SkÝlum software

10 tips for those discovering the world of mobile photography.

1. Wipe the dirty lenses!
No, I'm serious. You have no idea how many brilliant shots have been ruined because a fingerprint or a crumb got stuck on the lens of a smartphone camera. Just make it a habit to wipe the lens with a tissue or soft cloth every time you take a picture.

2) Use the light properly.
Physically speaking, it's light that makes us take pictures, and because of the light. Don't forget that and pay close attention to the number and placement of light sources. It's a peculiarity of mobile photography that smartphones still have far more modest technical possibilities, so the question of lighting becomes particularly important. Try to have the source behind you or from above, and don't be lazy to change the shooting point if necessary.

3. Think about the composition
A good picture should not only have an interesting subject and the right light, but also a smart composition. To achieve this, you need to learn the basic principles of composition. When taking a picture, you must decide in advance what you want to focus the viewer's attention on and place it in the most advantageous position. Special horizontal and vertical lines, which can be switched on in the camera settings, will be very useful.

Click, click, click!
Never limit the number of photos you can take. Even professionals don't know for sure which shots will work and which won't. Sometimes photos taken from the same point a few seconds apart can be strikingly different from each other. So try to shoot as much as possible, changing angles, layout, lighting, objects. Then you can always choose the best shot out of the set, and delete the rest.

5. Use the right shooting mode
Smartphone cameras have a lot of pre-set shooting modes that are designed for specific photographic conditions. Don't shoot everything on automatic. Taking pictures of a sunset? Choose the appropriate mode. Want to take a portrait? Use the special preset settings. They were invented for a reason, and with the right mode you will usually get the best results. Of course, it's worth using this advice until you've mastered all the fine settings and learned to shoot completely in manual mode.

6. Don't use zoom.
Digital zoom is evil. An evil that is absolute, eternal and ruthless. Don't use it ever. It's for one purpose only - to ruin your picture. If you want to blow something up, you can do it later with a digital editor.

7. Don't abuse the flash.
The quality of LED flashes in smartphones is getting better every year, but it still doesn't allow you to get quality pictures. So try to use it only in those situations where you are afraid of getting a black square of Malevich instead of a picture. In all other cases it is better to turn the flash off.

8. Make friends with the photo editor
Even professional photos taken with good quality equipment are almost always edited with a photo editor. Let alone a photo taken with a smartphone, where literally everything needs adjustments. Adjusting levels, color, exposure, and white balance allows you to turn a mediocre photo into a good one, and a good one into a masterpiece.

9. Choose a good program for taking pictures
In a previous article we showed that there is a slight difference in the quality of images taken with different programs. And even more important is the number of available shooting modes, their functionality and usability of the interface. So don't be lazy to find among the many different cameras the most suitable one for you.

10. Patience solves everything
The last point of this list is the most important. If you want to press the shutter as quickly as possible and rush on, your photos will never get beyond your Instagram* and Facebook* profiles. So learn, analyze, experiment, shoot, and then start over again.