The Best Camera You Have is The One You Have With You!

Mobile phones have rapidly evolved into powerful tools for photography enthusiasts. The latest models entering the market now boast multiple focal lengths, astonishingly high megapixel sensors, and cutting-edge algorithmic photography capabilities that can outperform traditional DSLRs. In fact, the price tags of these smartphones are beginning to rival those of new camera bodies and professional-grade lenses. In this digital age, mobile phones have revolutionised the way we capture and share moments. With the advancement of technology, these pocket-sized devices have become more than just communication tools - they are now powerful cameras that can produce professional-looking pictures.

While mobile phones still lack the flexibility of interchangeable lenses and high-quality sensors, it's not too far-fetched to envision them reaching that level of sophistication in the near future.

With a few exceptions, capturing professional-looking pictures with a mobile phone is entirely feasible nowadays. They are practical, light, convenient and easy to use which isn’t always the case with a DSLR. Mobile phones can be used for everyday photo shoots as well as being the perfect travel camera and the beauty of this is that it doesn’t cost anything to take your mobile phone with you when you travel. You don’t need expensive and durable travel cases, you don’t need to pay expensive insurance costs and you can just put it in your pocket and go. Mobile phone lenses allow you to capture wide, panoramic pictures as well as beautiful portraits with plenty of bokeh so I would always recommend practising with your mobile phone before you splash out on an expensive DSLR camera.

So here are some tips for getting the best out of your mobile phone and taking breathtaking pictures.

1. Keep Your Lens Clean.

It’s important to keep the lens clean on mobile phones for several reasons:

Image Quality: A clean lens ensures the best image quality because dust, fingerprints and smudges on the lens can obstruct light from entering the camera properly, resulting in reduced clarity, sharpness and detail in your pictures. By keeping the lens clean you ensure that the camera captures the scene accurately, allowing for better image quality.

Sharpness and Focus: A dirty lens can affect the sharpness and focus of your pictures. Dust particles or smudges can cause blurriness or softness in your pictures, making them look less professional. Cleaning the lens regularly helps maintain a clear focus, allowing for sharper and more detailed pictures.

Lens Flare and Glare: A dirty lens is more prone to lens flare and glare. When light hits smudges or fingerprints on the lens, it can scatter and create unwanted reflections and flares which will detract from the intended composition and affect the overall aesthetics of your pictures.

Colour Accuracy: A clean lens ensures accurate colour reproduction. Dirt or smudges on the lens can alter the way light enters the camera, resulting in colour shifts or inaccurate colours in your pictures. Cleaning the lens helps maintain colour fidelity, allowing your pictures to appear more vibrant and true to life.

Consistent Performance: Regularly cleaning the lens helps maintain consistent performance from your mobile phone. By keeping it free from debris, you reduce the risk of technical issues or malfunctions that may arise from a dirty lens.

To keep the lens clean, use a microfibre cloth specifically designed for cleaning camera lenses. Gently wipe the lens in a circular motion to remove dust and smudges. Avoid using harsh chemicals or abrasive materials, as they can damage the lens coating. By taking the time to clean the lens, you can maximise the potential of your mobile phone camera and capture better-looking pictures.

2. Use Gridlines.

Composition is fundamental in photography, regardless of the equipment you use. Mobile phones offer various composition aids, such as gridlines, levelling tools, and live previews, which help you frame your shots effectively. Gridlines are important on a mobile phone because they assist in achieving better composition and balanced framing in your pictures. They are overlayed on the camera screen and consist of horizontal and vertical lines that divide the frame into thirds, creating a grid pattern. Following the rule of thirds is fundamental if you want to create well-balanced, more interesting pictures and using the grid lines on your mobile phone will help you achieve this. They will aid in improving composition and overall picture quality. Using the gridlines is pretty straightforward and every camera normally has the option to turn them on. Most modern mobile phones offer this option and it’s typically found in the camera settings or options menu.

The gridlines serve as composition guides, helping you align the key elements of your picture along the grid lines or at their intersections. By following the rule of thirds and incorporating the grid in your photography, you can create balance, ensure horizon lines are straight, align leading lines in a scene and add depth to your pictures. Using the grid lines on your mobile phone can definitely enhance your photography skills by improving your understanding of composition and your execution of it. It’s a simple tool that I still make use of and it can be used on any DSLR too. Now many old-school photographers would say if you know what you’re doing there’s no need to use a grid but I personally think it doesn’t matter how experienced you are. If there’s a tool on your camera that can help you to take better pictures, why would you not take advantage of it? The goal of any photographer is to take the best picture possible so I would always say to make use of all the tools you have available to help you achieve that goal.

Always remember that a good composition can make all the difference in creating a professional-looking picture.

3. Focus and Tap To Expose.

The Focus and Tap option on a mobile phone camera is important because it allows you to control the focus point and ensure that the subject appears sharp and clear in your pictures. It gives you the ability to choose where you want the camera to focus, whether it’s on a specific subject, an object or a particular area of a scene. It allows you to fine-tune your compositions and prioritise specific elements in your pictures, resulting in visually pleasing and well-focused pictures. Most modern DSLR’s offer this option with Live View and all mobile phones allow you to control your focusing this way.

When you open your camera on your mobile phone, you’ll typically see a square or a circle in the centre of the screen representing the autofocus point. This tends to be the default focus area that the camera uses to determine focus but you can tap anywhere on the screen to change the focus point. Additionally, when you tap the screen to set the focus point, the camera may also adjust the exposure based on the tapped area. It analyses the lighting conditions and adjusts the brightness to ensure proper exposure for the selected subject or area. If you tap the area you want to focus on and keep your finger pressed on the screen you have the ability to increase or decrease the exposure to your liking.

