Three ways to take better smartphone pictures

Provided by Brian Galloway for MachMachines

Smartphone cameras are crazy these days. Every year hardware manufacturers cram more advanced optics into smaller spaces, and the results are amazing. However, Everyone having advanced camera technology in their pocket means that you have to take better pictures if you want your work to stand out from the rest. Here are some basic smartphone tips to get you started:

(Note: All of these pictures are unedited. They were taken using the stock camera app on the Samsung Galaxy S6.)

1. Ditch the Flash

Lighting a picture is difficult. The simple LED flash included in most smartphone cameras suffers because it has to be small– a great deal of light has to come from such a concentrated opening. The LED usually decreases color accuracy because your phone’s software has to correct for the abrupt change in light. The sudden burst of light also accentuates any reflective surfaces, and this causes unsightly reflections on oily skin. You probably don’t want everyone knowing you have oily skin.

Here’s what I mean:

The colors in the left photo are very over-saturated and over-blown. The phone’s software has to correct for the unnatural lighting of the flash, and this doesn’t always work very well.  The natural light on the right hand image is much softer and the colors are much more accurate.

Try to introduce natural light into your photos instead of relying on the flash. This isn’t always possible, but try to avoid using your phone’s flash whenever you can.

2. Try not to zoom

Magnification is easy on a DSLR camera. The optics have a lot more space to move, so you have a lot of room for mechanical zoom on your lenses. Smartphone optics don’t have this luxury, so you’re mostly limited to digital zoom. Digital zoom is bad.

Sometimes a blurry picture is the only picture you can get, but you should always try to get closer. You’re working against one of the negative effects of camera miniaturization. It seems obvious, but always try to be as close to your subject as possible. Sometimes you might have to give up if you’re limited to digital zoom.

3. Basic composition

The easiest composition technique is the “rule of thirds”. The placement of the subjects in the photo is very important.

Dig around in the settings of your smartphone and you should be able to find a setting to toggle “grid lines”, dividing your screen into nine quadrants. It should look something like this:

Try to place the subject of your photo along one of these lines, ideally on the same plane where two lines intersect. Horizons should align with one of the horizontal lines, and subjects should align with one of the vertical ones.

I’ll try to demonstrate what this looks like. Here’s a shot of our favorite plumber looking off into the distance:

This picture wastes a lot of space towards the left of Mario. We can’t really see what he’s looking towards, and it’s not an interesting picture. Now let’s try that again, this time following the rule of thirds:

The picture is a lot more dynamic once we follow the rule of thirds. Mario occupies the viewer’s initial attention, but following his line of sight leads the viewer towards the horizon. The horizon also aligns with the top third of the photo. The result is a much more dynamic photo that captures much more of the background.

Following the rule of thirds isn’t always necessary, but keeping it in mind can lead to much more interesting photography and probably more likes on Instagram.

For more great tips on tech, check out MachMachines.com.

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