7 Advanced Smartphone Photography Tips

Photography Tips  •  Smartphone Photography

While most smartphone users are happy simply shooting in auto mode, phone cameras are much more powerful than they might think. The key to smartphone photography nirvana is in unlocking manual mode. In this video, COOPH shares seven tips for making pro photos with your smartphone:

1. Manual Mode

Unsurprisingly, the first tip is to switch to manual shooting mode. But even before you actually switch to manual mode, make sure you have a high quality camera. Look for a smartphone camera with a sharp lens, a fast aperture, great color rendition, excellent dynamic range, and good noise suppression.

2. Long Exposure

Using a tripod, set your shutter speed to something very slow to capture light trails and movement.

Alternatively, you can activate Light Painting mode. You can also experiment by setting up at a higher angle to capture unique perspectives while using a slow shutter speed.

3. Action Shot

Your smartphone is a capable action shooter, provided you’re shooting in good light. Dial in a faster shutter speed. Find a subject. Fire away.

4. Sequence Shot

With your phone on a tripod or other stabilizer, use the burst mode while a subject does something active.

Incorporate all the images into Photoshop and merge them together to produce a sequence shot.

5. Depth of Field

You don’t need the latest iPhone X or the Google Pixel 2 to achieve shallow depth of field. What you need is a subject and some smart shooting approaches. If your phone camera has a wide aperture mode, use it.

Let’s say you’re shooting a wall. Hold your camera to shoot down the wall in order to create depth.

6. Macro Mode

Getting close to your subject with a smartphone is relatively easy. The lens doesn’t extend out of the body and therefore doesn’t obscure the light that falls on the subject. Get as close to your subject as your smartphone camera permits.

7. Timelapse

Modern smartphone cameras come with a built-in timelapse feature. Or you can download an app that does the trick. You’ll need a tripod for this.

There are many ways you can shoot a timelapse. Use your imagination to come up with something unique.