketing . But make no mistake: Taking a stunning photo on your smartphone isn’t as simple as pointing and shooting. There are plenty of bad smartphone photos out there — I'm sure you've seen at least a few.

What's the secret to taking great pictures with your smartphone, then? As it turns out, there are a few of them. Check out these tips below to improve your smartphone photography game. (And once you have the photo-taking part down, check out some of the best photo editing apps for mobile .)

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• Get to know your camera.
• Learn how to use light.
• Compose each photograph.
• Focus on one subject at a time.
• Set your camera's focus.
• Hold your phone still.
• Experiment with exposure.
• Use photo accessories.
• Don't be afraid to edit.
• Ask for feedback.

1. Practice.

Photography is a way of seeing, and showing how you see the world around you. Smartphone photography is popular too. On average, people around the globe take over a trillion photos each year — and according to research, 92% of these photographs are taken with smartphones. But you can make your photos unique — all it takes is practice.

Take as many photos as you can.

Your phone is probably with you most of the time. This means that you can take great photographs anywhere and any time. So, instead of taking just one photo of a subject you’re interested in, take 10, 20, or even 30 photographs. Then, spend some time looking at your pictures to see which ones you like best, and why.

Find different perspectives.

Taking photos from a unique, unexpected angle can make them more memorable — it tends to create an illusion of depth or height with the subjects. It also makes the image stand out, since most people taking photos on mobile photos are shooting images either straight-on or from above.

Try taking a photo from a slight distance and playing with the sky as negative space, like in the first photo below. Or, you can try taking it at a slight downward angle.

Image Source

Pro Tip: If you take a photo and find the perspective is a little askew or tilted, use the SKRWT photo editing app to make the lines look clean and square.

Take candids.

Posed photos can be great for the sake of memories — happy moments with friends, family, or the occasional run-in with a celebrity. But sometimes, candid shots of people doing things, or people with people, can be far more interesting.

That's because candid photos are better able to effectively capture the emotion and essence of a moment. One of the best ways to capture this kind of shot is to just take as many photos as possible. You'll have more to choose from, and the best photos often happen when the "stars align," so to speak, in a single moment — everyone's eyes are open, one person is tilting their head just so, and you finally got a shot of your chronically closed-lip friend smiling with his teeth.

If you want to take more photographs and aren’t sure where to start, check out this list of Instagram post ideas for inspiration.

2. Get to know your camera.

It can be tough to take good photos on a phone if you don’t know exactly how it works. So, take the time to explore the different camera modes and settings on your phone. Get familiar with functions like adjusting focus and exposure. Many phones have automatic white balance, so you may need an extra app to get the features you’d get on a digital camera like a DSLR .

Use a modern phone with a good camera.

Use a modern phone with a good camera. Invest in a phone that offers excellent camera capabilities. Think about resolution and low-light performance too. Brands add new technologies to smartphone cameras constantly, such as built-in telephoto and ultrawide lenses. So, if you’re looking for specific features you may want to do some research before buying. You can also use older phone technologies to create interesting images with a vintage feel.

That said, if you are hoping to achieve high-quality images that meet the standards of your favorite Instagram photographers , a newer smartphone is more likely to bring you those results.

Use HDR mode.

High dynamic range or HDR, is a camera app feature that helps balance the light and dark elements in a high-contrast photo. You can use it to give photos a more creative, or artsy vibe, but it’s commonly used to produce an image that looks more like how you see your subject with your eyes.

Often with smartphone cameras, it’s hard to get the perfect exposure for light and dark areas. You could be taking a photo of someone in a shaded area outside against a bright background or in a room with low light against a bright wall. Setting the exposure to the background could underexpose the person being photographed. Conversely, setting the exposure to the subject could result in an overexposed background.

HDR prevents this by retaining both the details in darker areas and shadows and bright areas. The iPhone takes photos in HDR by default. For Android phones, you may need to adjust HDR settings manually.

Try portrait mode.

Using the portrait mode feature on your phone will create a shallow depth of field effect. This adds blur to the background and makes your subject stand out. You can also adjust the exposure for your unique shot or experiment with light settings in portrait mode. Test out different lighting conditions and distances to get the desired effect in your photos.

Clean your phone's lens.

A smartphone camera might be more convenient to carry around than a full-fledged photojournalist's camera, but it comes at the cost of protection.

Your phone is usually in your pocket or your bag when you're out of the house. All the while, the device's camera lens is collecting all kinds of dust and lint. Be sure to clean this lens with a soft handkerchief before taking a photo. You might not be able to tell just how dirty the lens was until you start editing your picture, and making sure the lens is clear before taking a shot can keep you from missing great shots.

3. Learn how to use light.

Understanding how to use light effectively is crucial for capturing captivating photos. The way you use light can completely transform any photograph.

So, to improve your phone photography, figure out how to harness light. Try using the golden hour in the morning or evening for warm and soft lighting or create dramatic shadows with a harsh spotlight. And, remember to adjust the exposure to make the most of the light you have.

Use natural light.

Natural light isn’t just for landscape photography. Take advantage of any sources of natural light you can find, even after dark. This gives you a chance to play with shadows or create a silhouette with other ambient sources of light, like windows or surrounding buildings.

You may also want to try backlight, where your main light source is behind your subject instead of in front of it.

Once you've taken the photo, you might want to play with the exposure tool in your favorite photo editing app to see if you can make the image slightly brighter, without making it too grainy.

Play with reflections.

There's something so idyllic about seeing the sky reflected in a body of water. There's a reason why we love seeing that — our eyes are drawn to reflections. So look for opportunities to play with them in photos.

There are plenty of out-of-the-box places to find reflections — puddles, large bodies of water, mirrors, sunglasses, drinking glasses, and metallic surfaces are just a few.

If you use flash, only do so during the day.

It's hard to find a great smartphone photo taken with a flash. Unless you use the flash expertly, it can make a photo look overexposed, negatively alter colors, and make human subjects look washed out.

Sometimes, using your camera's flash can improve a photo — but rarely does it do so at night. Because dark shots reveal a much sharper contrast against your phone's flash, it can make any flash look invasive and uneven.

But in already well-lit spaces, a flash can help to soften some dark shadows behind or beneath your main subject.

When framing your next shot, look on the ground or against vertical surfaces for any dark shadows you might want to remove. If you see any, flip on the flash manually in your camera app. Setting your phone's camera flash to "auto" won't guarantee that your phone will notice the shadows you want to get rid of. Just remember to turn the flash off again when you're done.

Consider the importance of flash for enhancing or hiding certain lines and features the next time you're shooting product photography.

4. Compose each photograph.

Composition in photographs is key. From Annie Leibovitz to Richard Avedon, the most famous photographers use careful arrangement of the picture plane to create powerful photographic images.

But you don’t have to be an expert to create unique and beautiful photographs. You just need to find a way of composing images that’s your own.

Use gridlines to balance your shot.

One of the easiest and best ways to improve your mobile photos is to turn on the camera's gridlines. That superimposes a series of lines on the screen of your smartphone's camera based on the " rule of thirds " — a photographic composition principle that breaks an image into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, so you have nine parts in total.

According to this theory, if you place points of interest in these intersections or along the lines, your photo will be more balanced and level, and allow viewers to interact with it more naturally.

To switch the grid on:

• iPhone: Go to "Settings," choose "Camera," and switch "Grid" on.
• Samsung Galaxy: Launch the camera app, go to "Settings," scroll down and switch the "gridlines" option to "on."
• Google Pixel: Launch the Camera app, then tap the down arrow. Go to "More Settings," then "Grid type." Finally, choose the type of grid you want.

Use leading lines.

In some photos, there's a line that draws the viewer's eye toward a certain part of the frame. Those are called leading lines. They can be straight or curvilinear— think staircases, building facades, train tracks, roads, or even a path through the woods.

Leading lines are great for creating a sense of depth in an image, and can make your photo look purposefully designed — even if you just happened to come upon a really cool shape by accident.

Look for symmetry.

Symmetry can be defined as "a vague sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance." And pictures that contain symmetry can be incredibly pleasing to the eye — it's also one of the simplest and most compelling ways to compose a photo.

In photography, symmetry usually means an image has two equal parts that are mirror images of each other. That's a bit different from reflections — you can find symmetry "in the wild," like the photo above, or you can set up your photo for symmetry, as photographer Andoni Beristain did below.

And remember — use gridlines to line everything up in a way that’s pleasing to the eye.

5. Focus on one subject at a time.

Composition is a huge part of what makes a photo great, but so is the photo's subject. Many of the best photos include just one interesting subject, like in portrait photography. So when taking a picture of a single subject, spend some extra time setting up the shot.

Some professional photographers say that the subject shouldn't fill the entire frame, and that two-thirds of the photo should be negative space — that helps the subject stand out even more. But be sure you tap the screen of your smartphone to focus the camera on your subject. This will help make sure that your image is in focus and has optimal lighting.

Pro Tip: Once you've taken your photo, you can use filters and apps to make the subject even more vivid, or to crop it to frame the subject correctly. You can also adjust the brightness, contrast, and saturation of the photo — all from your phone.

Play around with color blocking.

Color blocking can help to highlight the elements of a photo that you want to stand out, like a plant or something else with a bold hue. It achieves a similar goal as negative space, in that it can help a single subject stand out — but with color blocking, the photo's other elements stay intact for a cohesive image.

Pro tip: Isn't it cool when an entire photo is black and white, except for a single object? It turns out that yes, indeed, there are apps for that. One of our favorites is Color Splash — an app that automatically converts a picture to grayscale and lets you fill in the parts you want to colorize.

Create abstracts.

Abstract photos can capture the essence of an object, or a series of them, without revealing the entire subject as a whole. In other words, they serve the purpose of creating unique, surprising images from ordinary subjects.

You can accomplish this by cropping an abstract portion of an otherwise normal photo, or by taking close-up shots of objects that leave the viewer wondering — in admiration, of course — what the subject might be. And subjects with patterns or repetition are great candidates for abstract photography, like in the photo of umbrellas below.

Make 'em laugh.

Speaking of evoking emotion, sometimes the most memorable photos are the ones that make us giggle. The image below of a woman submerged in pink balloons is funny because it's unexpected — and there's a part of us that wants to join her, too. If you can make your audience laugh, they're likely to enjoy your photo.

6. Set your camera's focus.

Today's phone cameras automatically focus on the foreground of your frame, but not every picture you take on your phone has an obvious subject. To adjust where you want your camera lens to focus, open your camera app and tap the screen where you want to sharpen the view.

If you're taking a photo of something in motion, for example, it can be difficult for your camera to follow this subject and refocus as needed. Tap the screen to correct your phone camera's focus just before snapping the picture to ensure the moving subject has as much focus as possible. A square or circular icon should then appear on your camera screen, shifting the focus of your shot to all of the content inside that icon.

Avoid zooming in.

When you take a photo from a distance, it's tempting to zoom in on something specific you're trying to capture. But it's actually better not to zoom in — doing so can make the photo appear grainy, blurry, or pixelated.

Instead, try to get closer to your subject — unless it's a wild animal, in which case we would advise keeping your distance — or take the photo from a default distance, and crop it later on. That way, you won't compromise quality, and it's easier to play around or optimize a larger image.

Keep an eye out for repetitive patterns.

Repetitive patterns are pleasing to the eye — they appear whenever strong graphic elements repeat over and over again, like lines, geometric shapes, forms, and colors. These patterns can make a strong visual impact, and photographing something like a beautiful, tiled floor can be enough to create a striking image. Other times, it's more fun to keep an eye out for where they appear naturally or unintentionally, like in the photo below.

7. Hold your phone still.

While smartphones have given us the benefit of taking pictures on the go, the cameras on our phones are still sensitive to movement. To help avoid blurry or warped photos, steady your camera first.

You can lean on a friend or wall to prevent your arms or hands from wobbling, or prop your phone up using books or similar objects to steady your phone.

Consider buying a mobile tripod.

Mobile devices make it easy to snap any photo on the go. But there's never been an easy way to make sure the shot stays level and balanced when you shoot — especially if you want to be in the picture and not just take a typical selfie with your extended arm.

Mobile tripods give you the freedom to mount your smartphone for quick hands-free shots without lugging any heavy equipment with you. Most mobile tripods are barely bigger than your mobile device and can bend to any angle. Learn how these miniature tripods can help enhance your mobile video experience below.

8. Experiment with exposure.

Another mobile camera feature you'll want to set manually is your exposure. Tapping your screen when your phone's camera is on doesn't just refocus the lens on a new subject — it also automatically adjusts how much light the camera lets in. This, too, won't always look just right. It's best to adjust it by hand.

To change your mobile camera's exposure by hand, open your camera app and tap the screen. When you see the lens refocus, you'll see a very small sun icon and a vertical scale. Slowly swipe your finger up and down this scale to adjust the light level.

Capture small details.

You may have heard the phrase, "It's the little things." Sometimes, that also applies to photos. Close-up images that capture small, intricate, and delicate details can make for really compelling visual content.

It can be tricky to photograph close-up objects with a smartphone. To focus on an object, tap the area you’re trying to capture. If you’re unable to focus the image, move slightly away. You can also tap another part of the screen, then go back to your subject to try focusing again. iPhone 13 and later also have a "macro" mode that can help with close-up shots.

Pro Tip: Use the "sharpen" tool in your favorite photo editing app to (conservatively) sharpen the details of your photo.

Embrace negative space.

"Negative space" simply refers to the areas around and between the subjects of an image — and it can take a photo from "good" to "great."

When you include a lot of empty space in a photo, your subject will stand out more and evoke a stronger reaction from your viewer. And what does negative space look like? It's often a large expanse of open sky, an empty field, a large wall, or water, as in the example below.

9. Use photo accessories.

Photo accessories like lenses, apps, and lights can make your smartphone a more powerful camera, adding features to boost your photographs while you’re shooting and as you edit and prepare your images for sharing.

Attach an external lens.

Want to get really fancy? External lenses are for you. There are actually several out there that you can attach to the top of your smartphone's native camera lens — from fish-eye to wide-angle lenses. These add-ons can bring an entirely new quality and perspective to your photos.

According to Wirecutter , the best camera lenses for iPhone photography are made by Moment , a manufacturer of mobile lenses. Start there, or do some research to find the lens add-ons that fit your smartphone photography needs.

Try a shutter button.

A selfie stick is great for making that special selfie a little less arm-focused. But shutter buttons give you even more freedom to create great photos with your phone. Remote shutter buttons also allow for steadier shots and help prevent the inevitable camera shake as you try to click the shutter on your screen.

Use photo apps.

Whether you want tone curve adjustments, blemish fixing, HSL color correction, or gradients, there’s an app for that. Photo apps for desktop and mobile enable you to go wild in post-production to make your photos one of a kind.

10. Don't be afraid to edit.

Composing and taking photos on your smartphone is just the first step to making it visually compelling. Editing your photos is the next step — and a critical one, at that. Filters can be a valuable photographic tool, particularly when it comes to two goals: 1) Removing blemishes from a picture, and 2) making food look even more delicious.

