Top 10 Tips
Top 10 Photo Taking Tips
We have collected some of the top tips to get the most out of your mobile phones camera, which in-turn means you can get some spectacular results with your mobile printer.
Get Up Close and Personal!
Get right up in your subjects grill, with any type of photograph, you want to get as close to your subject as you can. Mobile phone camera pictures are usually pretty small because of their resolution, and prints are pocket size too so fill the viewfinder with your subject to get the best picture both on your phone and on your Polaroid PoGo Prints and Stickers.
Keep It Steady.
Lock your arms, hold steady and you’ll get better mobile phone pictures. Try leaning it against a solid object (like a tree, wall, or ledge) when you take a shot. Also, hold the phone as still as you can for a few seconds after you click the button. This will account for any delay.
There are some tips to be taken from the world of sharp-shooters and gun toting loonies, which help a photo-shooter, instead of pressing or jabbing at the button, try slowly, gently and steadily squeezing/pressing the button for even less shake and vibration.
It’s All About The Light!
Lighting makes the picture clearer, sharper and overall better, so make sure your subject is lit.
When you can, shoot your photos outdoors, and preferable with the sun behind you or using the flash if behind the subject. If you shoot pictures indoors, make sure the lights are on and you should try experimenting with white balance, since artificial lighting can affect the colour cast in your pictures. You should pay extra attention to angles and strength of the light, especially when you’re outside as harsh shadows can detract from your camera skills.
If your mobile phone camera has a built-in flash or light, you can use it to lift your images and add clarity to them, even when you shoot outside.
Use Night Mode.
If your cell phone has a “night mode” setting, use it when you take photos indoors in low light and outdoors at night. This can mean the difference between a black frame and a priceless night-time pop-out moment.
Turn Off The Digital Zoom!
It may be tempting to zoom in on your subject when you take a picture, but if the zoom is a ‘digital zoom,’ it will decrease the photo’s quality, as in-reality they simple crop the image instead of actually zooming which will make your images blurry and grainy. Instead, just move in closer to your subject or see if your subjects can move closer to you.
Lately there are some mobile phone cameras with ‘optical zooms’ hitting the market, to be clear Optical Zooms are okay to use, since they don’t enlarge pixels to enlarge the subject.
Clean Your Lens!
Keeping your cell phone camera clean and in good condition can be a challenge, especially if it spends a lot of time in your pockets and backpack.
Clean your camera lens with a soft cloth from time to time, especially just before you start shooting.
Sunglass cleaning cloths work great for this, or even normal spectacles cloths, or lint free cleaning tissues, NEVER use toilet roll, kitchen roll, dusters or anything like that as they leave lint or little fibres behind which get into the cameras working.
Follow The Composition Rules (and then break them all).
Traditional photography has established “rules” or guidelines for composing pictures. One of these is called the “Rule of Thirds.” This rule tells you not to center your subject in the middle of a picture. Instead, place it a third of the way in from either side.
Simple tips like this one can bring life to the photos you take with your cell phone camera. Of course, part of the beauty of having a cell phone camera is that you can break with convention. Some of the best photos break all the rules. Shoot from the hip, the floor, up high, up close – anything goes.
Its worth noting, if you shoot people smaller than your holding height, they will be distorted, the same goes for people taller, you should aim to hold the camera between belly button and chest height of your subject, but then again lay on the floor shooting up can make for interesting snap shots.
Use The Highest Resolution Possible…
With some phones, you can choose the resolution for your photos. The higher the resolution, the clearer your shot will be. This is especially true for camera cell phones, which often have sensors under 1 megapixel.
If your mobile phone has a very high mega pixel rating, and only a digital zoom, it will be better shoot your photo wide, and then crop it to a smaller size later. For example on a Sony Ericsson W995, shoot the image at 8mp, then crop it in camera to “medium” size before printing on your PoGo and the results are spectacular.
Take Lots of Shots!
The best thing about digital photography, including camera mobile phones, is that you can take a ton of shots quickly at no cost. You are free to experiment with different modes and composition and delete the shots you don’t like, or back them up to free your storage up.
Try new angles and perspectives — shoot from down low, up high, close up, and so on, and you’ll end up with interesting and fun shots… You have nothing to lose.
Experiment With White Balance.
Many mobile phone cameras feature adjustable white balance. This lets you modify color balance in your images based on shooting conditions. Experiment with this feature to get a good feel for the impact it has on your shots. White balance affects different mobile phone cameras differently.
Read your mobile phone’s user manual to find out how white balance works on your phone.
As a general rule, normal indoor lights are orange/red, fluorescent lights are usually yellow/green, so its easy to spot the issues.
In Conclusion…
GET OUT THERE AND START SHOOTING!