Mobile photography is a separate genre in the art of photography. Almost everyone uses a smartphone to take pictures, but not everyone knows how to process the finished images. It is important to understand the main aspects of mobile photography. Learning to take high-quality pictures with the phone is really not so difficult, let’s tell you where to start and what recommendations to follow.
Take a quality picture
There are special applications for mobile photography, they will help in creating high-quality photos. Good pictures should have enough light. When using a mobile device, you need to adhere to the same rules as when shooting with a camera. The most important thing is not to light the picture and not to make it too dark. You should keep the balance of light, adjust the composition.
The main subject should be in focus, so do not be lazy to move the camera.
The image must be aligned with the horizon by adjusting the grid in the camera settings. But there are exceptions, when the horizon is tilted intentionally. It is more likely to show the dynamics of the picture.
You want to keep the picture with as few imperfections as possible, remove unnecessary objects from the frame, avoid glare. Keep your camera lens clean, otherwise it will negatively affect the picture.
There are universal tips in mobile photography, which will be especially useful for beginners.
Particular attention should be paid to working with light, with this there are often problems. In conditions of scattered daylight, photos do not always turn out bright enough. You can not exclude the formation of noise in the frame.
The opposite situation is also possible, when the bright daylight makes the shadows on the objects too sharp. This creates a pronounced contrast between light and dark areas. A similar problem can be encountered when shooting in a room or outdoors under artificial light. In addition, there is always the possibility of improper white balance. When it comes to dark time of day, the lack of light often results in blurry pictures.
Choose a processing program
It is recommended to master programs for processing photos taken with a smartphone camera. There are many of them and new ones appear regularly, let’s list the most popular.
Adobe Lightroom
This program is designed for color correction, its interface is similar to the photo editor. With such a tool, you can perform framing, light and color correction, suppress noise, sharpening. It combines several functions at once. The program has a full library, which if you sign up for a paid subscription is realistic to synchronize with the cloud.
Adobe Lightroom was invented for the processing of large arrays of images. Its functionality includes an option for quick copying of settings. For this purpose, you can create and save your own styles. Separate attention deserves the tab “Creativity”, where you can explore the work of other photographers, the history of changes.
The editing process is accelerated by the use of numerous automatic tools. We are talking about improving the picture, white balance, horizon alignment. The functions work correctly, they can level out some of the mistakes of novice photographers. At any time you can resort to the settings of color correction and combination of shades. The Texture, Sharpness, and Haze Removal tools are used to emphasize details and add drama to photos.
SNAPSEED
SNAPSEED by Google gives you a lot of options for editing your photos. It’s a versatile and easy to learn tool. It contains a large set of color filters. The program has the ability to save custom settings.
Facetune 2
Many people use cell phones to do selfies. You will find that Facetune 2 is the perfect tool for this type of photo editing. You will have to pay a monthly subscription in order to use this program.
Touch Retouch
A combination of Touch Retouch features are used for neat and accurate removal of unnecessary objects from your photos. The application has tutorials to help you understand its functionality. Understand how and when to use certain tools. It’s a great tool for removing cable lines and retouching portraits. It is great for removing unnecessary objects in the frame. The minus of this application is that it is paid.
How to properly process photos
The process of processing photos taken with a cell phone can be compared with art. Not all photos require serious intervention. Processing can be minimal. Beginning photographers are advised to follow a simple algorithm. The first step is to check whether the horizon and perspective need to be corrected.
The next step is to examine the individual parts of the photograph and, if the situation requires it, adjust their brightness, saturation and temperature. Particular attention should be paid to small details, such as unnecessary objects in the frame and skin purity. Clean the image from trash if necessary.
The next stage is working with filters and final cropping of the photo.
Processing photos taken with a smartphone camera is a fascinating activity. Modern applications cover all the basic needs in this area. They allow you to correct geometry, work with brightness, raise the contract, and adjust other parameters. To work with mobile photos, you can use both universal editors and specialized ones. The second option is usually chosen by perfectionists who want to achieve perfection in mobile photography.
The ability to take high-quality pictures with a phone camera comes with experience.