Beauty filters are a common fix— and now, the iPhone photos app offers many similar filters. There are also apps like Pho.to , which can automatically retouch facial photos without a lot of work. And when it comes to those photos of your daily meals? Another great app is Foodie , which comes with its own set of filters optimized for different types of food.

But there are many other fantastic photo and video editing apps out there for mobile devices — check out this post to see some of the best ones out there. If you want to edit your photos on desktop, this list of Photoshop shortcuts can help you speed up the process.

And, if you’re creating photos, you may also want to share them. Photo-sharing apps like Instagram include tons of in-app features for editing .

Be unconventional.

Some of the most delightful and remarkable photos come out of cool, unique ideas. Images are more effective than text at evoking emotion from your viewers — that often means getting your photos to say something.

Try thinking outside of the box when it comes to what you're capturing — your viewers could be pleasantly surprised by a cool or unexpected approach.

Want more tips on creating visual content? Check out these design tools for creating visual content .

11. Ask for feedback.

As you grow as a photographer, you can learn a ton just by looking at the work of other photographers . But if you really want to push yourself, it’s a good idea to ask for feedback.

Getting critique on your photos from others can give you useful insights about how what your audience sees in your photos and what emotions they evoke. This feedback process is also helpful if you’re using your photo skills for a business. If this describes you, you may also want to check out these tips on product photography and taking photos for real estate .

Share your photos with friends, family, or online photography communities to get some constructive criticism and tips for improvement. Critique can be tough to take at first, but if you really want to improve your photos, the risk is worth it.

Take Better Photos

Thanks to our mobile devices and the editing apps that come with them, we can now take high-quality photos and edit them just about anywhere — all from the same device that we use to make calls.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in November 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

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10 Key Smartphone Photography Tips (And Why You Should Be Using Them)

We all carry smartphones with us at all times, and most modern smartphones boast powerful cameras capable of shooting beautiful photos. However, no camera can take great photos alone, and the photographer needs to know what they're doing to a certain extent to get the best results from the incredible technology. Many smartphone owners are amateurs when it comes photography and just point and shoot subjects without really thinking about what they're doing, and this can lead to disappointing results. However, thankfully, there are plenty of techniques all smartphone owners can use to improve the photos they take with their mobile device.

If you look at friends' photos enviously, wondering how they achieved such good photographs, this article is for you. It features 10 key tips that should improve the quality of any photos you take on your smartphone. And most require no investment beyond the initial cost of the smartphone itself. Which you likely already own.

Personally, I own and use a Google Pixel, which has a decent camera. It's one of the top Android phones for photography , but any mid-range to high-end smartphone released within the last few years will enable you to take mightily impressive mobile photos. That is, as long as you focus on the basics as well as the subject you're shooting.

Regularly clean your smartphone camera lens

Before you even attempt to point your smartphone camera at a subject and shoot, you need to ensure that your equipment is up to the task. The most basic element of this is to clean your camera lens (or lenses) to prevent anything getting between you and your subject. This is just one part of the process of deep cleaning your smartphone .

Your smartphone's camera lens will attract a lot of dust and dirt over time, and this needs to be cleaned off regularly to ensure it isn't sullying your shots. Given that you carry your phone around with you everywhere, pulling it in and out of your pocket and placing it on various surfaces, it's bound to get dirty quickly. And this could easily impact the quality of shots taken.

Cleaning the lens(es) of your smartphone camera is as simple as wiping it with a lint-free cloth. While you shouldn't immerse your phone in water, obviously, you can also use a wet wipe or other dedicated cleaning cloth. As long as the end result is a clean camera lens free of dirt and dust, then the method used is somewhat unimportant. Once your equipment is cleaned, you can get started shooting.

Focus on framing and consider composition

Rather than mindlessly pointing and shooting at a subject, you need to be more aware of the whole frame you're capturing. It's easy to pull your smartphone camera out of your pocket and take a quick snapshot, but just like with dedicated cameras, composition is an important element of good smartphone photography. There are countless composition techniques you can use to improve your smartphone photography — too many to list here. However, some of the most common techniques are leading lines (where you use visual elements like sidewalks, roads, walls, and fences to draw the viewer's eyes in), filling the frame (where you ensure there are interesting elements spread throughout the whole frame), and the rule of thirds (which we discuss in-depth further down the article).

Don't get bogged down considering different techniques. Instead, use your natural aesthetic ability to spot good shots. In the above image, I spotted an opportunity to capture a busy scene of an industrial town in the north of England. I purposely included the wall in the foreground to provide context and also changed the angle I was shooting from the ensure all of the buildings and structures were below the line of the hills in the distance. This photograph took 30 seconds longer to capture than a quick snapshot would have, but the difference that extra time spent framing the scene made a huge difference to the end result.

Take multiple shots to capture the moment in time

With near-unlimited storage on modern devices, there's no reason not to take more than one photo of each subject and in each situation. You can then pick the best one afterward. Take multiple shots in each situation to ensure that moment in time you wanted to capture isn't lost forever.

Obviously, not every situation allows for this. If you're shooting a fast-moving subject, for example, you'll probably only have one shot at it. However, in most cases, you'll be able to press the shutter button multiple times, changing the framing as you go, focusing in or out, or changing something else up.

This is especially important with living subjects (humans and animals), as they're constantly moving, meaning a photo taken one second could be vastly different than one taken a second later. Even landscapes of seemingly unchanging scenes can be impacted by a change of lighting, focus, or angle. Once you understand and appreciate that photos capture a moment in time, the need to shoot multiple shots in most cases becomes clear. So while it's inadvisable to chase perfection, taking a few different shots increases the chances that you'll capture the exact image you want to capture.

Use your camera's full range of features

Many people just use the most basic features of their smartphone camera, pointing it at a subject and shooting a photo or video. However, most smartphone cameras and camera apps have multiple features you're probably not using (or not using correctly). Some are very easy to understand, even for newbies, and can make a huge difference with the results you'll produce. Others are more complicated and therefore only suitable (or necessary) for advanced users.

Regardless, before you even attempt to take photos with your smartphone, take some time to explore the settings and full range of features within the camera app. This is the only way to ensure you're making the most of the technology. Ten minutes spent looking through your smartphone camera's features (or reading the guide that came with your phone) could enable you to take better photos for years to come.

On my Google Pixel, there are multiple shooting options, from portrait to panorama; a timer; the option to enable or disable framing hints; different grid types (including a golden ratio); and much more. And while the camera app will do most of the work for you, it's well worth exploring the various options so you at least understand what they do.

Use lighting to your benefit

You'll have probably heard it said that lighting is the key to good photography. It's certainly a key element that can make the difference between average photography and amazing photography. So with this in mind, be sure to use the lighting of the situation to your advantage.

Whether shooting into the sun to make it a feature, or changing the angle to improve the contrast, being aware of the lighting can make a huge difference. Professional photographers care a lot about lighting, but even amateur photographers using their smartphones should keep lighting in mind. The range of ways you can use lighting to make your mobile photos look better is broad. Shooting into the sun can add a focal point for your photo or allow you to backlight a subject, but even then, the effect will be different depending on your focus and where your subject is in the frame. Lighting also means shadows, and these are also key features of photography.

In the above image, I was walking home on a particularly sodden night (even for the UK) when I noticed the impact that the combination of rain and light had on this part of town. In the daytime, this would be an extremely boring photo of a nondescript road junction, but with the lights from the cars and stores, this scene suddenly became much more interesting.

Look for opportunities to experiment

While smartphone cameras can't quite compete with DSLRs and other dedicated camera equipment, they do come with their own set of advantages. For example, having such a small and easy-to-handle camera opens up the possibility for experimentation that just would not be possible with a bulkier camera. And the best way to experiment is to shoot from different (unique and unusual) angles. Try shooting from low angles, looking down on a subject, or through a small gap to create a natural frame. Anything goes, and the more you experiment with your camera, the more you'll learn and understand about composition.

You likely carry your phone with you everywhere you go, and that affords smartphone photographers the opportunity to take unique and interesting photos when a shot presents itself. In the above image, I was sat on a bench having a break from the heat while on vacation when I saw that the staircase in front of me presented an opportunity for a photo that most people wouldn't think to take.

While it's good to learn and understand the basics of composition, there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to photography. And that is especially true with smartphone photography. Experiment, and see what happens.

Use the rule of thirds with the grid lines to help

As mentioned earlier in the article, the rule of thirds is one of the most common composition techniques photographers use. Mainly because it's easy to understand and accomplish and is capable of producing amazing results. It's one of a number of composition techniques photographers employ, but it's the one I would recommend all smartphone photographers, regardless of their skill level, try.

The rule of thirds is a really simple technique that enables you to take better smartphone photos . As the name implies, it suggests visually splitting a photo into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. This generally provides viewers with a more interesting viewpoint than if the photographer simply focuses on getting the subject right in the center of a shot. To help you see the rule of thirds, you can turn on the 3x3 photo grid on your camera app to take any guesswork out of the process. To do so, enter the settings on your camera app, and look for a setting labeled Grid Type or something similar.

In the above image, the water line (and therefore reflection) is two-thirds down the photo, with the sides of the bridge (and walkers on the left) splitting the photo into vertical thirds.

Buy extra equipment to improve your photographs

If you're really serious about smartphone photography, you can buy extra equipment to aid in your efforts . This includes clip-on lenses, tripods, gimbals, and other equipment designed to help you take better photos. These products are all readily available and can make smartphone photos (or video) look much more professional. In fact, with a good smartphone camera and some extra equipment, you'd be hard pushed to detect that they haven't been shot on a dedicated device such as a DSLR. In terms of video, filmmakers have even made whole movies on smartphones, with the results often fantastically impressive.

While not essential by any means, these add-ons give you the opportunity to go from shooting snapshots to proper photographs (or video). The obvious starting point is a small tripod, as they're an affordable way to up your mobile photography game. Tripods offer extra stability when shooting landscapes and other serene scenes, and when paired with a timer, they allow for better selfies too.

Clip-on lenses are also affordable and can increase the range of shots your smartphone camera is capable of taking. You can even buy full sets of lenses that you can clip on and off as the situation demands. While not necessities, these add-ons are a good option for those looking to up their smartphone photography game.

Focus on the subject rather than blindly shooting

As mentioned previously, it's far too easy when shooting on a smartphone to just blindly point your camera at something and shoot away. However, taking a moment to properly look at what you're shooting and focusing on the subject can make a huge difference in the results you get. It's easy to forget to tap the screen to focus on the subject, or just assume it's unnecessary to do so. However, it's a one-second job that can make a huge difference to the end results. You can even try focusing on different parts of the screen for interesting results — especially if you have a deep composition with elements in the foreground, middle ground, and background.

In the above photo, I made sure to focus on the part of the wall just above and to the right of the water wheel. This ensures that this is the part of the photo the eye is drawn to, with everything else fading away. It also aided the visibility of the shadows from the water wheel, providing a sense of depth to an otherwise quite ordinary image.

Given how easy it is to shoot with your smartphone and how the storage capabilities of modern devices enable you to shoot multiple photos, it's too easy to snap away mindlessly. But that will result in a series of disappointing photos you will never look at again. Therefore, it's better to really think about what you're shooting and take care to choose your subject carefully within the frame.

Use editing tools to improve your shots in post

Possibly the best thing about smartphone photography is how easy it is to edit your shots after the fact. Of course, Photoshop has existed for a long time, allowing skilled editors to transform digital photos, but with smartphone photography, those tools are accessible to everyone, and easy enough for anyone to use.

Even bad smartphone shots can be made to look good with some simple digital editing. I personally recommend Snapseed as a simple yet effective editor. It's available on Android and iOS (despite being owned by Google), and it's completely free and simple enough for anyone to use. With an editing app such as Snapseed, you can apply filters, resize and reorientate and even add markup elements such as text. The range of editing tools available means that you can make a single image look vastly different and have multiple copies of the same shot, all of which look unique.

Even if you don't want to use a dedicated editing app, your camera app will likely offer some simple editing tools such as filters, the ability to crop and rotate, and the option to change certain elements such as brightness and color tones. So you really should use them (and learn to use them well) to make your smartphone photos look better.

How to Make a Photo Essay: 5 Tips for Impactful Results

A Post By: Christina N Dickson

Want to tell meaningful stories with your photos? That’s what a photo essay is all about: conveying concepts and narratives through a series of carefully chosen images.

While telling a story with photos can be a daunting task, there are several easy tips and techniques you can use in your photo essays to create striking, stunning, eye-opening results.

And that’s what I’m going to share in this article: five photo essay tips that you can immediately apply to your photography. You’ll leave as a better photo essayist than when you arrived!

Let’s get started.

What is a photo essay?

A photo essay is a collection of images placed in a specific order to convey certain emotions , specific concepts, or a progression of events.

In other words:

The photo essay tells stories just like a normal piece of writing , except with images instead of words. (Here, I’m using the term “story” loosely; as mentioned above, photo essays can encapsulate emotions or concepts in addition to traditional, time-based narratives.)

Plenty of world-class photojournalists use photo essays, including Lauren Greenfield, James Nachtwey, and Joachim Ladefoged. But the photo essay format isn’t exclusive to professionals, and photo essays don’t need to cover dramatic events such as wars, natural disasters, and social issues. Whether you are a complete beginner, a hobbyist, or a professional, the photo essay is a great way to bring your images to life, tell relevant stories about your own surroundings, and touch your family, friends, and coworkers.

So without further ado, let’s look at five easy tips to take your photo essays to the next level, starting with:

1. Find a topic you care about

Every good photo essay should start with an idea .

Otherwise, you’ll be shooting without a purpose – and while such an approach may eventually lead to an interesting series of photos, it’s far, far easier to begin with a topic and only then take out your camera.

As I emphasized above, a photo essay can be about anything. You don’t need to fixate on “classic” photo essay themes, such as war and poverty. Instead, you might focus on local issues that matter to you (think of problems plaguing your community). You can also think about interesting stories worth telling, even if they don’t have an activism angle.

For instance, is there an area undergoing major development? Try documenting the work from start to finish. Is there a particular park or nature area you love? Create a series of images that communicate its beauty.

One key item to remember:

Photo essays are most powerful when you, as the photographer, care about the subject. Whether you choose to document something major and public, like an environmental crisis, or whether you choose to document something small and intimate, like the first month of a newborn in the family, make sure you focus on a topic that matters to you .

Otherwise, you’ll struggle to finish the essay – and even if you do successfully complete it, viewers will likely notice your lack of passion.

2. Do your research

The best photo essays involve some real work. Don’t just walk around and shoot with abandon; instead, try to understand your subject.

That way, you can capture a more authentic series of photos.

For instance, if you document a newborn’s first month , spend time with the family. Discover who the parents are, what culture they are from, and their parenting philosophy.

If you cover the process of a school’s drama production, talk with the teachers, actors, and stagehands; investigate the general interest of the student body; find out how the school is financing the production and keeping costs down.

