Wouldn’t it be nice to have a professional photographer at your beck and call 24/7, ready to jump in and capture every beautiful moment in your life? This sounds nice but isn’t a reality for most of us. 

 Thankfully, almost all of us carry a camera around in our pockets every day! You can use your camera phone to get some quality shots of the best moments in your life, you just have to know how to use it. 

 Here are a few tips to improve your camera phone photos:

 Change Your Perspective 

·      You can get down to your subject’s level.

·      You can photograph above your subject.

·      You can photograph under your subject.

 Change Your Angle

·      Tilt your camera phone up or down and see how that improves your mobile photo.

 Use Natural Light

·      Window light is best for photos when shooting indoors

 When Taking Pictures Outside…

·      Try to avoid taking pictures in direct light or you will get funny shadows on faces.

If the sun is behind your subject you can expect your subject in the foreground will appear shaded.

This is because your camera is exposing for most list area in your frame.

·      You can place your subject facing the sun.

You will risk of having spots in your image that are so bright your image loses details in those areas.

·      Find a shaded spot that is evenly shadowed, (no light blotches), and place your subject in the shadow. You can expect the background to be very bright, but your subject will look evenly lit up.

·      Overcast days are great to photograph in, because the clouds act like an excellent light diffuser to help soften and even the lighting around you.

photographing Candid Moments

·      A real moment must be real emotion captured.

·      You can plan a moment and then be intentional to capture the real emotion in your planned moment.

·      photograph the activity 

·      photograph your subject’s interaction with the activity 

·      Your ultimate goal is to tell a story with your pictures.

Taking pictures at Sunset

·      The first and last hour of light is the best light of the day, also known as the Golden Hour. This is because the light is softer and the sun is lower.

·      You are most likely to see the sky light up with colors at the Golden Hour.

·      The first and last 15 minutes after and before the sun rises and sets is the most colorfultime of the day.

·      When shooting in manual mode, you will want to expose for the sky. This will help you capture all the colors and cloud formation in the sky.

·      You can expect the sand and water to reflect sunlight. This is another reason why the last hour of today is the best time to shoot. You will have less light hitting your subject.

·      You can expect there will be wind blowing, so prepare accordingly.

 Taking Pictures Through Objects

·      Taking pictures through transparent objects like windows and cuts, or even water or juice, for a creative photo.

 Layering in Pictures

·      When your taking cell phone photos, place your subject in the middle and put the other objects closer to your lens. The objects closer to you will appear blurred but keep the focus on your subject. 

Us Self Timer to take your pictures

·      Most cameras have a self timer option on it. This is a great feature to allow you to hop into a few shots yourself. Don’t for get that you are a huge part of your story, smile and capture those moment with you in them too.

The next time you find yourself in a spur of the moment photo shoot with your family or friends, take out that camera phone and, using these tips, you can capture some beautiful memories. 

If you are ever interested in booking a fun photo session with me please Click here! I would love to help you capture precious moments with your family and friends.