BackTips for picture-perfect photographs
When it comes to the quality of images, the megapixels don’t matter after a point. It all depends on how you use your phone camera
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In the past couple of years, smartphone cameras not only began matching the stand-alone point-and-shoot cameras, but even surpassed many of them. Just having the latest camera technology in your smartphone, however, doesn’t guarantee the best photographs. A lot depends on how good you are at photography. Here are some tips that might help.
Avoid zoom; crop later
Smartphone cameras have digital zoom. While it is convenient to use this to take shots of distant objects, do remember that the more you zoom, the worse the image. This is because zoom cuts out the sides of the image, and zones in on the focused subject, reducing image quality drastically. It is better to get as close to the subject as possible, and use less zoom. Perhaps you could click without using any zoom, and then use one of the many smartphone photo-editing apps to crop the clicked photograph. The image will be a lot clearer.
Highest resolution
By default, the phone’s camera may not be set to utilize the highest resolution the sensor is capable of. Open the camera app, go to Settings and zone in on the resolution option. Set this to the highest number available, usually denoted by MP (megapixels). In most phones, the photographs clicked at the highest resolution would be in the 4:3 aspect ratio. There is the option of reducing the MP count and changing to the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, but that is not recommended—the quality will suffer.
For example, if your 13 MP camera is clicking photos in 4:3, it will reduce to 8.1 MP for a 16:9 aspect ratio shot. The Motorola Moto X and the HTC One are examples of phones that use native 16:9 sensors, which is why they are set to take “widescreen" images by default. With most other smartphones, you should stick to the default 4:3 setting.
Lens requires cleaning
People spend hours cleaning their cameras (and other gadgets), but smartphones don’t usually get that treatment. It is important to clean the phone camera lens periodically. Over time, dust and grime can settle over the lens. Wiping it with soft cloth should work. If some sticky substance is proving hard to dislodge, it is time to fish out your credit/debit card. Put a drop of water on the lens (do not splash directly, apply just a drop using your finger), and lightly scrape the surface with the edge of the card. Do not press down too much. You will soon notice chunks of dirt emerging. Once the dirt has been dislodged, use a soft cloth to mop up, and wipe away the remaining moisture.
Set the correct focus
By default, smartphone cameras will try to focus automatically on a certain part of the frame, based on the scene lighting. However, the final picture may not be crisp enough, or may not focus on the exact subject you wanted it to highlight better. Most smartphones allow users to tap on the screen to set the focus manually. This feature is known as “tap to focus".
Some phones prefer to autofocus. In that case, we would suggest clicking a series of shots (one after the other), and comparing them later to identify the neatest one.
Tweak the exposure
Many a time, the clicked photograph seems darker than it should have been, or tends to have uneven lighting—with more illumination in one part and less elsewhere. The “tap to focus" capability also manages the lighting around the subject in the frame. If you feel that the frame doesn’t have enough lighting in some areas, tap on the screen and the camera will rework the exposure levels and how the light spreads.
Rule of thirds
The rule of thirds is a simple way of composing your photographs better. Use the grid lines feature that most smartphone cameras have (this is an option available in the camera settings—switch it on), so that the frame is split into three equal sections, vertically and horizontally. Now, you can start by placing the subject in relation to one of the vertical lines, and then work the background in a way that it runs along the horizontal lines. While composing and clicking, you will also get a better idea of the angle, and whether the camera is leaning towards one side. Once it becomes a habit, you’ll find it virtually impossible to click without working out the rule of thirds.
Avoid using flash
The flash paired with smartphone cameras is never really up to the job. Yes, it’s bright, but it tends to spoil the colour temperature (or brightness). The reason: Actual flash duration is far too long to capture the scene successfully. So flash-assisted images are usually blurry, and suffer from uneven exposure. The “red eye" phenomenon in some low-light pictures is because the flash in most phones is placed very close to the camera. Basically, avoid using it. And when you must do so, accept that this photograph will not be the best.
Watch for lens flare
The effect of “lens flare", using the sunlight in a way that it casts multiple rays of light across the entire picture, looks good when implemented well. But with smartphones and the limitations of sensor size, there is a limit to how much you can play with natural lighting effects. A badly clicked picture with streaking light will reduce contrast, detailing and colour accuracy.
If you still want to use the sunlight effect, try composing various shots by placing the sun closer to the edges of the frame, which improves the spread of light, without it becoming the overpowering element. To reduce or completely block out the sunlight-induced flare while taking a picture, cup your hand around the lens.
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