If you photograph a birthday party, check out the theme, the decorations they plan on using, what the birthday kid hopes to get for their gifts.

If you’re passionate about your topic, the research should come easy. You should enjoy learning the backstory.

And then, when it comes time to actually shoot, you’ll have a much clearer understanding of the topic. You’ll know the key players in the story, the key ideas, and the key locations. You’ll be able to hone in on what matters and block out the flashy distractions.

Make sense?

3. Find the right angle

Once you’ve done your research, you’ll know your topic inside and out.

At which point you’ll need to ask yourself:

What is the real, authentic story I want to tell?

Every story has a hundred different angles and perspectives. And trying to share the story from every perspective is a recipe for failure.

Instead, pick a single angle and focus on it. If you’re documenting a local issue, do you want to focus on how it affects children? The physical area? The economy? If you’re documenting a newborn’s first month, do you want to focus on the interaction between the newborn and the parents? The growth of the newborn? The newborn’s emotions?

As you’ll find out during your research, even stories that seem to be completely one-sided have plenty of hidden perspectives to draw on.

So think about your story carefully. In general, I recommend you approach it from the angle you’re most passionate about (consider the previous tip!), but you’re always free to explore different perspectives.

4. Convey emotion

Not all photo essays must convey emotion. But the most powerful ones do.

After all, think of the stories that you know and love. Your favorite books, movies, and TV shows. Do they touch you on an emotional level?

Don’t get me wrong: Every photo essay shouldn’t cover a sappy, heartstring-tugging tale. You can always focus on conveying other emotions: anger, joy, fear, hurt, excitement.

(Of course, if your story is sappy and heartstring-tugging, that’s fine, too – just don’t force it!)

How do you convey emotions, though? There’s no one set way, but you can include photos of meaningful scenes – human interactions generally work well here! – or you can simply show emotion on the faces of your photographic subjects . Really, the best way to communicate emotions through your photos is to feel the emotions yourself; they’ll bleed over into your work for a unique result.

5. Plan your shots

Once you’ve done the research and determined the angle and emotions you’d like to convey, I recommend you sit down, take out a pen and paper, and plan your photo essay .

Should you extensively visualize each photo? Should you walk through the venue, imagining possible compositions ?

Honestly, that’s up to you, and it’ll depend on how you like to work. I do recommend that beginners start out by creating a “shot list” for the essay. Here, you should describe the main subject, the narrative purpose of the image, plus any lighting or composition notes. Once you become more experienced, you can be looser in your planning, though I still recommend you at least think about the different shots you want to capture.

You can start by planning 10 shots. Each one should emphasize a different concept or emotion, but make sure to keep a consistent thread running through every composition; after all, the end goal is to create a powerful series of images that tell a story.

One final tip:

While you should stick to your plan pretty closely, at least at first, don’t ignore the potential for spontaneity. If you see a possible shot, take it! You can later evaluate whether it’s a worthwhile addition to your essay.

Photo essay tips: final words

Now that you’ve finished this article, you know all about what photo essays are, and – hopefully! – how to create a beautiful essay of your own.

Just remember: storytelling takes practice, but you don’t have to be an incredible writer to pull off a powerful photo essay. All you need is a bit of photographic technique, some creativity, and a lot of heart.

Once you start to tell stories with your photos, your portfolio will never be the same!

Now over to you:

Do you have any tips for doing photo essays? Do you have any essays you’re proud of? Share them in the comments below!

Read more from our Tips & Tutorials category

is a visionary artist and philanthropist in Portland Oregon. Her work includes wedding photography www.BrideInspired.com and leadership with www.RevMediaBlog.com .

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How to Make Your Smartphone Photos So Much Better

Professional photographers have long used the RAW format and editing software to turn image files into gorgeous pictures — and you can, too.

By J. D. Biersdorfer

J.D. Biersdorfer, whose first camera was the Pentax K1000, has been writing a technology column for The Times since 1998.

Smartphone cameras and the software that automatically processes the images have become so good at creating fantastic photos on the fly that most people don’t even carry a separate camera anymore (well, except for some Gen Z-ers going retro ). There are plenty of apps that can slap a filter on a picture to make it look even better, but if you really want to elevate your mobile photography skills, consider the format the pros use: RAW.

Editing a RAW file is more work, but it allows the photographer to have more control of the light and color in the image after it’s been captured — and in some cases, enough pixels to significantly crop the photo and still have it look sharp. Here’s a guide to getting started.

What is RAW?

“RAW” means raw data — and lots of it. Many phone cameras automatically capture and save images as JPEG or HEIC files, which crunch down and discard some of the image data to reduce the file size. However, when you choose to capture images as RAW files , you get uncompressed and unprocessed data from the camera’s sensor. Without the compression, RAW images contain more detail and colors to work with. But the files can be huge .

There are many specialized camera tools that capture and edit RAW files available in the app stores. (More on those later.) But if you’re just dabbling for now, here’s how to use the options available on the newest iPhone and Android models, as well as other free tools.

The iPhone’s RAW settings

On an iPhone 12 Pro (or later Pro and Pro Max models) running at least the iOS 14.3 operating system, you can capture and store RAW files by going to the main Settings app, and choosing Camera and then Formats. Tap the button next to Apple ProRAW , which is Apple’s variation on the RAW format. On iPhone 14 Pro models, you can choose the resolution to store your RAW files: 12 megapixels or a whopping 48 megapixels.

A Guide to Editing Photos on Your Phone

I recently wrote about how to take better photos with your smartphone.

Are you wondering what all those sliders and buttons on photo-editing apps actually do?

Here’s a cheat sheet →

The controls you have vary based on the tool you’re using, but adjusting the Exposure is often first on the list in a photo app’s editing options. Changing the exposure lets you make the image lighter or darker. Be careful not to go too far and wash out the white areas.

Adjust the White Point to change the brightest part of the photo. Adjust the Black Point to change the darkest part. Move the Highlights slider to adjust the brightness in the lightest areas of the photo. Adjust the Shadows to likewise change the image’s darkest areas.

Change the Contrast to increase or decrease the difference in tone between the picture’s highlights and shadows.

The highlights get brighter (and the shadows darker) when you increase the contrast. Low-contrast images can look flat or soft.

In addition to controlling light, you can fiddle with color in your photo. Saturation increases or decreases the intensity of the colors. Warmth lets you move colors to the “warm” orange and yellow range or to “cool” blues. Tint shifts the overall color hue in the image.

These are a few of the basic adjustments you can make if you want to venture beyond the automatic presets, filters and special effects in your photos app.

The support site for your preferred photo-editing app should have more precise details and guidelines on using these tools and others, but here are a few parting tips:

Edit your pictures in a place with neutral light and not near a bright window, which can affect how the image looks on the screen.

Take your time and explore.

Don’t worry about messing it up! In most apps, you can discard or undo your changes if you don’t like what you see.

Read more Tech Tips:

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How to Best Shoot Smartphone Photography: A Complete Guide

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Our complete guide to smartphone photography teaches you everything you need to know to get the most out of your camera phone. It’s hard to overstate how much our phones have revolutionized photography.

Standalone cameras are far from dead, but the smartphone has almost killed off the compact consumer camera. All the more reason to learn more about how to get the most from your phone’s camera. You get excellent results with just a few tricks and techniques.

• Discover 30 unique projects for minimalist urban shots.
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• Master smartphone photography for print-worthy urban photos.

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What Is Smartphone Photography?

Smartphone photography involves capturing photos using a camera integrated into a smartphone. And it has revolutionized photography.

It has made it accessible and convenient to take high-quality images anytime, anywhere. It lets us document our lives and share moments instantly.

Most of our recommendations here apply to whatever operating system you have. But some articles help specifically with iOS or Android. So let’s take a look at some of the best ways of improving your smartphone photography:

• Smartphone photography basics
• Shooting techniques

Photography Apps

Editing apps.

• Photo management

Smartphone Photography Gear

Smartphone photography basics.

Improving your smartphone camera photography is easy with a few simple tips. Clean your camera lens regularly to ensure sharp photos. Use manual controls like the exposure slider and tap-to-focus for more control over your images.

Avoid using digital zoom, as this can reduce image quality. Instead, get closer to your subject or consider buying an attachable lens. And shoot in good lighting conditions whenever possible for the best results.

Editing your photos can also help improve quality. Adjust sharpness and definition, but be careful not to overdo it.

If you want to improve the quality of your smartphone photography , these tips are a great place to start.

iPhone Camera Settings

Your iPhone has many exciting camera settings to help you take amazing photos. Turn on the gridlines in your camera settings to help you master composition using the rule of thirds. Adjust the focus by tapping the screen where you want the camera to focus.

Use Live Photo mode to capture movement and sound in your images. The Burst mode is excellent for capturing action shots. Just press and hold the shutter button. The self-timer is also perfect for taking group photos or reducing camera shake in low light.

The Exposure Slider lets you manually adjust the brightness of your photo. Tap the screen to make the slider appear, then move your finger up or down to change the exposure.

You can also use the iPhone’s built-in filters to adjust the look of your images.

Other iPhone camera settings let you select the image size, RAW and ProRes settings, and preferred camera.

iPhone Tips

Follow a few simple tips to take amazing photos with your iPhone. Use the swipe feature for quick camera access, and touch the screen to set focus on your main subject.

Pay attention to lighting direction and color for creative effects. And compose shots using the thirds grid rule and leading lines.

Use fill-in flash in the shade to brighten subjects. And experiment with different shooting modes, such as square, panorama, and portrait.

Crop your images for better composition. Enable HDR for more detail in high-contrast scenes. Use the View on Map feature to remember photo locations, and try a selfie stick to capture a broader perspective.

Master these iPhone photography tips, and you’ll take your iPhone photography to the next level .

Android Manual Mode

Switching to manual mode on your Android camera gives you complete control over your photos. You can adjust settings like ISO, shutter speed, and white balance to get the perfect shot.

Manual focus lets you choose your focal point, even if it’s not in the center of the frame. You can also play with depth of field by selecting a wide aperture for a shallow focus effect.

Going manual might initially seem daunting. But it’s the best way to improve your photography skills. Practice teaches you how to use the exposure triangle to capture stunning images in any lighting situation.

Check out this in-depth guide for more tips on mastering Android camera settings .

Getting the best lighting for phone photography can be tricky. But there are some simple tips to remember.

Natural light is always best, so shoot outdoors or near a window when possible. If you must shoot in direct sunlight, look for shade or wait until the sun is lower in the sky to avoid harsh shadows and blown-out highlights.

The golden hour after sunrise or before sunset provides a beautiful, warm glow perfect for portraits and silhouettes. The blue hour before sunrise and after sunset adds a moody, dramatic feel to your images.

When shooting indoors, window light is your best friend. It diffuses the sun’s rays for a soft, even exposure.

Get creative with artificial lights in dark settings like fluorescents, incandescents, or neon signs. You can even use a friend’s phone flash for side lighting.

You can achieve excellent lighting for phone photography in any situation with a little experimentation.

Burst Mode With iPhone

The iPhone’s burst mode lets you capture rapid-fire shots, ensuring you never miss the perfect moment. To use it, open the camera app, then press and hold down the shutter button. Your iPhone keeps snapping photos until you release the button.

Burst mode is great for action shots but fills up storage quickly. Three seconds of shooting will give you 30 pictures! To pick the best ones, go to your Photos app, select the burst, and then tap the Select button to choose which photos to keep.

Burst mode works best in well-lit areas to avoid blurry shots. You can also get creative by using a fisheye lens attachment for unique close-ups or trying panning techniques for cool motion blur effects.

With a little practice and more iPhone photo burst tips , you’ll capture amazing action shots in no time!

Self-Timer With iPhone

The iPhone’s built-in photo timer is a great way to take hands-free photos. To set the timer, open the native camera app and tap the clock icon at the top of the screen. You can choose between a 3-second or 10-second delay.

The 3-second timer is best for landscapes and still subjects, giving you just enough time to let go of the phone before the shutter fires. For self-portraits or group shots, use the 10-second timer so you have time to get in the frame.

Before starting the timer, pre-focus your shot by tapping and holding on the area you want sharp. This prep locks the focus and exposure so the camera doesn’t hunt for a new point when you step into the scene.

Learning more about your iPhone’s photo timer helps you easily capture your desired shots.

Smartphone Photography Techniques

Once you know the best way to shoot with your smartphone, you’ll notice how most people get it wrong! Small changes can make a big difference in results. Smartphones are amazingly sophisticated and make up for lots of human errors. But the better the starting point, the better the results. 

Panoramas With iPhone

Taking stunning panorama photos with your iPhone is easy. Open the camera app and select Pano mode. Hold your phone close to your chest and slowly pan from left to right, keeping the arrow centered on the line.

Using a tripod can help keep your iPhone steady for the smoothest shots. If you don’t have one, practice stabilizing your hand while panning. Compose your shot by choosing where to start and end the panorama.

It’s also a great option for capturing tall cityscapes. Rotate your phone and pan up.

Try moving your phone slightly up and down while panning or capturing moving objects for creative effects. For more features, you can also use third-party apps like Microsoft Pix or 360 Panorama.

We have a helpful resource available if you want to learn more about iPhone panoramas .

Blurring Background (Bokeh)

Taking pictures with a blurry background, also known as bokeh, can add depth and creativity to your iPhone photos.

One of the easiest ways to achieve this effect is using your iPhone’s Portrait Mode. This feature automatically blurs the background while keeping your subject sharp. The bokeh makes your photos look like you took them with a professional camera!

If you have an older iPhone model without Portrait mode, you can still blur the background using third-party apps like Tadaa SLR or Instagram’s Focus Mode. These apps use algorithms to separate the subject from the background, letting you create a shallow depth-of-field effect.

Try using lens attachments or make filters for even more creative possibilities! Experimenting with different materials placed before your phone’s lens can lead to unique and surprising results.

If you want the cleanest, most professional-looking bokeh, consider connecting your DSLR to your iPhone and using Photoshop to take a picture with a blurry background .

HDR With iPhone

HDR, or high dynamic range, is a technique for capturing a wide range of light in photos.

It takes multiple shots at different exposures and combines them into one image. HDR helps to balance the highlights and shadows, giving you more detail in bright and dark areas of your photo.

To use HDR on your iPhone, open the camera app and look for the HDR option at the top of the screen. Tap it to turn it on, compose your shot, and take the photo.

Keep your phone steady while it captures multiple exposures. Use a tripod or set your phone on a stable surface for the best results.

HDR works well for landscapes, high-contrast scenes, and backlit subjects. It can also help in harsh sunlight by reducing the intensity of shadows and highlights.

If you want more control over your HDR photos, try third-party apps like Pro HDR or TrueHDR. These offer manual settings and extra features to fine-tune your images.

Learning more about HDR on your iPhone is worth your time.

Long Exposure With iPhone

Shooting long-exposure photos with an iPhone is easier than you think. All you need is a tripod to keep your phone stable. You can use the Live Photos feature to apply a long-exposure effect automatically or try third-party apps like Camera+ 2 for more control.

