coiski 101: How to Take the Ideal Photo on Your Smartphone
LIGHTING
Honestly, lighting may be the most essential factor when taking the ideal photo. Coin it your make-or-break determinant, if you will. The most common misconception about lighting is the necessity for intense sunlight. Oftentimes, fierce sunlight leads to dark shadows and bright highlights, in which you can potentially lose pivotal detailing needed for a superb photo. Those rainy overcasting days are optimal for capturing a moment that’ll have your friends double tapping your image on their Instagram feed.
Key points
– Avoid direct or brash sunlight.
– Keep the light to your back, it’ll properly illuminate your subject.
– Avoid dark rooms or areas. Smart phones have a ton of strengths but lowlight photography isn’t one of them.
– If possible, ditch the flash. Natural light is best.
FOCUS/EXPOSURE
How many times have you handed your phone to a complete stranger entrusting them with the crucial responsibility of capturing a momentous moment in your life, only to retrieve your phone back to find a blurry result? Ran out of fingers to count? I know your pain.
Focusing on smart phones is a lot easier than focusing professional cameras, however, there are some fundemental things that allow you to achieve attractive results. For most phones, you want to tap on your subject to set the focus. Doing so also locks in your exposure. For most advanced mobile phones, this produces a nice bokeh (blurred background) on your image and will guide your viewer’s eye on the center of attention.
Key points
– Once you’ve set your focus point make sure you keep your phone steady. If you move as little as an inch, reset your focus.
– When focusing, tap the brightest area of the subject. This will ensure proper exposure.
FRAMING/COMPOSITION
A perfectly composed photo can tell a story without the need for a caption. Unconsciously, many people tend to place their object centered in the middle of their frame. While there is nothing wrong with this ideology, framing your subject, off-center, creates more depth and detail in your photo. You can achieve this look by using the rule of thirds. Lastly, don’t feel pigeonholed when it comes to angles. Go low, go high – see what works best for your situation.
Key points
– Remember the rule of thirds. Avoid the middle.
– Turn on your camera’s guidelines.
– Be cognizance of your background. Can you manipulate it to enhance you image?
– Try creative angles.
EDITING/FILTERS
Finally, the last key step to producing the perfect photo is editing. While you may have followed the first three steps ad nasueum, you can never skip a step as vital as post-production. The key to a high quality edit is to start with a photo that is already near perfect. Make minor tweaks to things such as, contrast, saturation, highlights, shadows and sharpening. Editing should only enhance an image, not create it. The same applies to filters. While they’re fun and often times obsessive, a filter’s purpose is to be the cherry on top.
Key points
– Don’t over-edit. You want to maintain a natural, realistic look.
– Apply a filter that will compliment you in your photo.
FOUR STEPS IN ACTION
Overexposed photo due to the focus point being set on the darkest era
Perfectly exposed photo framed using the rule of thirds
The final product lightly edited
