Ask A Pittsburgh Expert: How To Take Better Pictures With Your Phone
Some of us simply don't have the funds to afford a Nikon D610 FX-format 24.3 MP 1080p and have only our smartphones to rely on to capture life's beautiful moments. Thankfully, photographer extraordinaire and Steel City resident, Jodi Williams, shares her best tips and tricks to make your iPhone pictures look professional.
Jodi Williams
Freelance Photographer
(712) 221-2164
Jodi Williams is a master behind the lens, friend to nature, and pro budget shopper. Having served as a stock photography artist for the past decade - you've likely seen Jodi's sample pictures in advertisements from Ford, Pepsi, Hanes, and Juicy Fruit, to name a few - she's recently delved into the trend of the iPhone photo. Sure, we all take hundreds of pictures a week of our kids, pets, and friends, not to mention the dozens of selfies snapped every morning, but Jodi has taken her iPhone shutter skills to new heights. She shared a few of her pro tips with the layman so all of us can grab that quick, amazing shot with our own smartphones.
Download Sleek Photography Apps
ProCamera is the app that Jodi uses, and while it's not free (she doesn't endorse the app), she swears by its ease-of-use, advanced techniques and settings. Not every photography app is alike, and a unique combination of settings is what sets ProCamera apart from the others. She's able to seamlessly produce sleek, rich photos utilizing this app and the remaining four tricks.
Hold The Phone Like You Would Hold A Camera
Sure the iPhone is portable and super light, but it still moves around if you're roaming and directing with your hands. Use two hands whenever you are taking a picture, hold your arms close to your body to stabilize yourself, and rest your iPhone on something sturdy if available. Also, don't forget that you can push the '+' button on the side of your iPhone to release the shutter for a rock-steady shot.
Look For Good Light
Nobody likes to take a picture with the sun blazing right into their retinas. Pro tip: nobody likes to look at those pictures, either. The severe light from the sun can either cause heavy shadowing all over someone's megawatt smile, or wash all of the shadows out for a blown-out effect that's not very flattering. Keep the sun at the subject's back or stay in the shade. Also, play around with nighttime shots, and shots steeped in artificial light. For iPhone users, be sure to utilize your camera app's exposure slider to boost light in a nighttime photo.
Don't Use Digital Zoom
Your iPhone can't augment the image by using an optical zoom, unlike professional cameras. Instead, your smartphone utilizes a digital zoom, which merely makes the images pixels big and cumbersome, obliterating the subject's fine details. Zooming in digitally also makes it more challenging to take a steady photo (see tip #2). If you need to fill the frame, move closer to your subject; furthermore, if you really need to zoom in, you can get the same digital effect with a post-image editor.
Don't Be Afraid To Experiment
After you snap a satisfactory picture, you can use the iPhone's photos app, for example, and third-party apps to make personal alterations. Take the saturation controls, which adjust the intensity of the photo's colors. It's usually best to stick with low or medium levels in saturating, since high levels tend to make everyone look jaundiced. Effects such as black-and-white and sepia can also help elevate your photos to the next level.
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Nikki Tiani-Moroney is a full time mum of two boys, wife of a professional poker player/photographer/amateur pencil-sharpening competitor and writer from Pittsburgh, PA. When she isn't studiously neglecting her housework in favor of a good book, she's out simultaneously fighting crime and picking up sidewalk litter while savoring an occasional cigarette. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.