To capture long exposures during the day, use ND filters to block out some light. You can also get creative with light painting by drawing in the air with a flashlight while the shutter is open. Don’t be afraid to experiment without a tripod for unique motion effects.

Editing your long-exposure shots can make them even more stunning. Increase the contrast and darken the blacks to make the light streaks stand out. You’ll be amazed at the creative possibilities of long-exposure iPhone photography with practice.

Our guide to iPhone long-exposure photography is a great resource for diving deeper into this technique.

Time-Lapse With iPhone

Creating time-lapse videos on your iPhone is simple. Open the native camera app and select Time-lapse mode. Press the record button to start capturing photos every few seconds, then press it again to stop.

For the best results, use a tripod to keep your phone steady. Consider using a fisheye lens to make your shots look more engaging. You can also use third-party apps like Hyperlapse for image stabilization or NightCap Camera for shooting time-lapse videos at night.

Look for places with good lighting and plenty of movement, such as traffic, people, or the sky. You can also try shooting a stationary subject with a busy scene behind it to create an interesting effect.

Have a look at our guide to learn more about iPhone time-lapse photography .

Light Painting

Light painting is a fun photography technique that captures the movement of light in a scene. You don’t need expensive equipment. A decent smartphone with manual settings or a long-exposure camera app does the trick.

To get started, rest your phone on a tripod or a stable surface. To avoid any camera shake, use a camera remote (or your Apple Watch) or self-timer. You can also use an LED light, flashlight, or even another smartphone as the light source.

Experiment with different exposure times and light sources to create unique effects. You can capture traffic light trails or “paint” letters and shapes in the air.

With some practice, you can create stunning, ethereal images with your smartphone.

Read our in-depth guide to learn more about l ight painting with a phone .

Smartphone Photography Niches

Phone photography has progressed way beyond just snapping pictures on the go. Social media is one area where the phone is possibly the dominant tool. It isn’t the only niche, though. So, we have gathered advice and ideas for various photography genres for you to look at.

Portrait With iPhone

The iPhone’s Portrait Mode is a game-changer for mobile photography. It lets you take stunning photos with a blurred background, similar to what you’d get with a DSLR camera. To use it, launch the camera app and select Portrait Mode.

Ensure your subject’s eyes are visible and you’re not too close or far away. Portrait Mode works best with a simple background that doesn’t distract from your subject. Turn on the gridlines to help you compose a balanced image.

After taking your portrait, you can edit it in the phone’s app. You can adjust the amount of background blur, try different lighting effects, and use the basic editing tools to perfect your image.

For even more options, try a third-party app like Snapseed or Lightroom . With these iPhone Portrait mode tips, you’ll take professional portraits quickly.

Smartphones have advanced greatly and can now take amazing fashion photos. If you want to get into fashion photography but don’t want to invest in expensive camera gear, your smartphone is a great option.

To take the best fashion photos with your phone, prioritize good lighting. Early morning or late afternoon are the best times to shoot outdoors. Indoors, pose your subject near windows or doors to use natural light.

Composition is key, so use the Rule of Thirds grid on your phone to place your subject uniquely. Communicate clearly with your model about the mood and emotions you want to capture.

Experiment with different angles and use your phone’s Portrait Mode to blur the background. You can also have fun with detachable lenses and props to add variety to your shots. After shooting, use editing apps like VSCO or Adobe Photoshop Express to perfect your images.

Fashion photography with a smartphone takes practice, but applying these tips can create impressive work. Check out our in-depth article to learn more about smartphone fashion photography .

Food photography with your phone is easier than ever. Use natural light from a window or shoot outside in the shade for the best results. Avoid artificial lighting, which can create unwanted color casts and make your food look flat.

Composition is key—turn on the grid overlay on your phone’s camera to help you place the main elements of your dish along the lines or at the intersecting points. Close-up shots can be great, but be sure the viewer can still tell what the food is.

Editing your photos is important, but avoid using filters at full strength. Instead, you can use apps like Snapseed, VSCO, or Lightroom Mobile to adjust exposure, brightness, white balance, and saturation.

With some practice, you can create food photography with a phone that looks professional and delicious.

Landscape With iPhone

Taking stunning landscape photos with your iPhone is easy with the right techniques. Use a tripod to stabilize your phone and prevent motion blur, especially in low light. Tap the screen to set the focus on your main point of interest.

To create silhouettes, tap the brightest area and use the AE lock. Tap the dark area for backlit scenes, use the AE lock, and take the shot. HDR mode is great for high-contrast scenes, capturing multiple exposures to produce a balanced image.

Shoot around sunrise or sunset for the best light and colors. Compose your shot using the rule of thirds grid, placing key elements where the lines intersect.

Taking landscape photos on your iPhone is a great way to capture the beauty of nature wherever you go.

Flowers make beautiful subjects for smartphone photography. With the right techniques, you can capture their natural beauty. Get close to your subject to highlight the flower’s intricate details and eliminate distracting backgrounds.

Shoot in soft, diffused light for the best results. Overcast days or the golden hours around sunrise and sunset provide ideal lighting conditions. You can also create an indoor floral still life near a window, using a sheer curtain to diffuse direct sunlight.

Experiment with unique angles and compositions to make your flower photos stand out. Try shooting from a low perspective or adding water droplets for a fresh, dewy look.

Editing apps with tools like curves and white-balance correction can further enhance your images. For more tips on capturing stunning flower photos , explore in-depth tutorials and techniques from experienced photographers.

You don’t need expensive equipment to take great product photos. Your smartphone camera is all you need. Use a tripod to keep your phone stable and the shots consistent. A white backdrop, like construction paper or a blanket, works well for a professional look.

Adjust your camera settings for the best results. Keep the ISO at 100 to avoid noise, choose the right aspect ratio, and use autofocus. Attach a macro lens for sharp close-ups, and experiment with Portrait Mode for a blurred background effect in lifestyle shots.

Natural light from windows is perfect for product photography. Place your product near a window to take advantage of the soft, even light. Use table lamps with bendable necks and matching color temperatures if the light is too dim.

After shooting, use editing apps like Adobe Lightroom , VSCO, or Snapseed to color correct, adjust exposure, and remove blemishes. With these tips, you can take smartphone product photography that looks professional.

Smartphone street photography is a fun and creative way to capture the world around you. Apps like Camera+ give you more control over your phone’s camera, with features like exposure lock, focus lock, and shutter release. Apps let you take better photos in tricky lighting situations.

When composing your shots, look for interesting backgrounds like walls or windows to frame your subject. Getting close to your subject can also lead to more compelling images.

Working on a photography project or theme is a great way to push your creativity. You could focus on a specific location, like a market or city, or explore ideas like light and shadow.

With some practice and experimentation, you can create stunning street photos with your smartphone.

To learn more techniques for smartphone street photography , check out our in-depth guide.

Capturing fast-moving objects with your phone can be challenging, but simple techniques can help you get great action shots. First, anticipate your subject’s movement and be ready to take the shot. Pay attention to your composition, keeping your subject in the frame.

Using burst mode is a great way to capture the perfect moment. Press and hold the shutter button, and your phone rapidly takes many photos.

You can also try panning (following your subject from left to right or vice versa). Do this using a slow shutter speed to add motion blur to the background.

Experiment with different angles to add drama to your action shots. Low angles can make your subject look bigger and more heroic while shooting from above can show more of the environment.

Perhaps you want to capture fast-moving objects with a phone and fit everything in the frame. If so, consider using a fisheye lens or the built-in super-wide-angle lens on newer phones.

Nighttime With iPhone

Capturing stunning night photos with your iPhone is easier than you think. Start using a third-party app like Camera+ 2 that lets you adjust settings manually.

Keep your ISO between 400 and 800 to avoid grainy images. And use a shutter speed of 1/120 to 1/60 s (seconds) for handheld shots.

Stabilize your phone with a tripod to prevent motion blur using slower shutter speeds. Activate HDR to capture more detail in highlights and shadows. Try shooting during the blue hour just before sunrise or after sunset for vivid sky colors.

Get creative with long exposure effects like light streaks from moving cars. Play around with editing apps to adjust brightness, contrast, and other settings for the best results. If colors look distracting, try converting to black and white for an elegant look.

With practice, you’ll be taking incredible iPhone night photographs in no time.

Smartphone photography has come a long way. There are many great apps for photographers of all levels. Camera apps like Photoshop and Pro Camera give you manual control over settings like ISO and shutter speed.

For editing, Lightroom Mobile and VSCO are popular choices. They have preset filters for quick adjustments and advanced tools for precise edits. Snapseed is another powerful editor with brushes for healing imperfections.

PhotoPills and The Photographer’s Ephemeris are helpful planning apps. These astronomy apps help calculate the positions of the sun, moon, and stars to find the best shooting times.

Flickr and 500px are great platforms for sharing your best work with the photography community. The best photography apps have made taking and editing stunning photos on your phone easier.

iPhone Camera Apps

The best camera apps for iPhone can take your photography to new levels. Camera+ 2 offers manual settings like ISO, white balance, and shutter speed. You can also shoot in RAW and edit the photos in the app.

ProCamera has features similar to Camera+ 2. You can also use your Apple Watch as a remote trigger. The long exposure feature lets you set a self-timer and exposure time for several seconds.

The Slow Shutter Cam app is great for long exposures and creating motion blur or light painting effects. It may not have all the newest iPhone’s Night mode features. But it’s still a solid option for creative photography.

Camera apps for iPhone can open up new possibilities for your mobile photography!

Android Camera Apps

If you’re an Android user, there are also apps to take your smartphone photography to the next level. The native camera app on most Android phones has improved. But many people want more control and features.

Apps like ProShot and Camera Zoom FX Premium offer ISO, white balance, and exposure compensation manual controls. For those looking to boost their social media content, apps like Adobe Photoshop Camera and Cymera have excellent portrait controls and fun filters.

Are you a keen photographer who wants the most control? Apps like ProShot and Camera FV-5 have DSLR-like interfaces and support RAW files.

With so many great camera apps available, you can find the perfect one for your needs. If you’d like to learn more about camera apps for Android , we have a detailed guide that covers the best options.

Photo Storage

Smartphones make it easy to take photos, but storage space fills up fast. Free photo storage apps can help manage your growing collection. Dropbox and Google Photos are popular options that automatically upload and sync your images across devices.

iCloud is the go-to for Apple users, with 5 GB of free storage. Larger plans are surprisingly affordable. Amazon Prime members get unlimited photo storage with the Amazon Photos app. Microsoft OneDrive provides 5 GB of free storage for various file types.

Mylio takes a different approach by keeping your photos on a primary device instead of the cloud. Photography communities like 500px and Flickr offer free storage with some limitations.

We cover the best free photo storage apps in depth if you want to learn more.

Photo Recovery

Having a reliable photo recovery app can be a lifesaver. You might accidentally delete important photos or lose them due to phone issues.

These apps scan your device’s internal memory or SD card to find and restore lost images. They are quick and easy to use, making the recovery process simple.

The best photo recovery apps are compatible with both Android and iOS devices. Some even offer extra features like cloud backup or permanently destroying files. Choosing a reputable app ensures your data stays safe during recovery.

With the right photo recovery app , you can retrieve lost photos in just a few steps and avoid losing precious memories forever.

Scanner Apps

Do you have old photos you want to digitize but don’t own a scanner? You only need a smartphone to scan your printed memories. There are many photo scanner apps available for iOS and Android devices.

Adobe Scan is a popular choice. It uses AI to automatically correct perspective and remove glare and shadows.

Microsoft Lens is an all-in-one scanner that produces high-quality scans in formats like PDF, Excel, and Word. Clear Scanner has a user-friendly interface and advanced features like edge detection, all for free.

Photo Scan by Google Photos combines four separate scans into one glare-free image. Pic Scanner Gold and FilmBox by Photomyne can scan multiple photos simultaneously, and they offer editing tools to restore faded colors in old prints.

Try photo scanner apps with unique features for the best results when scanning photos.

You can also use your smartphone for photo editing. We all know how great smartphone cameras are, but now you can enhance and adjust your images using editing apps. 

You no longer have to rely on big, expensive photo editing software on your computer. You can do everything you need to do right on your smartphone. The apps don’t have some of the advanced tools of the full editing suits. But apps like Adobe Lightroom Mobile and Prisma have sophisticated tools for enhancing images. 

See our full article on the best photo editing apps for more information. We’ll give you an introduction to editing apps below, but you need to see that article full picture. 

Best Editing Apps

Editing your smartphone photos is a must to make them stand out. Many editing apps are available for both Android and iOS devices. Some are simple and only offer filters, while others have advanced editing tools.

Adobe Lightroom for Mobile  and Adobe Photoshop Express are two popular options. They offer a variety of features and are easy to use. Snapseed is another great choice, especially for beginners.

VSCO is perfect if you like the look of film photography. It has a massive collection of filters and advanced controls. TouchRetouch is the best app for removing unwanted objects from your photos.

Check out our in-depth guide to learn about the best editing app options .

Background Removal Apps

There are many reasons to change the background of your photos. Sometimes, backgrounds are too simple or busy, so we want to change them completely. Other times, we can use a background app to make a subject stand out.

The best background change apps offer advanced tools, such as different blending modes and double exposures. They also let you create shadows to make your results look natural.

Simple apps are great for quick edits, while more complex ones are better for creating art pieces or surreal collages. When choosing a background changer app, look for accuracy, smooth brush tools, and a good selection of backgrounds.

Also, consider how much you’ll use the app and how simple you want the editing process.

Look at our guide to learn more about using a background change app .

Collage Apps

Creating photo collages is easier than ever with the right app. The best collage apps offer a variety of templates, layouts, and editing tools to help you make unique designs. Some apps even let you add videos and music to your collages.

Popular collage apps include Canva, PicStitch, and Moldiv. These apps have user-friendly interfaces that make it simple to arrange your photos. You can also add text, stickers, and filters to personalize your collages.

When choosing a collage app, look for one with plenty of layout options and the ability to adjust borders and backgrounds. You can create eye-catching social media or print designs with the perfect collage app .

Photo Management

As camera phone sensors gain more pixels, phone memory comes under increasing pressure. One way to alleviate this stress is to use a management and file transfer solution. You can use the native phone apps or opt for a third-party answer.

You might also want to scan or print images. If that’s the case, we have you covered!

iPhone to Computer

Transferring photos from your iPhone to your computer is simple. You have several options, including using the Photos app, iCloud, or Airdrop on a Mac. ITunes and cloud services like Google Drive and Dropbox work well for PC users.

To transfer photos from your iPhone to your Mac, connect your phone and open the Photos app. Select the images you want to download. iCloud Photos lets you sync images between devices wirelessly. Airdrop is another Bluetooth option, so you don’t need Wi-Fi.

Sending photos back to your iPhone is just as easy. Use iTunes to sync albums from your computer to your phone. Cloud services work in both directions, so you can upload from any device and access your photos anywhere.

