07/01/2016
More Tips for great smarthphone photos.
TURN THE PHONE SIDEWAYS: Unless you're taking a picture of the Empire State Building, use the horizontal ("landscape") orientation when taking a photo, as it will look much better on a computer or television later on (that is , no vertical black bars on each side of the photo). Besides, a landscape photo is better for group shots and scenery, as it gets more into the frame. Speaking of scenery, play around with your phone's panaoramic mode for ultrawide photos.
GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: Don't be shy. Unless it's a large, grwoling dog, there's no reason to be 5 feet away from your subject. Fill the whole frame with your subjects. Going in closer also means you can capture more facial detail, such as light freacking, a charming dimple or soft, pale blues of the iris. Don't use your phone's digital zoom, as it might make your photo look pixelated-get closer yourself. Play around with how close is too close, though, as that "macro" shot of a flower petal might look blurry when you look at it later on.
USE THE LIGHT AROUND YOU: Avoid using the flash wherever possible; instead try to us the light that's accessible, whether it's overhead lighting while indoors or, preferably, the sun outside. Cloudy days are great for photos, as they diffuse the sun. If the sun is out, be sure your back - and not your subjest's - is to the sun or the subject will look like a blacked-out siljouette.(Good for romantic sunset photo) The hour before and after sunset creats grogeouse light for photos.
BE A HUMAN TRIPOD: If you can help it, don't hold your phone at arm's lenght when taking photos. You'll probably shake the phone more than you think, which could result in blurry images. Instead , turn yourself into a human tripod by holding the camera(phone) with both hands and pulling your arms into your chest or stomach. You might look a little silly, but you'll see the difference with your sturdier grip.
POSITION FOR COMPOSITION: Instead of placing your subjects in the center of the frame all the time, omove them to the left or right to make your photos instantly more powerful and beautiful. Better yet, go in on and angle to add extra energy to the shot. Also, try to match the height of the subject, such as by kneeling on the ground to snap a pciture of a toddler, to ensure you're at eye level instead of angling up or down.
HAVE FUN WITH FILTERS: Phone cameras usually include filters as part of the software, but there are numerouse apps that can help you easily edit and share photos and videos. Some automatically tweak your shots for better color and brighness. Apps like Instagram can add fun filters, such as a sepia finish or retro '70s look. Snapchat adds fun animated effects to your pics. Literally thousands of apps are available, for all platforms, so experiment away.
BACK UP, BACK UP, BACK UP: There's nothing wores than losing your smarthphone and never haveing backed up all those photos on it. There are many ways to back them up. Hard drive back up, iCloud photos,Google Drive, or Google Photos are the best options. To save cellular data you can select to upload only over Wi-Fi. Finally, some USB tumb drives are wireless and let you back up photos and vidoes from a phone. It's worth safegarding your memories. The rule of thumb is, if you can not afford it BACK it UP.
Article from CostCo Connection by Marc Saltzman
