How To Take Great Snaps with Your Smartphone

As technology advances and the cameras in our pockets become ever increasingly powerful, more and more people choose to take their holiday photos on their smartphones. While this is far more convenient than the days of lugging around a stand-alone camera, most people do not fully appreciate the full potential of taking photos on their phones. In this blog, I will be breaking down my method for taking great smartphone pics in 10 easy-to-follow steps, helping you to level up your holiday snaps and Instagram game, and wow your family and friends!

Shoot in ProRaw

Before I even start composing a shot, I always ensure that ProRaw is enabled, as this will allow me to edit my photographs easier, later. To enable ProRaw, dive into Settings > Camera > Formatsand make sure Apple ProRawis toggled on. Then, inside the Camera app make sure the Raw button in the upper right of the screen is not crossed out.

Play With Focal Lengths or Portrait Mode

Depending on what I am shooting, I will always play with the different focal lengths on the camera, or even use Portrait Mode if I want the illusion of a shallow depth of field.

Compose The Shot

If I’m shooting a landscape, of course I will want to get as much of the scene in frame as possible, but I am also an avid believer in the rules of composition, such as the Rule of Thirds, leading lines and leaving negative space. With this shot, I have a curved leading line of the road which provides a nice horizon point and shape to the image. By lining the trees to the right of the image, I have also incorporated the Golden Ratio (or Fibonacci Spiral) into the shot. This, in essence, draws the view's eye from the negative space of the sky down to the horizon below the mountain, and then sweeps across the road to the trees.

Adjust Focus and Exposure

Something I am sure not any people are aware of is that exposure can be finely adjusted in the stock camera app. Once I have composed the shot, I tap on the brightest area of the image and raise or lower my finger, thus raising and lowering the exposure. If I want to maintain a particular spot for focus, tap and hold on the screen. A window will appear at the top of the screen letting you know that Auto Exposure and Auto Focus has been locked. You can then move the phone as you please, keeping the object you selected in focus and correctly metered. 

For those who want even more control of their image, such as aspect ratios, minute exposure control and night-mode capabilities, swipe up on the screen to show further controls

Use Third-Party Accessories

Sometimes I feel as though the standard focal lengths and aspect ratios on the phone do not allow me to get the image I want, and so I turn to the third-party lenses I have in my arsenal. I primarily use Moment lenses, which are easily and securely mounted to the phone via a case. The US company produce a number of different lenses and mounts for smartphones, but I often resort to their 14mm fisheye lens that makes for some very interesting compositions, or an anamorphic cinematic lens for wide, sweeping panoramas such as the example above. Likewise, for particularly difficult shots - such as when shooting at night, taking a self portrait or if taking video, I use a handheld gimbal, such as the DJI Osmo Mobile, to steady the phone.

Retouch the Images

Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of shooting on mobile as opposed to on a standalone camera, are the apps available to photographers today. Once I have taken the shots, I will go through them and select those I feel could use some enhancing. Of course, not every situation or job calls for editing, but when I’m shooting for fun or for my own portfolio I will generally use the following apps to help make my photos shine:

Adjust Settings in Lightroom Mobile

I begin by loading all the images I have selected into Lightroom Mobile. Once they are synced with Adobe’s Creative Cloud, I will delete them from my phone as Apple ProRaw images take up quite a bit of space! I start with working through some presetsI have created, finding one that works best with the image selected.

Perhaps it doesn’t work quite right, but this doesn’t matter because, as opposed to filters, which cast a colour or fade over the entire image and isn’t editable, presets allow you to fine tune every aspect of the image. I begin by going into the "Light" tab, and adjusting the exposure, constrast, highlights and shadows, as well as the white and black points, until I am satisfied with the outcome. I can then move into "Colour", working on the luminance, saturation and hues of separate colours before finally fine tuning the details – such as the clarity and texture of the image. Once I am satisfied with the image, I can then crop, rotate and straighten out leading lines and perspective until the image looks natural. It is important when editing not to go too wild - start by adjusting small in increments. If you make a mistake or feel you've gone too far, Lightroom is non-destructive meaning you can also reset the image to as it was when you first imported it. Pro tip - if you want to just reset one setting, double tap its name to set the value back to zero.

Add Some Flare with Lens Distortion

This is very dependant on the type of image taken, and I usually use this app when photographing architecture, product or food shots. Lens Distortions gives you the option to add lens flares or lighting effects into your image, and can help draw the viewer to a certain part of the photograph. In this case I have added a very slight light leak to the left of the image, giving the impression of the sun shining into the image. It is important to be subtle when adding flares or lighting - and to make sure they work with any shadows you may have in your image.

Mount Your Photos with VSCO

Another app I use frequently, especially when preparing my images for social media, is VSCO. The app features a variety of presets based on film stocks, and, although can be used to generate "retro" looking images can also be helpful when you want to keep a portrait or landscape photograph in a square format - which is the main reason I use it. Here, I've simply mounted the image in a white square ready to be posted to Instagram.

Post to Social Media

And last, but not least, I will post my image to Instagram, Facebook and perhaps even my online portfolio!

If you’ve enjoyed this blog, be sure to check out my others in which I share tips and tricks on all things photography and design!