If you want to transfer photos from an iPhone to a computer , these methods help keep your memories safe and accessible.

Live Photo Transfer

Apple’s Live Photos captures moments before and after you press the shutter button. This feature lets you save moving images that tell a story. To take a Live Photo, tap the icon with three concentric circles at the top right of your camera screen.

Encourage your subjects to move around to make the footage interesting. Look for elements like swaying trees or moving water in landscapes. You can edit Live Photos like regular images but with extra tools to mute the sound, choose a key photo, and add special effects.

Sharing Live Photos is easy, but they only play for other iPhone users. You can convert them to videos using apps like Lively to share on more platforms. For even more control, edit converted Live Photos in apps like iMovie or Adobe Premiere Rush.

Sending live photos is a great way to capture and share special moments!

Scanning Photos

Scanning photos with your phone is quick and easy. Use Google Photos or Microsoft Lens to digitize your printed pictures in just a few steps.

Google Photos has a simple interface that looks like a regular camera app. It also has an anti-glare feature to avoid bright spots in your scans. Follow the on-screen instructions to scan your photo, then crop it to remove any unwanted background.

Microsoft Lens works similarly but also lets you scan documents and whiteboards. It has various editing tools to touch up your scans before saving them as JPEG, PDF, or PowerPoint files.

Scanning a photo with your phone is a breeze once you get the hang of it.

iPhone Photo Printing

Printing iPhone photos is easy with the right tools and techniques. Use an online printing service like Shutterfly for high-quality prints. You can also print at home with an inkjet printer, but it may be tricky to get good results.

Taking your photos to a local photo lab is the most expensive and convenient option. Look at your iPhone’s resolution to determine how big you can print. Decide your printing purpose and choose the right print size.

Get your photos ready for printing by adjusting the resolution and other settings. Choose a photo paper type and size that fits your needs. 

At home, use AirPrint for a quick printing process. Try a portable printer for more convenient printing on the go. We’ve put together a useful guide to learn more about iPhone printing .

There are many things to consider when choosing a new smartphone. Maybe your main consideration is the quality of its camera or how well you can use it for photography and video. That helps to narrow down the selection.

Almost every phone these days has a pretty decent camera. But the best ones excel, and we’re here to help you find your way through the options.

But there are other gadgets and gizmos that can enhance your smartphone photography. You can get attachable zoom or macro lenses. You can get tripods and gimbals for stabilization. And you can also get external microphones for professional sound recording. 

We’ll give you an introduction to some of the best smartphone accessories here, but we also have a full article on the best smartphone photography gear . That’s the place to go if you want to see all the best camera phone gadgets. 

Smartphone Cameras

The camera phone has revolutionized photography. Smartphones now have cameras that rival or surpass many compact cameras. The best camera phones offer multiple lenses, high-resolution sensors, and advanced features like optical image stabilization.

When choosing a camera phone, consider the number and type of lenses. A wide-angle lens is great for landscapes, while a telephoto lens helps you get closer to your subject. Look for a main sensor with at least 48 MP for detailed images.

If you want to learn more about camera phones , check out our guide. It covers the top Apple, Google, and Samsung models and details camera specs and features.

iPhone or Android?

There’s no clear winner in the iPhone versus Android camera debate. The latest and best iPhone and Android phones have astonishing cameras, which is why the consumer-level compact camera has all but disappeared.

The top contenders are the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Google Pixel 8 Pro . The Phone 15 Pro boasts a 48 MP main camera, adding 2x, 3x, and 5x telephoto to the 0.5x and 1x. The Pixel 8 Pro gets a whole extra camera with a 48 MP sensor and an optical 5x zoom.

Choosing between the best iPhone and Android phones comes down to personal preference. When looking at side-by-side comparisons, you may prefer one over the other.

It might also depend on which operating system you prefer. Read our in-depth comparison to learn more about the differences between iPhone and Android cameras .

Best iPhone Camera

The iPhone 15 Pro Max is the best iPhone camera available. It has a 48 MP main sensor, up to 5x telephoto zoom, and can shoot 4K video at 60 fps. The iPhone 15 Pro is a close second, with most of the same features except for the 5x zoom.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max is still an excellent choice for those on a tighter budget. It has a 48 MP main sensor, sensor-shift image stabilization, and can also shoot 4K video at 60 fps.

If you want to learn more about the best iPhone camera , our comparisons can help you find the model that best suits your needs and budget.

iPhone Accessories

The best iPhone camera accessories make an incredible piece of technology even better. Our top pick is the HP Sprocket Portable Printer . It’s battery-powered, prints wirelessly, and the photos are fadeproof.

The Selvim 4-in-1 Phone Lens Kit is like a Swiss army knife with attachable optics. It includes telephoto, fisheye, wide angle, and macro lenses that snap onto your phone. The ATUMTEK Selfie Stick Tripod is perfect for selfies and group photos.

These iPhone camera accessories can help you take your mobile photography to the next level. iPhone camera accessories are a great way to get the most out of your phone’s camera and expand your creative options.

Phone Tripod Mounts

Tripod mounts provide a stable base for your smartphone, letting you capture sharp photos and smooth videos. They come in various designs.

Some have flexible legs that wrap around objects to telescoping selfie sticks that double as tripods. Others even include Bluetooth remotes for wireless control.

Look for a mount with a secure grip to hold your phone firmly in place. Spring-loaded clamps and rubberized pads prevent scratches while keeping your device safe.

Compact and lightweight options are ideal for travel photography. They fold small to fit in your pocket or bag, ready to use whenever inspiration strikes. 

You can take your mobile photography to new heights with the right phone tripod mount . Our top recommendation is the Manfrotto Mini Tripod Kit with a universal smartphone clamp.

Popular Content

How to take amazing photos with your smartphone

There's more to smartphone photography than meets the eye

Today’s smartphones can take photos as good as the classic point-and-shoot camera, which is why the category has dwindled in recent years to make room for more high-end models like digital SLRs.

The best smartphones have sensors that are actually superior to entry-level cameras, while fast chipsets and advanced operating systems allow for a level of processing that’s tough to cram into a point-and-shoot.

But that doesn’t mean every photo taken on a smartphone is a stunner. There are a few simple things you can do that dramatically improve your smartphone photography. Whether it’s capturing dramatic landscapes on holiday or taking better selfies for Instagram, here are a few tricks to help you get even more out of your camera.

Explore the rule of thirds

The rule of thirds is a fundamental principle of photographic composition, one that’s easy to learn and implement.

When shooting a photo, imagine the scene is split into three, both vertically and horizontally. Try to position your subject and other points of visual interest at the intersections of these 'rule of thirds' lines.

Many smartphones allow you to turn on a rule of thirds grid, which helps to compose the image. By using the rule of thirds you instantly avoid the amateur look, where subjects are just plonked smack bang in the center of an image without much thought.

There are other compositional conventions you can look into further down the line, but the rule of thirds is a great, simple way to start thinking about photo composition.

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Try a new angle

One of the best ways to move on from lazy photography, mobile or otherwise, is to be more inventive in the way you hold and point your camera. You can (almost) always move your position, crouch down or hold the phone up to find a new angle.

Our favorite of the three is the urban crouch, which gives you a lower view in a city. As well as reminding you quite how creaky your knees are, it’s a great way to get more dramatic perspectives of buildings and other geometric city structures.

Like the rule of thirds, this is a rule to shoot by whether you use a smartphone or DSLR.

Use HDR for sunset images

Sunrise and sunset scenes make for striking images. But they’re also a challenge for cameras, because of the stark difference in light levels between the darkest part of the image and the brightest.

The golden orange, red and yellow parts of the sky are very bright, but the foreground is often much darker. The most desirable result is to bring out as much foreground detail as possible without overexposing the sky, particularly if the scene is of lush green countryside rather than grey urban buildings.

If your phone has an HDR mode, switch it to 'On' rather than 'Auto' or 'Off', to make sure it uses the full extent of its dynamic range-boosting power.

Android One phones, the Google Pixel 3 and the rest of the Google Pixel series, feature HDR+, which uses Google’s AI powers to compose a picture from several different shots, each taken at different exposures.

That means you get detail in the darkest parts of the image and the brightest, making for some stunning pictures.

Get to know manual mode

Lots of phones now have manual shooting modes that offer more control over your pictures. Exposure, white balance, ISO sensitivity and manual focus are what you usually get. 

There are three situations where manual is particularly useful. Firstly, using manual focus lets you get as up-close-and-personal with your subject as the lens allows. Smartphone autofocus often struggles with close-up objects, so manual focusing gives you the best possible chance at capturing macro-style images. 

Secondly, you can slow down the shutter speed for better low light images. Keeping the shutter open for longer allows more light to hit the lens. If your phone has a stabilized camera, you can often keep the shutter open for as long as a quarter of a second and still get sharp handheld images.

Use a phone tripod/grip or find somewhere to prop it up and you can often shoot exposures up to 30 seconds, for DSLR-like results even at night. The phone needs to be perfectly still, though. Don’t try this handheld unless your aim is an arty blur.

Shoot action on a bright day and you may want to go the other way too, manually selecting a very fast shutter speed to make sure your subject doesn’t look blurry. 

Finally, there’s ISO. This controls the sensitivity of the sensor. When managed automatically, ISO sensitivity increases as available light decreases.

While some pro photographers deliberately use high ISO for a grainy look, phone images usually look best with ISO set as low as possible. Phone processing butts heads with high-ISO grain and the results are rarely pretty.

Use 'background blur' modes

If you have a phone with multiple rear cameras, or advanced software, you may have access to a 'bokeh' or background blur mode. This creates a depth map of the scene you shoot, letting the camera differentiate between the foreground and background in order to blur out the latter. 

The result looks like an image taken with a very wide aperture DSLR or compact system camera lens, bringing the subject into, perceptually at least, sharper focus.

Most phones can’t do this without help from software. Even the best smartphones still have relatively small sensors and lenses. Even with wide aperture smartphone lenses, the actual aperture size is tiny. The natural background blur is therefore minor, and only obvious when your subject is very close. 

For best results, subjects typically need to be around 1.5 meters away so there’s a clear difference in distance between the foreground and background.

Managing focus and exposure

Even when shooting in Auto modes, a phone still gives you control over the most important elements of your images. Number one is the point of focus. If you shoot a far-away landscape, you don’t have to worry about focusing, because the phone naturally uses 'infinity' focus. 

However, the focal point doesn’t just affect focus, it affects exposure too. Most phones alter the brightness of the image to make sure a selected subject is bright and clear.

Overexposure is what you need to look out for, particularly if you use a phone that doesn’t have good image processing or effective HDR. This is where parts of an image are turned into blocks of white, because the corresponding parts of the sensor received too much light, like an overfilled cup.

Most phones let you see evidence of these overexposed areas in the image preview, although on occasion the final results are actually better. But what can you do to fix this?

Some Auto modes have exposure sliders that appear by the focus point, or let you choose different spots for the focus and exposure by holding a finger down on the screen and dragging around a second reticle.

The more advanced your camera, the less you have to worry about overexposure. Smarter software usually means better exposure metering.

Brought to you in association with Nokia and Android One, helping you make more of your smartphone - learn more here ! 

• Best camera phone 2018: the best smartphone snappers around

Andrew is a freelance journalist and has been writing and editing for some of the UK's top tech and lifestyle publications including TrustedReviews, Stuff, T3, TechRadar, Lifehacker and others.

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What smartphone photography is doing to our memories

Sharing photos may subtly change what — and how — we remember.

by Brian Resnick

Though they may appear crystal clear in our minds, our memories are not a carbon copy of the events we witnessed.

Every time we recall a memory, we may accidentally alter it or diminish its accuracy. Even trivial memories are easily corrupted with mere suggestions. The psychologist Elizabeth Loftus once found that when people are told cars “collided” instead of “hit,” they recalled a car accident as being more severe than it was.

Most frustrating of all: We change these details and reconstruct reality without being aware we’re doing it . And the seams of our edited memories are silently sealed; we often can’t remember what we can’t remember.

As a journalist who covers psychology, I’m constantly reading about the mind’s failures of accuracy. And it makes me nervous.

Two years ago, I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and took 400 pictures along the way. I was worried that images of the canyon — the way the mid-morning light looked on the red-ocher and sand-colored walls — would slip from my memory and be replaced with an approximation. So I leaned on the camera; its memory seemed crystalline, undegradable.

Ever wonder how your mind works? Watch The Mind, Explained, our 5-part miniseries on the workings of the brain. Available to stream now on Netflix.

But lately, I’ve been wondering what happens to our memories when we start to rely on smartphones more and more to document our lives. This question is not trivial: 77 percent of Americans now own smartphones , and many rely on them for memory support . If the phones are subtly shifting how human memory works, the effects will be widespread.

As with many topics in psychology, there are currently more questions than answers on this. But inmany cases, scientists are finding that constant photo taking actually diminishes our ability to recall our experiences, diverts our attention, and takes us out of the moment. Constantly sharing photos may even be changing how we recall events in our own lives.

At the same time, new research suggests that cameras can also be used to enhance our memories of certain experiences.

This research is in its early stages, but it also provides clues as to how we can best use smartphones: to enhance both our memories of an experience and our enjoyment of them.

How photo taking may mess with our memories

The first step to forming a lasting memory is to pay attention. Without attention, our brains won’t store the sensations we experience in the world around us.

The brain stores long-term memories by linking neurons. The stronger the memory, the stronger the connections. These neurological connections link all the sensations that form a memory: what a scene looked like, what it felt like, what it smelled like.

But if we’re not paying attention — if we’re not even getting information into our short-term memories — nothing will be stored long term in our brains.

The Stanford Memorial Church is a building that demands attention. Above the entrance is a giant, pastel-colored fresco of Jesus welcoming worthy souls into heaven. In this depiction of heaven, there are palm trees. The inside of the church features mosaics, stained glass, and more paintings of angels and saints than you can count on your hands and feet. It’s magnificent. Yet as a forthcoming study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology finds, it becomes easier to forget with a camera phone in tow.

In a series of experiments, a few hundred participants took a self-guided tour through the church. On the tour, the participants were supposed to take note of details like “the cruciform shape of the church” and make sure they checked out the bronze angels that “greet you from the massive entry doors.”

Some of these participants had iPods equipped with cameras and were instructed to take photos (either to print out later or to post on Facebook). Other participants went in empty-handed.

A week after the tour, the participants were given a surprise quiz, with questions about details they should have learned on the tour. In one arm of the study, those without a camera got around 7 out of 10 questions right. Those who had a camera scored closer to 6. That’s like going from a C to a D, a small but significant difference.

“Just taking photos in general was enough to decrease scores on a memory test,” says Emma Templeton, a Dartmouth psychological researcher who was a co-author of the study.

Why? The simple answer is that the camera is a distraction.“It could just be that we’re using these devices, distracting ourselves from the experience, and because of that distraction, we don’t remember the thing we’re supposed to be paying attention to,” says Templeton.

