10 Tips to Step Up Your Smartphone Photography Game

Nov 4, 2014 | Articles

smartphone camera

These days, anyone can be a photographer with smartphone camera technology. / Image: Alf via Flickr CC.

These days, with so many people having access to smartphones, it seems like the Internet and social media are inundated with more photographs than ever. Although you can’t change the photography styles of the friends you follow on Instagram or Flickr, you can carefully consider the photographs that you share on social media. Here are some tips to up your smartphone photography game:

  1. Wipe off your photo lens regularly. If you are like most of us, your smartphone lens can get very dirty from the makeup in your bag or fluff in your pockets. This can lead to blurry photos, so it’s good to keep it regularly clean.
  2. Stick to using the rear-facing camera (on the back of your phone) instead of the front-facing camera (the selfie side) whenever you can. The rear has much higher resolution, which will lead to better images.
  3. Tap on the screen when you are in camera viewer to change the focus of the photo. This can also help adjust the lighting.
  4. Don’t just use the smartphone camera’s zoom tool, try and move your body closer to your subject or crop the photo after you taken it.
  5. Adjust your photo’s brightness and saturation before you start playing with filters on Instagram. They will do more for the photo than filters will.
  6. Use the Over app to add text to your images. You can even adjust the font and size.
  7. Use an external wide-angle lens to get amazing close-up shots. When trying for these closer up shots, use a macro-lens like
  8. If you are trying to photograph kids or pets, try using the LookBirdy app. This app will make bird sounds to get them to look at the camera.
  9. Add a few sparkles to your image with the Picfx app.
  10. You won’t always be able to snap the perfect shot with your smartphone the first time, so try many shots rather than just one to get the perfect one.

Remember, with so many advancements in cellphone technology, almost anyone can feel like they’re a photographer now. Further technological advancements will considerably change art and culture as we know it, and only time will tell how great those changes will be.