Chicago
Track Your Order
0
These Photography Rules Leveled Up My Smartphone Photos
While I think that you have to break the rules to become a top-level photographer, following some of them is a good idea. Today, I’ll share the main rules that I always follow to level up my smartphone photography.
Focusing Manually
When I first started learning how to use a DSLR camera, it felt like the best thing I could do after learning the basics was to get out of auto mode. And while you have less flexibility with your smartphone in this respect, it is still something I suggest doing. The best way to make your images look better is by manually choosing where you focus.
Most of the time, you can do this by tapping a specific part of your screen. Once you’ve done that, you can often lock your focus so that your phone doesn’t overrule your settings. This is one of many ways that you can improve the quality of your smartphone camera.
Picking One Main Subject
Another great rule for taking better smartphone pictures is to pick one main subject. While some of my pictures are certainly more chaotic, I do think that being more minimalistic will draw the audience’s eye to a specific part of your picture. As a result, they’ll find it much easier to know where they should look.
Your subject can be whatever you want. Sometimes, it might be a building—and in other instances, it may be a bird instead. It doesn’t matter what you choose, as long as you tell an interesting enough story.
You can also, of course, experiment with different subjects to see what works best for you.
Leading Lines
Leading lines are one of the best ways to get great composition in your smartphone photos, and it’s also one of the easiest photography rules to implement. Put simply, leading lines involves focusing on any aspect of your picture that leads somewhere. Roads are an easy example of leading lines, as are rivers.
Leading lines are an excellent technique for improving your smartphone photography because the user’s eye is immediately guided in a specific direction.
It’s worth noting that just because you include leading lines in your picture, it doesn’t automatically become a good photo. Nonetheless, it will undoubtedly improve your images as a baseline.
Color Theory
Color theory is a fantastic strategy to improve your photography in a way that many beginners don’t think about. Color theory is basically when two colors work well together. It applies to red and green, blue and orange, and similar combinations.
You can learn color theory with several tools, and my favorite is Adobe Color. Getting a book or cards that show different colors and how they work can also be a good idea if you want to keep them on hand. You will, as I can attest, have to try a lot of different things here because it’s not something you learn straight away.
If you need a starting point, consider reading this guide on how to use color theory to elevate your creative projects. Also consider learning more about complementary colors and how to use them in design (the same principles will apply to your photography).
Reflections and Symmetry
Reflections and symmetry are another simple way to make your smartphone photos stand out, and they’re one of many smartphone photography tricks that actually work. Try looking for reflections just after a rainstorm; you’ll almost certainly find some interesting puddles that will provide a unique perspective.
As for symmetry, you’ll find this everywhere. You can use windows and mirrors to do this, and other forms of symmetry include door frames. If you can add a subject in the middle of these, such as a person, you might find that your shots are even better.
Another way to find symmetry in your images is to capture pictures in narrow spaces, such as between buildings.
Utilizing Textures
I’ve spoken a lot about how I think smartphone photos can look quite flat, and I stand by that. However, things have definitely gotten better as phone cameras have evolved—and they’re much better at utilizing textures now.
You can utilize textures in your smartphone photos in multiple ways. Examples include clothes, rugs, tree bark, grass, and even your pet’s coat. If you’re going to do this, I would suggest getting as close to the subject as possible so your phone can capture all of the details.
Photo Editing
I think that keeping edits subtle, at least in the beginning, is a good idea. You can step outside the box as you become more experienced.
You can use several photo editing apps on your smartphone, including the native one built into your device (e.g. Apple Photos). However, if you want more flexibility, I would suggest using something more powerful. For example, I regularly use the Adobe Lightroom mobile app.
However, there are plenty of other tools you can use to edit your smartphone pictures. I really like VSCO, for example, and Photoshop Express is another good option. Both are free, but have premium options; Lightroom, on the other hand, always requires a paid subscription.
To ensure that you don’t spend too much time editing your pictures, consider learning how to streamline your smartphone photography workflow.
Controlling Brightness and Aperture
Controlling the aperture on your smartphone is one of the easiest ways to make your pictures automatically stand out. If you have an iPhone, you can use Portrait Mode to do this. While the mode was designed for taking pictures of people, I use it for inanimate objects as well. Some third-party camera apps also have tools that let you control your aperture.
Adjusting the brightness manually is also a good idea. You can do this in your camera by moving the slider with a sun icon up or down, depending on whether you want to increase or decrease the brightness.
Smartphone photography requires a steep learning curve, but sticking to some rules is a great way to ensure taking better pictures. Once you’re proficient enough, you can start thinking outside the box.
