Kickass Smartphone
Photography
Simple tips
and tricks that ensure you’ll never make your social media audience want to go
blind
Your
photography says a lot about you, how you see the world, what your eyes see
Check through the camera
folder on your phone. You’ll see a sea of similarly shot, mediocre-looking and
ordinary pictures with nothing distinguishing one from another. Isn’t that sad?
Your photography says a lot about you, how you see the world, what your eye
sees. Shouldn’t it be not just mediocre? Fortunately, you can train your mind
and eye to see things dramatically differently and translate that to your
pictures.
COOL CLICK
Take your pictures from a different angle to give them a
dramatic flair
In my last column I wrote
about how the smartphone is now the single most used photography device in the
world. I mentioned some simple tips and tricks last time. Now it’s time to take
this journey to its logical conclusion.
BASICS
The basic rules of getting
a good photograph remain the same whether you use a phone or a million-dollar
camera. Develop an eye for creating a scene (more on that later) and an
understanding of photographic depth (critical, but very easy and explained
below). But the basics start at an even more basic level. Keep your lens clean
and don’t always use the default setting.
RULE OF
THIRDS
Use the rules of third to
compose your pictures. It’s a simple yet very powerful way to create drama in
any picture. All you need to do is use grid lines that divide your screen into
9 squares on your camera app (almost all of them have the option). The
intersections of the squares are visual hotspots. Place your subject near any
of these and your pictures will be more visually dynamic, engaging and have a
lot more elements for the eye to focus on. Try it and train your brain to see
it that way.
DON’T
TAKE ALL PICTURES IN AUTO MODE
Manual mode with all its
settings looks very complex and daunting. It’s not. Even if you don’t want to
learn about them all, then just learn the simplest one. Aperture. In your phone
aperture will denoted with an f stop (f 2.4, f1.8). Changing your aperture
affects the amount of light in your shot. The lower the number, more light is
brought in and vice versa. Test it indoors, outdoors, in low light, in
sunlight. This one small control feature is like waving a magic wand onto your
pictures.
FILTER
FILTERS OUT
Yes, they look cool. But
there’s something overwhelming and a little silly in the overuse of filters on
everyone’s social media feed. Let them be. Use only for a special occasion.
CHANGE
THE ANGLE
We all take our pictures
at eye level. But that’s an everyday, mundane angle. Almost every group photo
is taken from the front. Instead, move to one side and have everyone look at
you from that angle. Your pictures will have dramatic flair and a different
angle.
HDR IS
NOT GOD MODE
This is where I get into
controversial territory. I’m sure you use HDR mode photography for everything.
It’s supposed to be the holy grail for all amateur photographers. HDR mode
shoots multiple images of the same scene, each at different shutter speeds. The
result is bright, medium and dark photos which are combined to bring details to
the shadows and bright spots. Awesome, right? Not really. Most HDR photos are
good but oversaturated and overblown with details that look anything but
natural. Use HDR only if the light is poor or the image isn’t dramatic on its
own. Else, let the picture breathe its own natural life.
LEARN
SOME EDITING
Just the basics. Crop
your pictures to make them look different, add a little saturation and warmth
and play around with tint and fill. Your pictures will thank you for it, as
will your Instagram ‘forced to like all your pictures’ audience.
·
Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology,
NDTV
·
HTBR
9DEC18
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