And because of the ubiquity of smartphones, “we’ve just inserted into our daily lives potentially a giant source of distraction.”

Templeton and her colleagues suspect it’s not just cameras that are a source of distraction. Using any media during an event — texting, tweeting, etc. — could lead to lapses in memory. Her research team also ran a concurrent online study, which allowed for tighter controls than the church study, that asked 380 participants to watch a TED talk. Overall, memory for the TED talk decreased in any condition where the participants were instructed to take notes onscreen.

Overall, Templeton stresses that psychologists are just beginning to answer the question of how smartphones impact our cognitive abilities. “We’ve had [digital] media and cameras for a while, but in the context [of] the stuff we normally study, this is really quite new, and the use of media is evolving very fast,” she says.

In other words, assessing smartphones’ impact on our cognitive abilities is made even harder by the fact that we’re constantly changing how we use the devices.

How much of my life do I want remembered purely by my brain?

Another reason taking photos may diminish our memories is an idea called cognitive offloading.

Simply put, it’s the idea that we’re literally outsourcing our mental capabilities to computers. In 2011, the journal Science famously published a study that found when people are told a computer will save a piece of information, they’re less likely to remember it for themselves. That experiment only had 60 participants and was conducted on a sample of college students, so its conclusions may have limited value. But you don’t have to look too far to find clear examples of cognitive outsourcing. How many people’s phone numbers do you have memorized?

Lately, more evidence for this idea has trickled in. In 2015, psychology researchers at the University of Waterloo published a paper titled “The Brain in Your Pocket.” They found that people who avoid difficult, analytical styles of thinking are more likely to report relying on their smartphones to look up information. The results suggested that using computers as a cognitive crutch is a common tactic.

“A lot of people, when they see our paper, think our argument is that smartphones are making you stupid,” says Nathaniel Barr, the lead author on the paper who’s now a psychology professor at Sheridan College. “Our favored interpretation is that it’s actually a great way for a person who may be lower in cognitive ability to boost their brain’s ability.” If you’re someone who is bad at remembering directions, you can still get on fine in the world. Smartphones, in this light, are kind of like a new cognitive shortcut.

And cognitive offloading may not be a bad thing if we’re offloading something mundane. If your surgeon is looking up the next step for an appendectomy on Google mid-operation, maybe that’s a problem — but “does anybody give a shit that they don’t have to remember people’s phone numbers?” Barr says.

When it comes to taking photos, the question of offloading becomes more complicated: How much of my life do I want remembered purely by my brain?

“Everything is a trade-off,” Barr says. “If you snap a shot and share it, you’re going to be able to relive that experience with others. If you didn’t, it’s going to be isolated to yourself. There’s both good and bad about that. ... As these technologies become more embedded in our lives, I think we’re tasked with more decisions about trade-offs.”

And this is where some of the most interesting research on cameras and memories lies: what we gain, and what we miss out on, when we take photos nonstop.

The biggest trade-off: cameras narrow our attention

Here’s the nuanced take: Smartphone photography isn’t making us dumber. It’s shifting the way our minds work, refocusing our attention.

Alixandra Barasch is a cognitive scientist at NYU. In her work, she finds that, yes, incessant smartphone camera use can lead to lapses in memory. But, more importantly, she finds a wrinkle: Cameras can also focus our attention to enhance memory.

She’s run similar studies to the one at Stanford, where participants either take photos or don’t take photos while on a museum tour. When instructed to take photos of an exhibit, her participants were more likely to remember visual aspects of their experience (the art and artifacts they saw) than if they didn’t take photos. But there’s a trade-off: The participants snapping photos were less likely to remember information they heard.

“Photos are increasing visual memories,” Barasch says, “but it doesn’t come without a cost.” And that cost is our attention. If we’re so focused on photos and visuals, we’re more likely to ignore other stimuli around us. And what gets ignored does not get remembered.

Barasch’s research finds evidence that smartphones are changing what we notice — they’re redirecting or focusing our attention. In a small study, Barasch and colleagues outfitted participants with eye-tracking devices as they embarked on a tour of a museum exhibit. The analysis revealed that participants who were assigned to take photos spent more time looking at artifacts, and looked at more of them. They didn’t look as much at the floor and ceiling.

When we’re hunting for the perfect Instagram shot, we’re not listening, we’re not smelling, we’re not always paying attention to the beautiful, complex minutiae that make up the moment.

Other researchers have found a similar curious effect. In 2011, Fairfield University psychologist Linda Henkel found in a experiment that when participants were simply told to take photos in a museum exhibit, their memories for the object and the details about them were diminished. But when the participants were told specifically to use the zoom feature on their camera, and get in close, their memories for the objects in the exhibit improved.

The lesson here is that we’re probably limiting our experience when we’re so focused on our cameras.

Powerful experiences in the real world are immersive and often engage all the senses. On your last vacation, can you remember what the wind felt like on your back? Do you remember what was going on internally: Were you thrilled, excited, or scared? When you look back on the Instagram photos from the trip, will you remember what a dinner tasted like, or just that it was pretty?

Photos and recordings are always going to be a thin slice of what you experienced. “They’re not even necessarily the true, full version of what happened,” Henkel says. When we look back on those photos, they do serve as memory cues, but they’re not necessarily reminding us of the whole story.

What sharing so many photos does to our memory

In the past few years, not only have we begun taking more and more pictures with digital cameras but we’re also sharing them, nearly instantly, on social media. This may alter our memories too — in a subtle but profound way.

Barasch and her colleagues have found evidence that taking pictures to share on social media changes our perspective within our memories. That is: When we’re taking photos to share on social media, we’re more likely to remember the moment from a third-person perspective.

“If I asked you to form a picture in your mind of your Christmas experience” that you shared a photo of on social media, she explains, “then you’ll actually start visualizing your Christmas more from an outsider’s perspective.” (She and colleagues performed this experiment with 332 students over a Christmas break.) Photos we simply take for our own archives don’t produce this effect as often.

The consequences of this are subtle. For one, Barasch finds that focusing on sharing photos can make the process of taking photos less enjoyable. That’s possibly because sharing makes us more self-conscious. (Therefore, she recommends pausing a bit after a photo is taken before you share it.) What’s unclear is how this perspective shift will change the way we think about our lives years down the line.

“What we’re looking at now is more intensity of emotions,” she says. “When people are in more of a third-person perspective, they’ll have less intense emotions when they relive the experience, whereas if I stay in the first-person perspective, I feel the genuine emotions that I felt during the exchange.”

How to remember better

At the end of the day, it’s just hard to know what the optimal balance of internal memory and tech-aided memory should be.

But if we want to hold on to certain memories, it’s going to take some mental effort.

It means paying closer attention to our surroundings. It means using our cameras mindfully to focus on the details we truly want to remember. It means putting down the camera for a few moments to notice what the air feels like, what the streets smell like, and writing down our feelings about being there.

Smartphones can help with this process: They can store information and serve as memory cues to help us retrieve it later on. But we can’t offload everything to them.

One consistent finding from research on learning is that intentional memory making takes some effort. Rereading material doesn’t help a student memorize exam answers. No, it’s the hard work of digging down into our memories and reconstructing a piece of information from scratch that makes it easier to retrieve later.

The same thing may happen with experience. “If we don’t practice strategic, effortful retrieval, it may make it more challenging for us when we really have to rely on our own memory,” Henkel says.

Recently, I returned to the Grand Canyon for a second time. It was an unexpected trip. I didn’t bring my standalone camera, and I didn’t take that many photos with my iPhone. I already had photos. And it was liberating. Today, I remember how the canyon squirrels scurried around us, hoping to steal our lunch. I remember how the mild February breeze felt encouraging 7 miles into a hard hike. I remember a dumb joke my friend made about how we should call mule droppings “trail apples” (they’re pretty round). These aren’t photographs; they’re in my head. And I’m pretty sure they’re true.

Do you have a memory that you later found out wasn’t true or accurate?

We’re making a video about memory and why our memories are often unreliable — and we want to hear from you. Help our reporting on false memory by filling out this form.

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What is a Photo Essay? 9 Photo Essay Examples You Can Recreate

A photo essay is a series of photographs that tell a story. Unlike a written essay, a photo essay focuses on visuals instead of words. With a photo essay, you can stretch your creative limits and explore new ways to connect with your audience. Whatever your photography skill level, you can recreate your own fun and creative photo essay.

9 Photo Essay Examples You Can Recreate

• Photowalk Photo Essay
• Transformation Photo Essay
• Day in the Life Photo Essay
• Event Photo Essay
• Building Photo Essay
• Historic Site or Landmark Photo Essay
• Behind the Scenes Photo Essay
• Family Photo Essay
• Education Photo Essay

Stories are important to all of us. While some people gravitate to written stories, others are much more attuned to visual imagery. With a photo essay, you can tell a story without writing a word. Your use of composition, contrast, color, and perspective in photography will convey ideas and evoke emotions.

To explore narrative photography, you can use basic photographic equipment. You can buy a camera or even use your smartphone to get started. While lighting, lenses, and post-processing software can enhance your photos, they aren’t necessary to achieve good results.

Whether you need to complete a photo essay assignment or want to pursue one for fun or professional purposes, you can use these photo essay ideas for your photography inspiration . Once you know the answer to “what is a photo essay?” and find out how fun it is to create one, you’ll likely be motivated to continue your forays into photographic storytelling.

1 . Photowalk Photo Essay

One popular photo essay example is a photowalk. Simply put, a photowalk is time you set aside to walk around a city, town, or a natural site and take photos. Some cities even have photowalk tours led by professional photographers. On these tours, you can learn the basics about how to operate your camera, practice photography composition techniques, and understand how to look for unique shots that help tell your story.

Set aside at least two to three hours for your photowalk. Even if you’re photographing a familiar place—like your own home town—try to look at it through new eyes. Imagine yourself as a first-time visitor or pretend you’re trying to educate a tourist about the area.

Walk around slowly and look for different ways to capture the mood and energy of your location. If you’re in a city, capture wide shots of streets, close-ups of interesting features on buildings, street signs, and candid shots of people. Look for small details that give the city character and life. And try some new concepts—like reflection picture ideas—by looking for opportunities to photographs reflections in mirrored buildings, puddles, fountains, or bodies of water.

2 . Transformation Photo Essay

With a transformation photography essay, you can tell the story about change over time. One of the most popular photostory examples, a transformation essay can document a mom-to-be’s pregnancy or a child’s growth from infancy into the toddler years. But people don’t need to be the focus of a transformation essay. You can take photos of a house that is being built or an urban area undergoing revitalization.

You can also create a photo narrative to document a short-term change. Maybe you want to capture images of your growing garden or your move from one home to another. These examples of photo essays are powerful ways of telling the story of life’s changes—both large and small.

3 . Day in the Life Photo Essay

Want a unique way to tell a person’s story? Or, perhaps you want to introduce people to a career or activity. You may want to consider a day in the life essay.

With this photostory example, your narrative focuses on a specific subject for an entire day. For example, if you are photographing a farmer, you’ll want to arrive early in the morning and shadow the farmer as he or she performs daily tasks. Capture a mix of candid shots of the farmer at work and add landscapes and still life of equipment for added context. And if you are at a farm, don’t forget to get a few shots of the animals for added character, charm, or even a dose of humor. These types of photography essay examples are great practice if you are considering pursuing photojournalism. They also help you learn and improve your candid portrait skills.

4 . Event Photo Essay

Events are happening in your local area all the time, and they can make great photo essays. With a little research, you can quickly find many events that you could photograph. There may be bake sales, fundraisers, concerts, art shows, farm markets, block parties, and other non profit event ideas . You could also focus on a personal event, such as a birthday or graduation.

At most events, your primary emphasis will be on capturing candid photos of people in action. You can also capture backgrounds or objects to set the scene. For example, at a birthday party, you’ll want to take photos of the cake and presents.

For a local or community event, you can share your photos with the event organizer. Or, you may be able to post them on social media and tag the event sponsor. This is a great way to gain recognition and build your reputation as a talented photographer.

5. Building Photo Essay

Many buildings can be a compelling subject for a photographic essay. Always make sure that you have permission to enter and photograph the building. Once you do, look for interesting shots and angles that convey the personality, purpose, and history of the building. You may also be able to photograph the comings and goings of people that visit or work in the building during the day.

Some photographers love to explore and photograph abandoned buildings. With these types of photos, you can provide a window into the past. Definitely make sure you gain permission before entering an abandoned building and take caution since some can have unsafe elements and structures.

6. Historic Site or Landmark Photo Essay

Taking a series of photos of a historic site or landmark can be a great experience. You can learn to capture the same site from different angles to help portray its character and tell its story. And you can also photograph how people visit and engage with the site or landmark. Take photos at different times of day and in varied lighting to capture all its nuances and moods.

You can also use your photographic essay to help your audience understand the history of your chosen location. For example, if you want to provide perspective on the Civil War, a visit to a battleground can be meaningful. You can also visit a site when reenactors are present to share insight on how life used to be in days gone by.

7 . Behind the Scenes Photo Essay

Another fun essay idea is taking photos “behind the scenes” at an event. Maybe you can chronicle all the work that goes into a holiday festival from the early morning set-up to the late-night teardown. Think of the lead event planner as the main character of your story and build the story about him or her.

Or, you can go backstage at a drama production. Capture photos of actors and actresses as they transform their looks with costuming and makeup. Show the lead nervously pacing in the wings before taking center stage. Focus the work of stagehands, lighting designers, and makeup artists who never see the spotlight but bring a vital role in bringing the play to life.

8. Family Photo Essay

If you enjoy photographing people, why not explore photo story ideas about families and relationships? You can focus on interactions between two family members—such as a father and a daughter—or convey a message about a family as a whole.

Sometimes these type of photo essays can be all about the fun and joy of living in a close-knit family. But sometimes they can be powerful portraits of challenging social topics. Images of a family from another country can be a meaningful photo essay on immigration. You could also create a photo essay on depression by capturing families who are coping with one member’s illness.

For these projects on difficult topics, you may want to compose a photo essay with captions. These captions can feature quotes from family members or document your own observations. Although approaching hard topics isn’t easy, these types of photos can have lasting impact and value.

9. Education Photo Essay

Opportunities for education photo essays are everywhere—from small preschools to community colleges and universities. You can seek permission to take photos at public or private schools or even focus on alternative educational paths, like homeschooling.

Your education photo essay can take many forms. For example, you can design a photo essay of an experienced teacher at a high school. Take photos of him or her in action in the classroom, show quiet moments grading papers, and capture a shared laugh between colleagues in the teacher’s lounge.

Alternatively, you can focus on a specific subject—such as science and technology. Or aim to portray a specific grade level, document activities club or sport, or portray the social environment. A photo essay on food choices in the cafeteria can be thought-provoking or even funny. There are many potential directions to pursue and many great essay examples.

While education is an excellent topic for a photo essay for students, education can be a great source of inspiration for any photographer.

Why Should You Create a Photo Essay?

