Basic Smartphone photography

DSLRs or Digital single lens reflex cameras are apparently the next big thing. With every 15 year old proclaiming himself to be a photographer and creating a XYZ Photography page on FB or Instagram.
Most of the Smartphone makers have manufactured phones prioritizing it's Camera and Quality of lens. Smartphone market is flooded with Selfie-centric phones boasting of high res front camera and amazing picture quality.


Here are a few things you need to keep in mind before going through this article :-
1) High megapixel counts don't necessarily mean better pictures.
2) Don't expect DSLR like pictures from mobile camera ( don't even compare).

I use VSCO and Camera Fv-5 for clicking pictures and Snapseed for post processing.    

This article is Co-written by Smruti Snigdha ( insta : @s.m.r.u.t.i_s.n.i.g.d.h.a) , you can follow her and check out her amazing Mobi

1) Understanding exposure.

simple words it means how bright or dark an image should be.

MiPad click

  


If you look closely, both the pics are same with varied exposure. The lighting conditions tend to overshadow the details of road and cars.
but in a way increasing the exposure makes the picture better but you loose the detailing of the clouds which were otherwise visible under low exposure.

Increasing the exposure might make the image visually tempting but then again you loose a great amount of detail
Meanwhile, choosing to keeping a picture underexposed makes it dull but you manage to retain a good amount of detail.

Adjusting exposure and keeping necessary details does the trick.

For Low lighting conditions, adjust exposure if you have used flash or if the pic is too dark.

 2) Macro or close shots.

Ever wanted to click the picture of the food on your table with the 'background blur' effect similar to DSLRs? That's called Macro photography. Its defined as clicking the picture of an object keeping it very close to the lens hence giving it the 'Depth of field' feel.

Doing it through a DSLR is simple.Real challenge comes up while doing it through a Lens with less capabilities a.k.a Mobile lens

Clicked with Lenovo K4 note.

For Macro photography it is necessary to have good lighting conditions. The amount of background blur depends on your phone's lens quality. Good lens will have better Depth of field effect.

Make sure your lens is REALLY close to the object. Keeping the phone at a considerable length helps the phone to identify the object. 

For better results before clicking tap on the object or area where you want to focus.Take about 1-2 secs before clicking the shutter button. Few seconds before clicking helps the phone to adjust it's focus on the on the subject 

Honor 8x click

                                     

3) Highlights and Shadows.

Highlights are the areas of a picture receiving maximum percentage of light from the source. While, shadow are the specific areas of picture receiving least percentage of light.

Lumia 950xl 

Playing around with Highlights and Shadows can give your pictures an extra edge over normal pictures. If you're well used to these you can even change the color of highlights and shadows.

5) Shoot,Shoot,shoot

When you actually start taking pictures go really close to the target. Depending on the phone model you are using, the optimal focus length is somewhere between 1 to 4 cm.Take multiple pictures. In order to get the perfect shot you will usually need to take many photos. Shoot first and then pick out the ones you like, try different angles to add depth to your photos. By trying out different angles you will find the best way to capture your wanted field of focus.Try shooting horizontal and vertical photos of your subject and see what pleases your eye the most.

Lenovo K4 Note with VSCO

6) Edit , Don't #noedits

Last but the best part, Editing. Good editing can actually fix out the faults in your Photography.

With plethora of Apps found for editing , anyone can actually make a picture look amazing.

Choosing the right filters and best settings matter.