For mobile photographers, the best compliment you can receive is, “Wow, it doesn’t look like it was taken with a phone at all.”
But if you’ve spent a lot of money on gear, the worst thing someone can say is, “I don’t see the difference. It looks like a regular phone photo.”
Without Fail
So, how can you enhance your photos? In photography, the most important things are light, composition, and color grading.
Just like cooking, certain combinations always work well. For example, tomato, basil, and olive oil – you can’t go wrong with that!
Let me give you the “ingredients” that work every time.
1. Minimal Subject, Clean Background
– only include 1 or 2 things in the picture
2. Play with shadows
– look for long shadows on the ground and walls
The tree shadows on the wall caught my eye, prompting me to step back and frame the shot. As soon as the subject walked into view, I used the “burst mode” on my phone to capture the moment, that’s how I got this person walking right in the middle.
I pay close attention to the angle of light. The rim light comes from the back of the subject, highlighting only the outlines. When I took the shot, I also considered including the long shadow on the ground.
3. Use shapes, texture, and patterns
– make these the focal point of your picture.
The mountain ridge of the Himalayas is breathtaking as the light pierces through the cold air. This view lasted for just 10 seconds until the plane flew to another angle, and left me with ordinary view again.
I couldn’t help but notice how the girl’s bike was positioned right on the edge of the zebra crossing. All I could see were two circles and diagonal lines.
4. Use subframing
Use the window as your picture frame to emphasize the subject. I took this one from inside the cabin through the window. Once again, I used burst mode.
I took this picture while watching traffic from the footbridge. The van was turning the corner and happened to line up with the yellow grid.
The limitation for phone lens
Phone lenses can’t handle sunlight well. If you don’t want your pictures to look bad, follow these tips:
1/ Don’t take pictures directly into the light. If you like taking pictures at sunrise or sunset, either point your phone away from the brightest part or take pictures during the blue hour and the afterglow.
2/ Make your pictures a little darker and brighter later when you edit them.
3/ Don’t use digital zoom to get closer to your subject, because the quality worsens when you do that. If your phone has a lens that can make your subject look separate from the background, use that instead. Otherwise, take wide pictures with a clean composition.
All and all, keeping it simple is the key. This approach is accessible to everyone, even with just a phone.
Lastly, edit your photos and make the colors pop. I made more than 100 Presets for Lightroom and Snapseed users, all free, go check them out here
If you’re the one who spent big bucks on gear but not getting results, let’s have a chat!