Our constant need to be updated and share everything we do in real time is quickly growing every day. Social media has quickly taken over almost every aspect of people’s daily lives. We regularly check Facebook and other social media sites for updates on the people we care about, celebrities, businesses, local news and current events.
Our smartphones are in our hands, purses or pockets wherever we go. Facebook check-ins and apps like Instagram have sparked an obsession with sharing pictures of what we drink, eat and do all day with our friends and acquaintances.
According to a recent poll by PCMag, nearly half of readers stated that they use their smartphone’s camera to snap photos when they’re out and about. Only 21 percent said that they feel they need to use either digital or SLR cameras on top of their smartphone’s camera. Regardless of the way you look at it, the fact that almost every cell phone today comes with a built-in camera ensures that the owner will, at some point, be snapping photos.
Whether you own an iPhone, Blackberry Bold or Samsung Galaxy SIII, there are small changes you can make while taking pictures to make sure you’re using your cell phone’s camera the best way possible. Don’t bore your followers with mundane pictures every hour. Instead, keep your followers’ interests by giving them something they would enjoy looking at with these quick alterations.
Take a couple seconds to think about the items you shove in your pocket and the places you set down your phone daily. The dirt and grime that is attracted to your cell phone inevitably ends up on your camera lens. Even the tiniest spec of dirt or the smallest smudge can drastically alter your photos. Every once in a while, take the time to clean your lens with cleaning solution to give your photos a crisp, clear look.
Before taking a picture of something, play around with the lighting and exposure for a bit. Most cell phone’s cameras will change the exposure based off of where in the picture you want the main focus to be. If you have a touchscreen phone, try tapping the lighter and darker areas of the screen to test the brightness and exposure to ultimately make your picture better.
If you only have a point and shoot, try moving to different vantage points of the object, or move closer to get focused on one particular item in the frame.
Chances are your smartphone has a digital zoom function. Even though this is available for you to use, in most cases, you should pretend it’s not even there. When you zoom in using your smartphone, it drastically degrades the quality of the photo, making it grainy and unclear. If you can’t physically move in closer to the object you’re taking a picture of, take the picture from far away and use your phone’s editing tools to crop out the parts you don’t want.
Apps like Instagram come pre-programmed with editing options like crop, auto-enhance, blur and filter, but they shouldn’t always be used. If your picture wasn’t good to begin with, slapping a filter on it, which millions of other people use, won’t fix the problem.Try downloading an editing app that allows you to fine-tune your photos more specifically. Play with the photo’s contrast, white balance, saturation and brightness to see what you can end up with.
You don’t have to be a professional to take good photographs. Social media has made it possible for anyone with a smartphone to explore the world of photography as long as you know what to look for and how to go about taking a picture of it.
Next time you’re on vacation or taking a picture of your lunch, remember these easy tips to create your own art for all your friends to see.
Article by Vishal
Vishal Gaikar is a professional blogger from Pune, India. If you like this post, you can follow him on Twitter.