Ultimately, photographers are storytellers. Think of what a photographer does during a typical photo shoot. He or she will take a series of photos that helps convey the essence of the subject—whether that is a person, location, or inanimate object. For example, a family portrait session tells the story of a family—who they are, their personalities, and the closeness of their relationship.

Learning how to make a photo essay can help you become a better storyteller—and a better photographer. You’ll cultivate key photography skills that you can carry with you no matter where your photography journey leads.

If you simply want to document life’s moments on social media, you may find that a single picture doesn’t always tell the full story. Reviewing photo essay examples and experimenting with your own essay ideas can help you choose meaningful collections of photos to share with friends and family online.

Learning how to create photo essays can also help you work towards professional photography ambitions. You’ll often find that bloggers tell photographic stories. For example, think of cooking blogs that show you each step in making a recipe. Photo essays are also a mainstay of journalism. You’ll often find photo essays examples in many media outlets—everywhere from national magazines to local community newspapers. And the best travel photographers on Instagram tell great stories with their photos, too.

With a photo essay, you can explore many moods and emotions. Some of the best photo essays tell serious stories, but some are humorous, and others aim to evoke action.

You can raise awareness with a photo essay on racism or a photo essay on poverty. A photo essay on bullying can help change the social climate for students at a school. Or, you can document a fun day at the beach or an amusement park. You have control of the themes, photographic elements, and the story you want to tell.

5 Steps to Create a Photo Essay

Every photo essay will be different, but you can use a standard process. Following these five steps will guide you through every phase of your photo essay project—from brainstorming creative essay topics to creating a photo essay to share with others.

Step 1: Choose Your Photo Essay Topics

Just about any topic you can imagine can form the foundation for a photo essay. You may choose to focus on a specific event, such as a wedding, performance, or festival. Or you may want to cover a topic over a set span of time, such as documenting a child’s first year. You could also focus on a city or natural area across the seasons to tell a story of changing activities or landscapes.

Since the best photo essays convey meaning and emotion, choose a topic of interest. Your passion for the subject matter will shine through each photograph and touch your viewer’s hearts and minds.

Step 2: Conduct Upfront Research

Much of the work in a good-quality photo essay begins before you take your first photo. It’s always a good idea to do some research on your planned topic.

Imagine you’re going to take photos of a downtown area throughout the year. You should spend some time learning the history of the area. Talk with local residents and business owners and find out about planned events. With these insights, you’ll be able to plan ahead and be prepared to take photos that reflect the area’s unique personality and lifestyles.

For any topic you choose, gather information first. This may involve internet searches, library research, interviews, or spending time observing your subject.

Step 3: Storyboard Your Ideas

After you have done some research and have a good sense of the story you want to tell, you can create a storyboard. With a storyboard, you can write or sketch out the ideal pictures you want to capture to convey your message.

You can turn your storyboard into a “shot list” that you can bring with you on site. A shot list can be especially helpful when you are at a one-time event and want to capture specific shots for your photo essay. If you’ve never created a photo essay before, start with ten shot ideas. Think of each shot as a sentence in your story. And aim to make each shot evoke specific ideas or emotions.

Step 4: Capture Images

Your storyboard and shot list will be important guides to help you make the most of each shoot. Be sure to set aside enough time to capture all the shots you need—especially if you are photographing a one-time event. And allow yourself to explore your ideas using different photography composition, perspective, and color contrast techniques.

You may need to take a hundred images or more to get ten perfect ones for your photographic essay. Or, you may find that you want to add more photos to your story and expand your picture essay concept.

Also, remember to look for special unplanned, moments that help tell your story. Sometimes, spontaneous photos that aren’t on your shot list can be full of meaning. A mix of planning and flexibility almost always yields the best results.

Step 5: Edit and Organize Photos to Tell Your Story

After capturing your images, you can work on compiling your photo story. To create your photo essay, you will need to make decisions about which images portray your themes and messages. At times, this can mean setting aside beautiful images that aren’t a perfect fit. You can use your shot list and storyboard as a guide but be open to including photos that weren’t in your original plans.

You may want to use photo editing software—such as Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop— to enhance and change photographs. With these tools, you can adjust lighting and white balance, perform color corrections, crop, or perform other edits. If you have a signature photo editing style, you may want to use Photoshop Actions or Lightroom Presets to give all your photos a consistent look and feel.

You order a photo book from one of the best photo printing websites to publish your photo story. You can add them to an album on a photo sharing site, such as Flickr or Google Photos. Also, you could focus on building a website dedicated to documenting your concepts through visual photo essays. If so, you may want to use SEO for photographers to improve your website’s ranking in search engine results. You could even publish your photo essay on social media. Another thing to consider is whether you want to include text captures or simply tell your story through photographs.

Choose the medium that feels like the best space to share your photo essay ideas and vision with your audiences. You should think of your photo essay as your own personal form of art and expression when deciding where and how to publish it.

Photo Essays Can Help You Become a Better Photographer

Whatever your photography ambitions may be, learning to take a photo essay can help you grow. Even simple essay topics can help you gain skills and stretch your photographic limits. With a photo essay, you start to think about how a series of photographs work together to tell a complete story. You’ll consider how different shots work together, explore options for perspective and composition, and change the way you look at the world.

Before you start taking photos, you should review photo essay examples. You can find interesting pictures to analyze and photo story examples online, in books, or in classic publications, like Life Magazine . Don’t forget to look at news websites for photojournalism examples to broaden your perspective. This review process will help you in brainstorming simple essay topics for your first photo story and give you ideas for the future as well.

Ideas and inspiration for photo essay topics are everywhere. You can visit a park or go out into your own backyard to pursue a photo essay on nature. Or, you can focus on the day in the life of someone you admire with a photo essay of a teacher, fireman, or community leader. Buildings, events, families, and landmarks are all great subjects for concept essay topics. If you are feeling stuck coming up with ideas for essays, just set aside a few hours to walk around your city or town and take photos. This type of photowalk can be a great source of material.

You’ll soon find that advanced planning is critical to your success. Brainstorming topics, conducting research, creating a storyboard, and outlining a shot list can help ensure you capture the photos you need to tell your story. After you’ve finished shooting, you’ll need to decide where to house your photo essay. You may need to come up with photo album title ideas, write captions, and choose the best medium and layout.

Without question, creating a photo essay can be a valuable experience for any photographer. That’s true whether you’re an amateur completing a high school assignment or a pro looking to hone new skills. You can start small with an essay on a subject you know well and then move into conquering difficult ideas. Maybe you’ll want to create a photo essay on mental illness or a photo essay on climate change. Or maybe there’s another cause that is close to your heart.

Whatever your passion, you can bring it to life with a photo essay.

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Smartphone Essay

500 words essay on smartphone.

Smartphones have become a very important form of communication these days. It is impossible for a rational person to deny the advantages of smartphones as they are devices suitable for a wide variety of tasks. Let us try to understand smartphones along with their benefits with this smartphone essay.

                                                                                                                                    Smartphone Essay

Understanding the Smartphone

A smartphone is a mobile device that facilitates the combination of cellular and mobile computing functions into one single unit. Moreover, smartphones have stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems in comparison to feature phones.

The strong operating systems of smartphones make possible multimedia functionality, wider software, and the internet including web browsing. They also support core phone functions like text messaging and voice calls.

There are a number of metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit (IC) chips within a smartphone. Moreover, such chips include various sensors whose leveraging is possible by their software.

The marketing of early smartphones was primarily towards the enterprise market. Furthermore, the attempt of the smartphone manufacturers was to bridge the functionality of standalone personal digital assistant (PDA) devices along with support for cellular telephony. However, the early smartphones had problems of slow analogue cellular network, short battery life, and bulky size.

With the passage of time, experts were able to resolve these issues. Furthermore, this became possible with faster digital mobile data networks, miniaturization of MOS transistors down to sub-micron levels, and exponential scaling. Moreover, the development of more mature software platforms led to enhancement in the capability of smartphones.

Benefits of Smartphone

People can make use of smartphones to access the internet and find out information regarding almost anything. Furthermore, due to the portability of a smartphone, people can access the internet from any location, even while travelling.

Smartphones have greatly increased the rate of work. This is possible because smartphones facilitate a highly efficient and quick form of communication from anywhere. For example, a person can participate in an official business meeting, without wasting time, from the comfort of his home via a live video chat application of a smartphone.

Smartphones can also be of tremendous benefit to students in general. Furthermore, students can quickly resolve any issue related to studies by accessing the internet , using a calculator, reading a pdf file, or contacting a teacher. Most noteworthy, all of this is possible due to the smartphone.

People can get in touch with the larger global community by communicating and sharing their views via social media. Furthermore, this provides a suitable platform to express their views, conduct business with online transactions , or find new people or jobs. One can do all that from anywhere, thanks to the smartphone.

These were just a few benefits of smartphones. Overall, the total benefits of a smartphone are just too many to enumerate here. Most importantly, smartphones have made our lives more efficient as well as comfortable.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of Smartphone Essay

Smartphones have proven to be a revolution for human society. Furthermore, they have made the whole world united like never before. In spite of its demerits, there is no doubt that the smartphone is a tremendous blessing to mankind and it will continue to play a major role in its development.

FAQs For Smartphone Essay

Question 1: How is a smartphone different from a feature phone?

Answer 1: Smartphones have stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems when compared to feature phones. Furthermore, the smartphone can perform almost all computing functions that a feature phone can’t. The internet and camera capabilities of a feature phone are nowhere near as powerful as that of a smartphone.

Question 2: What is meant by a smartphone?

Answer 2: A smartphone refers to a handheld electronic device that facilitates a connection to a cellular network. Furthermore, smartphones let people access the internet, make phone calls, send text messages, along with a wide variety of functions that one can perform on a pc or a laptop. Overall, it is a fully functioning miniaturized computer.

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How to Take Good (or Great!) Photos with Your Phone

Looking for a way to improve your phone photo game this advice will be sure to make you feel like a professional photographer from the comforts of your own home..

Congratulations, humankind: Collectively, we took more than a trillion photos last year. (We keep hearing how smart dolphins are, but so far the entire species has managed to eke out exactly one picture , so …) Now it’s time to make at least a few million of next year’s camera phone photography shots really good . 

Once you learn how to take good photos with your phone, you’ve set yourself up for stronger images that you can share on social media or display in a custom photo book from Chatbooks without having to take the time to painstakingly edit each image individually. 

Whether you’re focusing on iPhone photography, Android, Google Pixel, or another device, most phones have some variation on all of the settings mentioned below. Read up and make your contribution to this year’s trillion photos the best it can be.

• Clean your lens. Sounds like a no-brainer, but a smeared lens just might be the reason why your photos always seem to be blurry. Phone photography may be convenient, but it means our lenses don’t get the same kind of camera-cap protection that film-based SLR cameras offer.
• Play with portrait mode. Professional headshots are as much about what you don’t see as what you do see—namely, background “noise.” If your phone has a portrait mode, it softly blurs the background, attracting all attention to the subject’s face. For iPhone photography on newer models, the bottom of the camera app will offer “Portrait”; many other phones offer portrait mode under the camera menu. 
• Use focus lock. Most of the time, autofocus works out fine. But sometimes you’ll want to focus on something besides what the software deduces is the subject of your photo. To manually focus a photo, compose the shot, then just tap the screen where you want to focus. Manual focus holds only for the specific setup on which you’ve set the focus, though—meaning that if something changes in the shot, like a person walking through the frame, your camera will automatically refocus. Focus lock “freezes” the focus so that even if something changes, your original focus point will stay sharp. When figuring out how to take good photos with your phone, making a habit of using focus lock minimizes the chances of once-in-a-lifetime snapshots turning out blurry. To use focus lock, tap and hold the screen where you want to focus until an icon reading “AE/AF Lock” or “AF/AE Lock” appears.
• Go counterintuitive with the flash. If you rely on your phone’s autoflash function, it will probably turn on the flash when you’re shooting at night and keep it off for daytime photos. Here’s a challenge as you learn how to take good photos with your phone: Try manually setting the flash and do it the other way around. Turn off the flash for night photography (see more on that below), and turn it on during the day. Daytime flash photography can minimize shadows and fill in details that your auto settings might pass over.
• Know your exposure. Smartphone cameras are generally adept at adjusting exposure, or the amount of light the lens lets in, which dictates how light or dark your image is. But camera phone photography isn’t foolproof in this regard, so try manually adjusting your exposure if a photo seems particularly dark or bright. With iPhone photography on newer devices, when you tap the screen to set the focus, you can adjust the exposure simply by swiping up or down. Other phones usually include an exposure slider, even in automatic mode; look for a sunshine icon.
• Experiment with night photography. Automated nighttime photography settings can be helpful, but sometimes they backfire. Most of the time, a night setting brightens the exposure. Great for showing more detail, terrible for clarity and balance. If your nighttime photos continually disappoint, play around with reducing the exposure to make photos darker . It may sound backward, but depending on the effect you’re after, it could yield better overall photos.
• Try the HDR setting. The high-dynamic range setting, or HDR, adjusts high-contrast situations to yield images with a balanced exposure. It’s perfect for landscape images (say, snowy mountains against a twilight sky), sunlit portraits, and any subject that’s backlit. If you’re someone who grooves on both iPhone photography and photo editing, you can take photos in HDR but automatically save the unadjusted image by turning on the “keep normal photo” option in Settings > Photos & Camera (or Settings > Camera).
• Snap now, delete later. If you’ve got 8 zillion kid/pet photos on your phone, this is hardly a news flash, but: Camera phone photography means that you can take as many photos as you want until you run out of room. Take advantage of this ability with burst mode, which allows you to snap several photos in quick succession with one touch. With iPhone photography and most other phones, burst mode is activated when you tap and hold the shutter button. It’s particularly good for capturing on-the-move kids and special moments when you’d rather keep your eyes glued to the action instead of to the screen. (Yes, we suspect burst mode was designed for kindergarten graduations.)
• Remember the rule of thirds. It’s a classic photo composition tip for a reason: Visually, dividing an image into thirds piques interest. A front-and-center photo can seem flat and awkward; shifting points of interest to appear along horizontal and vertical planes divided into three makes for a more dynamic image. Camera phone photography makes this easy—just turn on the grid lines and your screen will show you where to place your subject. Look for the grid lines option under Settings > Photos & Camera (or Settings > Camera).
• Stay still. Keeping the camera as steady as possible results in higher-quality photos, particularly in low lighting. The gold standard is a tripod (look for mini tripods designed specifically for camera phone photography). If that’s unavailable, make your body the “tripod” by leaning against a wall as you shoot. If that’s not an option, keep your hands steady by bracing your forearms against your body as you shoot. Briefly holding your breath as you press the shutter can help keep you even more still. Or don’t press the shutter at all: Most phones have the ability to use volume keys as shutter buttons (adjust under Settings > Photos & Camera or Settings > Camera), resulting in less shaking of the camera. You can also set the timer on your phone for a two-second delay so your hands don’t have to move at all at the crucial moment.
• Make a personalized photo book. Camera phone photography doesn’t end at the phone. With the Chatbooks app, you can easily create personalized photo books. They’re reasonably priced (mini books start at $5; full-size start at $10), so they’re an efficient way to store your photos and to give as gifts. Spend a few minutes choosing pictures from your phone, social media feeds, or cloud storage, and you’ll come away with high-quality printed images that don’t need a battery to be enjoyed.
• Print singles. Even easier than a photo book: printing single photos. That one perfect shot deserves to be seen pixel-free, and it takes just six clicks in the Chatbooks app once you’ve signed up. The Chatbooks print service lets you print out multiples of your favorite pics to give to friends and family (or you can just print out singles of as many photos as you’d like for yourself).
• Double down on analog. Chatbooks also offers card and postcard printing, and it doesn’t have to be the holidays for you to send a family photo (or a goofy selfie with friends) to people you love. Add a handwritten note to the card and you’ve earned yourself some good-daughter brownie points, redeemable for one missed Sunday phone call.