One of the most common mistakes amateur photographers make is missing focus and it can be the difference between a good picture and a great one. It’s not something that remains exclusive to amateur photographers though and even the most experienced photographers will miss focus from time to time. It’s a given that if you take a lot of pictures you’re not going to nail focus every time but this tool is a great way to get your numbers up. By using the focus and tap option on your mobile phone camera, you can have more control over the focus point and increase your chances of capturing a sharp subject or scene.

4. Explore Portrait Mode.

One of the best things about shooting with a mobile phone camera is that it will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you and who doesn’t like to do less work? To shoot beautiful portraits with nice bokeh or blurry backgrounds you have to know your way around settings if you’re using a DSLR. With a mobile phone, all you need to do is select Portrait Mode and start snapping. It’s really that simple and it’s a great tool if you want to significantly enhance your ability to capture professional-looking pictures.

Portrait mode utilises depth-sensing technology to separate the subject from the background, creating a shallow depth of field effect. This helps to blur the background, allowing the subject to stand out prominently. The result is a visually appealing image with enhanced subject isolation, similar to what can be achieved with a professional camera and a wide-aperture lens.  Portrait mode optimises the camera settings and algorithms to capture flattering portraits. It focuses on the subject's face, detects facial features, and often applies subtle skin-smoothing effects. This helps to produce well-exposed, sharp, and balanced portraits that can rival those captured with professional cameras. By leveraging depth information, portrait mode adds a sense of depth and dimension to your pictures. It creates a separation between the subject and the background, making the image feel more three-dimensional and engaging. This effect adds a professional quality to your portraits by adding visual interest and depth.

If I want to grab a quick portrait and I’m using my phone, I’ll always shoot in portrait mode because it’s so easy to create professional-looking pictures quickly but try to remember that it may not work for every scenario. It relies on the camera’s ability to accurately detect and separate the subject from the background.

Nonetheless, exploring and mastering portrait mode can greatly elevate the quality of your mobile photography, allowing you to capture stunning and professional-looking portraits.

5. Experiment With Perspectives.

Experimenting with perspectives in your mobile phone photography can significantly enhance the quality and impact of your images. Because mobile phones typically have wide-angle lenses, changing your perspective, like shooting from low down, can make subjects more interesting. This is particularly useful with landscape photography because shooting from a low angle will elongate the foreground in your pictures making them more engaging.

By experimenting with perspectives, you can add a creative and unique touch to your pictures. Instead of capturing them from eye level or standard angles, try shooting from different vantage points, such as low to the ground or high above. This allows you to capture scenes in a fresh and unexpected way, making your pictures stand out. There’s no secret to the fact that different perspectives can create visual interest and engage viewers. We are drawn to pictures that interest us and that hold our attention and shooting from different perspectives is a really easy way to achieve this. The beauty of mobile phones is that they’re light and easy to get into positions you wouldn’t normally be able to get a DSLR into. Because they’re lightweight and compact it allows you to easily manoeuvre and experiment with unique viewpoints, even in tight or challenging shooting situations.

Capturing reflections in puddles is a great example of this point and mobile phone cameras are perfectly suited for capturing pictures like this. A quick tip, if you're going to attempt this, is to flip your mobile phone upside down, so the camera lens is facing the reflective surface. This allows you to capture the reflection directly. When attempting this always try to be mindful of stability. Always keep a steady grip on your phone or use a stabilizer to avoid camera shake or dropping your phone accidentally. 

Mobile phones offer a variety of shooting modes and features that can further enhance the benefits of shooting from different perspectives. Features like panorama, wide-angle, macro, and portrait modes expand the creative possibilities and enable you to capture a wide range of subjects and scenes effectively.

We carry our phones with us everywhere we go and this means they’re readily accessible which encourages spontaneous photography and that enables us to capture moments from different perspectives on the go. It allows us to document our surroundings creatively, regardless of where we are or what we encounter.

We can’t do that with a DSLR so it’s a good reason why I would always encourage mobile phone photography.

Another important point to make is that mobile phones are deeply integrated with social media platforms, making it easier to share your photographs and tell visual stories to a wide audience. Exploring different perspectives with the camera on your phone adds visual interest and uniqueness to your pictures, making them more engaging and shareable. It allows you to communicate your perspective and experiences effectively through photography.

6. Don’t Zoom, Crop Later.

Probably one of the most important but most overlooked points when it comes to taking professional-looking pictures with a mobile phone.

When you zoom in with a mobile phone camera, you are essentially using digital zoom, which enlarges the pixels in the picture. This results in a loss of picture quality, as the details tend to become blurry or pixilated. By capturing the entire scene without zooming, you retain the original resolution and quality of the picture. Most mobile phone cameras have limited optical zoom capabilities, if any. Optical zoom uses the camera’s physical lens to magnify the subject optically, preserving the image quality. Digital zoom, on the other hand, enlarges the picture electronically and this leads to a loss in quality. It’s better to avoid using digital zoom on a mobile phone and rely on cropping during editing. It’s the best way to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your camera. Take the picture first without zooming in and crop later in post-production.

Final Thoughts.

Gone are the days when mobile phones were limited to casual snapshots. With advancements in camera technology, access to editing tools and ease of use, mobile phones now have the power to produce stunning, professional-looking pictures, if you know what you’re doing. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, embracing mobile phone photography opens up a world of creative possibilities.

So grab your phone, explore its features, experiment with different techniques and have fun trying to capture your own amazing pictures.

Remember, the best camera you have is the one you have with you, and that might just be your mobile phone!

If you want to take your photography skills to the next level, take a look at the Perfect Picture Program. In it, you’ll learn all about my SIMPLE system that will help you to start taking great pictures immediately with the camera you already own.