You can take better photos with your phone too.
Due to “corona”, I have a little bit more free time and I will share some tips on how you can start taking better photos with your mobile. I am Marek Kuzlik and I am a wedding photographer based in Coventry.
In only a few simple steps you can significantly improve your gallery.
All images in this blog have been taken with my phone and haven’t been modified in editing software.
Kingsbury Water Park / Tamworth Sailing Club, the middle of January 2020, sunrise over the club’s lake.
So, what you have to know or what you have to do to improve your photos? Have a look at 7 steps below. It is simple.
but not applicable if you need just a click to document an event.
My equipment 🙂
All that you can see in here have been taken on a budget phone Motorola G7. It is very different comparing with your new top iPhones, Galaxy’s 9 or even 10 or Huawei which became a leader in “mobile photography” My Motorola has 12Mp camera, is very slow, without any extra feature. If I look that today is 2020 and I say that the camera in this Motorola is below expectations – we can still treat it as a complement.1. A little bit of knowledge about how ALL cameras in the world work
I said – ALL because all of them work the same. A camera in your phone or big sports camera work in the same way. Of course, they were built for different purposes bug fundamentals remain the same. If we buy a new washing machine, we have to look at the manual to discover al available functions… to find out how to switch it on 🙂 The same situation is with photography. We need to know something to start. Well, there is an auto mode, and we look after it today. “Point and click” – the most popular type of photography. But still, there is a chance to improve the final effect.
2. An idea, good time, good place
The key point of a good photo and it doesn’t matter if you are going to use a modern camera for a couple of thousands or budget phone for a couple of hundred British pounds is an idea (unless you want to click only ), then a good place (unless you want to click only ) and the time may play a key role too. You won’t capture sunrise when you will wake up in the noon 🙂 Create the final image in your head. Find the best possible place. Sometimes is worth to move a couple of inches to get a much better result.3. Lighting
The photo on the right side. Nice landscape and dark face 🙂 I am pretty sure you will find many photos like this on your mobile phone. Why does it happen? What you could do differently? OK, human eyes are much better than any camera and we can see much more details in the case of a big contrast. Light background vs dark subject like at the right photo. If you do not have a strong source of light (forget about LED on your phone) you can place your subject below the horizon (left photo)
4. Forget the flash use ambient light.
A little LED next to a camera on our phones, called a flash… may destroy a nice idea for a photo. Why? Below left – portrait of my daughter with a “flash” on the right without (but in portrait mode – my phone do not allowed me to use portrait mode when the flash is on. What about your phone?) OK, can you see red eyes at the left photo? can you see a lack of contrast? can you see flat light on the face? can you see overexposed forearms? The other photo (right) taken in ambient light coming from a window is more balanced. There is more contrast, eyes haven’t got red dots and lights and shadows are shaping the face and body.
5. Unwanted background objects
One from the most common mistake of all of us while taking photos with our mobile phones. As you can see, I’ve done it as well. (marked in lighter areas) Let’s be honest. That 2 phots are more or less kind of reportage from a beach rather than an artistic portrait of my younger daughter but… How many of you while taking a photo of your child captured a man or other object in the background which destroyed your photo? I’m pretty sure of all us have done this. To get better results you can to consider a nice empty space in the background… not like me on the photo below 🙂
Avoid all objects which are growing straight from the head.
6. Some fun with the second phone
Photography is fun and allows us to play with it a little bit. In here I show you a simple trick with a reflection. You can use the second phone to reflect a subject. I think it might be the easiest option for those who want one of my photography tips. It is easier to find the second phone rather than be at the right place at the right time. It is simple, stick another phone to yours and try to capture something interesting. For photos below, I needed only a couple of seconds.try to beat me and create something better.
- normal photo
- max zoom – I have only digital
- I get closer