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5 Essential Settings You Need to Tweak Before Posting Your Smartphone Photos

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Why you should tweak your smartphone photos, 5 smartphone photos settings i tweak every time, editing smartphone photos makes a huge difference, key takeaways.

• First, check the suggestions your photo app makes, or apply a filter to save you having to make manual edits.
• Next, crop your smartphone photos to improve the composition by removing unnecessary elements and filling the frame.
• Lastly, adjust the brightness, contrast, saturation, and warmth to adjust the look and feel of your photo.

Almost everyone takes photos on their smartphone these days, with many of us leaving our dedicated cameras alone in favor of our smartphone cameras. However, even the best smartphone photographers among us should tweak our photos before posting them online. Here's what you need to do.

You may think that every single one of your smartphone photos is a gem that doesn't need editing at all. But that probably isn't true. Even if your smartphone photos are of high quality, with good composition and an innate shareable quality, making subtle changes can improve them in some way.

Whether your shot needs cropping to remove some extraneous components from the edges, or the levels of brightness, contrast, saturation, and warmth need tweaking to improve the look and feel, these edits are a necessary part of the mobile photography process .

Producing the most impressive photos with your smartphone needs you to either capture the perfect photo at the time of shooting, or use your editing skills in post to take it to the next level. And achieving absolute perfection at the time of shooting is a near impossibility.

I own a Google Pixel phone, and therefore use a combination of Google Photos and Snapseed (available on Android and iOS ) to edit my smartphone shots. However, the same basic settings I tweak for every photo should be available on any smartphone and in every photo app.

The photo above is the shot I ended up with after editing the original until I was happy with it. However, below, you will see each setting applied in turn to show my workings.

There are dozens of tweaks you can make to your smartphone photos before posting them online. However, there are a much smaller number of essential tweaks everyone should make to every photo.

Before I start tweaking individual settings, the first thing I do is check the suggestions that Google Photos offers me. I'll try the suggested edits for size and see if they have improved the photo to my high standards. If so, I may leave it alone after that. However, even with the suggestions applied, a small amount of tweaking may still be in order.

The same goes for filters, which most photo apps offer these days. Instagram also offers a range of good filters . With Google Photos, you can try each filter on without actually applying it permanently. And as long as you have an eye for these things, you should be able to spot those that work and those that don't. And even if you apply one, you can still adjust individual settings.

Crop Your Image to Improve the Composition

The first thing to tweak is the shape and size of the photo. To do that, you need to use the Crop tool. This allows you to crop the image to exactly what you want, which means you can fill the frame, remove extraneous elements that add nothing to the image, and improve the overall composition.

Say, for example, the original photo features leading lines, but not ones that reach to the edge of the image. Some slight cropping can fix this, helping you draw viewers' eyes in with leading lines that start in the corners and aim toward the subject.

Adjust the Brightness to Improve Visibility

Next up is the brightness level of the photo, turning it up or down based on what you captured at the time of shooting. Even if the brightness of the original image doesn't need repairing, you may want to dial it up or down to affect the mood of the photo.

If your original image was shot in overly dark conditions, increasing the brightness can help make details more visible. Equally, if your original image was shot in bright sunshine, turning the brightness down can help balance the image out.

Tweak the Contrast to Create More Balance

Tweaking the contrast comes next, and this is an important setting to change the highlights, shadows, color, and clarity of an image. As the name suggests, contrast refers to the difference (contrast) between the light pixels and the dark pixels.

Adjusting the contrast can ramp up the detail that is visible, making an image more vivid, or mute the tones to make the image quieter and more subdued. While most of us want our photos to pop on social media, sometimes, dialing things down can make for a better image.

Change the Saturation to Change the Intensity

Next, you should adjust the saturation to affect the intensity of the color in your photo. In a nutshell, saturation refers to the vividness of the colors in the image, with a full range from muted to popping off the screen.

Adjust the saturation downwards, and the colors will become muted. Adjust the saturation upwards, and the colors will appear brighter and more colorful. This can be based on your personal preference or the subject of an individual image.

Dial the Warmth Up or Down to Impact the Mood

Last but not least, I adjust the warmth of the photo, choosing to make it warmer or colder depending on the subject and setting. Warmth can really set the mood of an image, with warm colors literally making the photo feel warm, and cold colors making it feel cold.

Where you want to set the warmth will depend on how you want the viewer of your photo to feel. Ramping up the warmth will make them feel warm and cozy, while cooling things down will make the photo look cold and frosty.

Unlike analog photography , where your options to edit a photo beyond the shooting session are limited, digital photography provides endless options for editing. So you should always take advantage of that benefit of this particular form of photography.

While you can obviously take a dive down the rabbit hole and make numerous edits to your photos, most aren't absolutely necessary. While things such as white balance and perspective are options, most of your photos will not require that level of adjustment. Therefore, it's better to focus on the essential edits that will make the biggest difference.

These five settings can make a world of difference, so I recommend applying them to every photo. Sometimes, you'll find yourself making big adjustments, while other times, you'll just make minor tweaks. But the result should be better-looking smartphone photos.

• Smartphone Photography
• Image Editing Tips

UPFRONT/TECH

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Smartphones have sophisticated photography modes. When to use what

PORTRAIT MODE What it does: Blurs the background while keeping the subject in focus. What it’s for: Single subjects, where the camera locks in on one face. “It’s perfect for taking portraits of people or pets,” says Kate Wesson, editor of the iPhone Photography School blog.

LIVE PHOTO/MOTION PHOTO What it does: Captures motion and sound before and after you hit the shutter. What it’s for: “It’s great for capturing moments with subtle movement and sound that add to the memory, like the laughter of a loved one or the bubbling of a stream,” Wesson says.

NIGHT MODE What it does: Works in low light. What it’s for: “Whether a city skyline at night, a dinner party in a dim room or a nighttime landscape, night mode helps to maintain clarity and color in your photos,” says Wesson.

PANORAMIC What it does: Takes wide images. What it’s for: Photos of sweeping landscapes, large groups of people or tall objects, such as buildings. “I have even seen examples of people doing diagonal shots on long staircases,” says Chris Maliwat, a professional photographer from New York City. Just be sure to keep the lens level and move the device slowly. — Lexi Pandell

iPhone: Getty images; dog: Apple; canoe: Jeanna Maslovksa/Stocksy (3); bridge: Jude Allen/Apple; dune: Apple

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Flip phone sales are surging as folks seek connection without distraction

Flip phones are having a moment.

It’s true: People are snatching up those basic clamshell throwbacks of the early 2000s faster than a bag of discounted Reese’s the day after Halloween.

The reasons are simple: We’re burned out on our smartphones, social media, and passively allowing years of our lives to melt away mindlessly stuck on screens. 

According to the latest statistics , the average person spends nearly five hours a day on their smartphone, which equals six days a month and a mind-boggling 12 years over a lifetime. 

LAUSD bans phones: Los Angeles school district bans use of cellphones, social media by students

Our human willpower and Band-Aid fixes like built-in social media app limits don’t help. 

“If you took an alcoholic who had a problem with alcohol and couldn't control that, then the best thing to do is get the alcohol out of the house, right? So that was sort of how I looked at it,” tech entrepreneur Wil Brawley, 49, said from his home office in Waxhaw, North Carolina. 

Brawley, who created and co-owns the popular restaurant management software company Schedulefly , went cold turkey and replaced his iPhone 11 with a basic Verizon flip phone exactly four years ago this month. He says he does not miss it − at all. 

“I didn’t like who I was when I had an iPhone,” he said. “I wasn't present with other people. I was constantly checking emails, texts, sitting at a stoplight looking at my phone, and just constantly grabbing the phone, being distracted, and being distracted when I was with my wife and my kids.” 

Now, having just a flip phone has “been a mental health boon for me,'' he said. "The small inconveniences are so enormously outweighed by the positive outcomes for just my presence, my mental health, my anxiety. All of that has improved dramatically.”

Fed up with 9 hours a day on my iPhone

It’s a feeling more people can relate to. Lately, I’ve felt as if hours spent on my smartphone is a never-ending hamster wheel loop of time-wasting. I hate it. I want to change. But I just … don’t. 

Fed up by spending nearly nine hours a day engaging with my iPhone recently on emails, texting, social media, binge-watching " Baby Reindeer " and listening to podcasts or audiobooks, I’ve switched to using a prepaid Total by Verizon Nokia 2760 Flip during “off work” hours at night and on weekends.

I’ve already cut my smartphone time in half, which the Screen Time  Calculator says gives back about six years of my life overall . My friends and family have the number if there’s an emergency. 

Searches for and sales of flip phones surge

Sales of simple flip “feature” phones − not the snazzy new Samsung Galaxy Flip5 or Fold5 smartphones − are up in the U.S. for the second year. According to the tech news site ZDNet , searches for flip phones are also surging, up “15,369% over the past year among Gen Z and younger Millennials,” writes contributor Artie Beaty.  

Some people credit Gen Z TikTok influencers like Sammy Palazzolo (@skzzolno), who garnered more than 17 million views in 2022 when as a college student she posted about why she only takes a flip phone when she goes out for the night. The gist? It keeps her and her friends more present, eliminates "drunk texts" and bad hookups, and “all of the bad things about college and all of the good things about a phone, which is connecting with people and taking photos and videos,” she wrote.

Others point to nostalgia for all things retro, just like we’ve seen the comeback of the Sony Walkman and instant cameras in the past year. 

But the biggest reason for a swell in digital downgrading seems to be more akin to why I’ve snagged a flip phone: I refuse to let a thousand-dollar gadget make me feel powerless over my time, focus, and energy. 

Williams College student Wyatt Olson, 20, feels the same way. He said spending too much time on his smartphone really hit him in late 2023.

“I felt like every single second of downtime I had I spent on my phone,’’ he said, “whether it be walking in between classes, or like I just finished up a class. … And when I would look up and look around, everyone else was on their phone, too.”

Olson tried many of the tricks to spend less time on his phone that I’ve been talking about since 2018 . He set his phone to grayscale and set app time limits. It wasn’t enough. On Jan. 1, 2024, he left his iPhone at home with his mom and sister in Maryland and set out for a semester of “self-improvement time” with a Nokia 2760 Flip .

“I love it. I’ve always been a phone call person, and this actually makes it easier for me to talk to my friends rather than text. I have a legitimate excuse because I’m not going to spend two minutes texting you back,” Olson says. He misses streaming music from his phone, which he now does with his laptop. Navigating without Waze or Google Maps can be a challenge, too. “But honestly, it feels empowering,” he said. 

Doomscrolling’s out, “dumbphones,” digital detoxes are in 

The subreddit r/Dumbphones is in the top 2% of most engaged communities on the platform, with nearly 60,000 members. It’s hands-down the best place to research “dumbphones” online. 

The moderator, 28-year-old church pastor Jose Briones , took over that role in early 2020 after switching to a Lightphone − a simple E-ink screen phone to call and text − in 2019. Before that change, Briones logged “12 or 13 hours of screen time a day − just pretty much every waking hour I was just spending online,” he said. “And I didn't want to do that, you know. I didn’t want to change how I interact with the world, with all online (activity, and miss out on) so many more rich real-life experiences.” 

Briones also has created a helpful tool called the Dumbphone Finder to help people figure out how much they can − and cannot − live without. 

You take a short quiz with questions and options such as “Do you want smart apps?” and “Choose your preferred style” (flip phone, candybar, touchscreen), and it might recommend the Cat S22 Flip or TCL Flip 2 . 

Since taking the helm at r/Dumbphones, Briones says he’s surprised by how widespread this problem of people feeling addicted to their smartphones. “Most people think it’s a device problem, but it’s a lifestyle problem,” he says. “The tech is designed to amplify our vulnerabilities and get all of our attention − the most it possibly can. I want to choose what I pay attention to. I don’t want a device to dictate that.”

Is a digital downgrade right for you?

Briones recommends taking baby steps before you switch entirely, such as using a $49 3D-printed device called the Brick . 

It’s a little plastic magnet about the size of an AirPod case. You download a corresponding app (iOS, Android), select which apps and features you want to block − calls, messages, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube − then tap the little Brick like you do when you pay for something with your phone. All those features remain blocked until you physically tap the Brick again. 

I bought one about two months ago and highly recommend it, as long as you’re good about putting it in another room so you don’t deactivate it at the slightest twitch. 

The Minimalist Phone app works well on many Android phones, turning flashy app icons and backgrounds into boring grayscale blandness. The website Dumbwireless is another good resource for checking out your options when it comes to digital downgrading. It features everything from the more pricey Lightphone II ($299) to the AGM M9 ($50). 

If you’re considering buying a “dumbphone,” I recommend starting like I did, with an inexpensive device that costs very little and uses a prepaid wireless plan. That way, if it works, great. If it doesn’t, you’re out less than the cost of a nice dinner.

If you want the broadest overview in general, though, go with Briones and r/Dumphones. In addition to the basics, the forum is a great place to take specific questions and get advice for your particular needs. It also has a lot of helpful feedback and honest reviews from people at the forefront of the “dumbphone” movement, which includes the newest, most buzzworthy, and most expensive pared-down devices:

• Light Phone III (Preorder for $399 until July 15, then $799): Called the ultimate digital detox phone, this ultra-watered-down candybar phone with an e-ink display now comes with a pair of cameras on the front and back. There's even a point-and-shoot camera-like hardware shutter button. Other additions include a USB-C port, flashlight, fingerprint sensor, and support for 5G. It doesn’t ship until January 2025, though.
• Punkt MP02 ($255.20) : Candybar that looks like an early 2000s phone with 4G support.
• F1 Horizon (Bluebird) by Sunbeam Wireless ($249): Classic flip phone with Hotspot and Waze.
• Wisephone II by Techless ($399): Just starting to ship now. Smartphone-like dumbphone with a great camera and custom OS. 

Bottom line? You don’t need to spend a big wad of cash to save you from yourself. One more perk of pairing down is that it saves money − about $3,000 over two years . 

Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy Award-winning consumer tech columnist and on-air correspondent. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] .