How to take perfect photos: tricks to take advantage of the mobile camera

After the onset of the smartphone era and the rise of social networks, the manufacturers of mobile phone they succeeded phone cameras Capturing users’ attention year after year with Android and iPhone releases.

Depending on the company or if a third-party app is used, cameras on mobile devices have the necessary technology and functionality narrowing the gap with traditional SLR cameras.

All smartphone cameras are made up of three basic parts. The first is the lens which directs the light towards the camera. The second is the sensor which converts focused photons of light into an electrical signal. And the third is Software which turns those electrical signals into a photo to post on Instagram, for example.

But to get that shot that stands out, is shared and generates the necessary interactions, some aspects of the camera configuration must be taken into account, such as the lightningTHE scene mode and the composition.

Next, tips, tricks and tips to take advantage of the cell phone camera e take perfect photos.

Adjust focus and exposure

Smartphone cameras go a long way in short order, and most phones provide some control over the focus and exposure of your shot. If he manual focus is available, usually activated with a tap on the screen, where you want the camera to focus.

You also need to check your phone’s camera settings. If you have the chance to active facial recognition will automatically search for faces in the scene, helping to avoid shots where they look blurry.

Then there’s the exposureor how much light is allowed into the frame.

For example, in the default iPhone camera app, it allows a single tap on the screen to enable the approach. By holding down and dragging the cursor that appears on the side or top of the screen, we can also adjust the level of light exposure. This same standard applies to the camera of Android mobile phones.

Use HDR mode

known as Wide dynamic range o High Dynamic Range, this basic feature for smartphone camera apps brings out details in the darkest and brightest parts of the image and creates a best color balance generally.

This technology is particularly suitable for trapping landscapes and portraits, especially when there is a large gamut between the darkest and lightest parts of the photo. This is because images of the sky, earth and mountains have a lot of contrast.

However, keep in mind that the camera with HDR on will take a few milliseconds longer to take a snapshot, so you should avoid using it on occasions when your subject is moving quickly or when you can’t keep the phone steady.

Regardless of the make and model of your device, cameras by default usually have “HDR Mode” conspicuous somewhere on the screen. It is also possible to activate it from the settings, which means that it will be activated whenever it can be useful.

Use natural light whenever possible

THE light It’s one of the most important factors in any photo, although many devices have the technology to make the most of lighting in situations where there isn’t any.

The cameras of Motorola have in Quadpixels a feature that combines four pixels into one to take advantage of low-light environments. While the SAMSUNG they can detect low-light conditions and combine their megapixels, creating blocks of nine pixels. Or the Xiaomi with pixel binning which group the pixels of a sensor into a single super pixel. In all cases, better use of lighting is made through the software.

Regardless of the equipment, the ideal is to always position the subjects so that they are well lit from the front and not silhouetted by a strong light from behind. Of course, this isn’t always possible for fast shots.

Using artificial light can also work, although you have to be more careful.

if the night sceneFor example, your subjects should be closer to the brightness of the artificial lights rather than deeper in the shadows, and make sure their faces are lit as much as possible.

Use the fast It can help, but keep in mind that it doesn’t have quite as much power as a conventional camera and could ruin a good photo, as this artificial light source determines how much you need. If you have the time, try a shot with and without the flash to see the difference.

Set the capture mode

One area where mobile photographers still lag behind dedicated cameras is their sensitivity to motion. Even a slight movement can make the photo look like it was taken on a rocking boat, while a DSLR more professional is more suited to this type of movement.

Therefore, it is important to minimize camera shake as much as possible. buy a tripod It may seem overwhelming, but you can choose small and inexpensive tripod models that are made specifically for smartphones.

If you don’t want to have a tripod, use whatever is available: a wall, a friend’s shoulder, or even your other arm. Maintaining a stable shot is especially important in low-light conditions, when exposure times need to be longer.

Apply the rule of thirds

There’s an old photography trick that’s been around for years that can be applied to smartphone cameras: the rule of thirds. An image is divided into nine equal blocks which form a three by three grid for good composition.

To get the shot you want you’ll need to try to get the most interesting parts of your image (like a row of trees or a group of faces). near the corners of these segmentswhere the imaginary grid lines meet. This rule applies to taking photos of friends in a café or in a certain landscape.

In the era of smartphone instant photography, almost all cameras have this tool called “Guidelines” or “Grill”. For example, it can be activated on Android from the Settings or Configuration part. While in iOS the option is in the path Settings > Camera > Composition > Grid.

Take photos in burst mode

Most phones have a burst modefunctionality that is activated on both Android and iPhone by holding down the shutter button in Photo mode.

This tool can be very useful because it provides a range of different images to choose fromand can be useful in almost any situation. This way there are more chances to find the sharpest photo with the highest level of detail.

Edit images on the fly

In addition to the photo gallery and editing apps provided by Apple and Google, alternatives like Snapseed, Adobe Photoshop Express and VSCO they can make good pictures even better. You can add filters, adjust colors, straighten images, and more. Also keep an eye out for “one-tap” fixes that enhance your images with minimal effort on your part.

Some image editing apps import photos taken by your camera, while others have a built-in camera component. Which brings us to our next tip.

In the matter of multiplicity of filters, Instagram can “rescue” poor quality photos with a couple of tweaks. The application includes a large number of editing tools and adjustments, which makes it one of the best in terms of photo editing that you can get on your mobile.

Explore the default camera app

Even with loads of third-party camera apps to choose from, all of the are worth exploring default app on your phone has to offer.

For those of you with an Apple mobile phone, running iOS, the built-in camera comes with a selection of live filters to choose from (tap the icon in the top right corner to view them). In turn, the mode Portrait for an instant depth-of-field effect (where the subject remains sharp but the background is blurred).

On Android, the camera app varies by phone manufacturer. The main ones – Samsung, Motorola, Redmi, Xiaomi or Oppo – include customization layers that allow you, among other things, to add a lighting filter so that the colors look good regardless of the type of light you are faced with. what to do. There are also different beautification options for faces.

For their part, the cameras of premium phones from Samsung and Motorola, such as the S22 Ultra series or Edge 30 Ultra, you can directly choose the filter or color and contrast settings even while taking the photo.