You’re Not a Photographer, but You Can Fake it With Your Smartphone

Summer has arrrived and we decided to open our eyes and our website to guest contributors. Today Emily Green gives us her basic best tips around Mobile Photography. Thanks Emily!

Everyone wants his or her special life moments to live on in photographs and not just in memories.

Camera phones provide the perfect gadget for you to capture those priceless, once-in-a-lifetime shots to quickly post on Instagram and download to keep forever. But these devices certainly are not expensive cameras equipped with fancy zoom lenses and complex attachments.

Luckily, you don’t need the credentials and experience of professional photographers to fake rich-looking photos with your smartphone.

Here are a few basic tips on creating the perfect shot:

Treat Your Smartphone Like a Camera

Although you see numerous photos on any social media site with arms wrapped along the side of the shot — you take the photo and are in the photo at the same time — you’re better off if you keep yourself out of the shot. For top-notch photos, hold your phone like a camera — keep it straight for stability and don’t hold it so far away from your body. This will allow you to avoid shaking and give you better visibility of the image you capture. If possible, use something hard and stable to hold the phone up.

Hold your Breath

Breathing also changes your stability. Taking a breath at the exact time you are taking a shot can make it blurry. If you hold your breath, your hands will stay more secure and you’ll be taking Ansel Adams’ type shots in no time.

Download Creative Apps

For images with panache, apps allow you to create a mood or theme for your photos. Here are a few apps available:

Camera+: More than 8 million downloadings today. Probably the most famous and beloved edition app. (download)

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360camera: Voted as one of the top 100 technology products by PC World and downloads number more than 20 million, this app offers a variety of effects, making your friends think you’re a photographer extraordinaire. (download)

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Pudding Camera: This app allows for different types of settings to generate stylish photos no one will assume came straight from a smartphone. (download android here) (download iphone app here)

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The Photo Scrapbook Widget: This app creates scrapbook pages on your screen, which will certainly impress your family and friends.
To keep your money in check, use prepaid SIM only plans to keep within your budget when downloading apps. Otherwise, you could blow your bank account with downloads. (download here app for Android)

Use a Timer

For those not quick with their fingers, using a timer solves that issue. Turning on the timer allows you to place the smartphone in its proper location, hold it correctly, hold your breath and take the shot. Although this doesn’t work for shots that are very timely, such as photographing a baseball player’s pitch, for landscape and posed photos of family and friends, using a timer gives you an advantage to arrange for a proper shot.

Keep Images Close

Smartphones don’t have the ability to zoom well like an expensive lens. If possible, take the photo up close, which is especially important in low lighting when the camera selects longer shutter speeds. Camera phones don’t have proper shutter lag, which is the time you press on the photo button to the time the camera actually takes the photo. On a smartphone, clicking the button and waiting a couple of seconds will ensure a better photo. Also, as tempting as it is, try to avoid using the zoom feature on your phone. It creates pixilated shots that you’ll end up moving to the trash when you’ve download them.

Clean Your Lens

Ladies, makeup comes off. Oily skin rubs off on the phone. Picking up the phone after a sweating gym session will get the perspiration on the screen. Although you may not be touching the lens, any one of these can find its way onto the lens. Be sure to clean it properly so those pesky oils, carpet fibers or purse stains don’t leave marks on the lens and make their way onto your photos.

Even without expensive photography classes and fancy, high-class equipment, you can still fake your way through taking shots with a smartphone and impress your friends with your impeccable photographic skills.