Smartphone Photography Mistakes: In this article, I’m going to tell you 10 mistakes that beginners make especially in their smartphone photography. And please don’t think that I believe that I always take the perfect photo.
Photo by Burak The Weekender: from Pexels
Unfortunately, I still often make the same mistakes myself. But today I’m all about showing you these mistakes and at the same time giving you tips on how to improve the quality of your smartphone photos.
Smartphone Photography Mistakes
In this modern era, we are using our smartphones to take thousands of photos. Unfortunately, only a few of them are really good photos. It seems to be due to the hardware because in many cases you can see that a smartphone photo can hardly be distinguished from a photo taken with a professional camera.
So Let’s Get Started.
You have no idea how light affects your photo. People often say that photography is like painting with light. What you should be left with from that statement, for now? Proper exposure and the right light are one of the most important factors.
If not the most important, is whether you will take a good photo or a bad one. And that doesn’t change with smartphone photos.
Portraits and even landscape photos in harsh sunlight will rarely be good photos. The landscape photo will look boring and the portrait will have unsightly shadows. So pay attention to the light.
The effect of light on smartphone photography
Here are just a few quick tips on what to look for in lighting. Prefer soft light, such as the light in the evening or morning to take your photos.
Shoot your portraits in the shade or even against the sun. So avoid taking portraits under the direct sun or with the sun behind you.
You don’t change any settings on your smartphone and just always shoot your photos with the default settings. It’s quite typical to take photos with your smartphone by simply pulling out your phone and quickly taking a few photos.
You don’t even think about the fact that the camera app would also offer the possibility to manually change or fix the focus or exposure, for example.
Besides, both IOS and Android now offer you really interesting and creative features that you could use for your photos.
This could be lighting settings in portrait mode or interesting effects for LivePhotos.
Image Composition
Ok, the topic of image composition is a very extensive topic and there are quite a few tutorials on this topic. However, the lack of composition is particularly noticeable in smartphone photos.
The reason is the same as before. You take out your phone and quickly take a few photos, and one will hopefully look good.
Here are a few quick tips for your composition. Don’t always put your subject in the center, but at least sometimes consider the rule of thirds.
Make sure your image doesn’t look overloaded. Too much chaos will ruin your image. Instead, think carefully about what the image should be about and then put it in focus.
Sometimes it helps to get closer. Pay special attention to the foreground and background. Sometimes objects in the foreground can add depth.
Sometimes the background is too distracting.
The importance of angle
This is also a very important topic. You shoot all your photos from the same perspective. This is actually closely related to the last issue.
If you always hold your smartphone at the same height. For example at eye level, and always take the photos at the same angle, then your photos will often look boring.
Remember, photography can not only document. It can also be an art form. Especially with a smartphone. It’s possible and also very easy to try out unusual angles and perspectives.
For example, if you take your photo from the bottom up, your subject will look bigger. From the top down, it will look smaller. Just try some interesting angles.
You’ll see it’s fun and your photos will look more interesting very quickly.
You don’t edit your photos. Most smartphone photos are not minimally edited.
However, good editing can turn a boring photo into an interesting one.
Besides that, it’s the editing that can make all the difference. You can be sure that most owners of large Instagram accounts edit their photos. Sure, many of these photos are taken with professional cameras.
But even a smartphone photo can be greatly improved. Check out a few apps and learn how to use them. For example, I recommend the app Snapseed. It doesn’t cost much and has all the important features you need. you always use the same exaggerated filters.
You don’t edit your photos, but you always use the same Instagram filters or filters from your smartphone app. The app I just mentioned, Snapseed, has a few filters in addition to the editing tools.
Use of right filters.
A few years ago I used to apply the same filter. In my case HDR-Scape, to all my landscape photos. It just looked spectacular to me. But the result was usually completely over the top, had too much sharpness, and just looked unrealistic. Today I find these pictures terrible.
From this experience, I can only recommend that you reconsider the use of filters. This is especially true for the default filters of smartphone apps. Sometimes such a filter can look quite good and enhance the photo, but often this is not the case.
You always take your photos in portrait mode. At the latest since Instagram has become so important, smartphone photos in particular are taken exclusively in portrait mode, or rather vertically.
This may also be the right decision for Instagram most of the time. Nevertheless, the portrait mode is absolutely not always the best choice for a photo.
Especially when it comes to photos of landscapes or photos that show people in a special environment. It can make sense to hold your smartphone horizontally sometimes and shoot a photo in the so-called landscape mode.
I think you are absolutely aware of this, but you have become accustomed to holding your smartphone vertically all the time. You don’t know the limits and weaknesses of your smartphone camera.
Your phone’s image processors are able to create beautiful photos from an extremely small sensor and an extremely small lens. The image is heavily processed by your smartphone so that it ultimately looks the way it does. And the results are incredible. Even in low-light conditions.
Nevertheless, your smartphone camera also has its limits and weaknesses. On the iPhone 12, for example, the main lens produces much better photos than the ultra-wide lens, especially in low-light conditions. Thus, the ultra-wide lens definitely has its weak points.
Condition of the smartphone.
You should know that, though, if you want to take better photos with your smartphone. Depending on the smartphone. Poor lighting conditions are still difficult to handle for many devices and are a clear weak point.
Even backlit situations or shooting directly into the sun can often lead to unattractive Results.
You shoot too many photos and don’t save them properly. The fantastic thing about a smartphone is that you always have it with you.
This allows you to take photos in situations where you normally wouldn’t have had a camera with you.
However, this often results in a huge amount of photos that you never look at again. I’m thinking of young parents, for example.
Everything and every situation are captured. I know this from experience.
Please don’t get me wrong. Interesting and funny pictures are also created.
But often, it’s just too much. The photos rot on your smartphone’s memory. And here’s the next problem.
You don’t transfer your photos to your PC often enough and you don’t organize them properly. If anything, you’re transferring your photos to the computer and they’re stored there in a folder without any additional organization.
You’ll find the photo you’re looking for with difficulty and a lot of effort.
This is where programs like Lightroom or even just Apple Photos can help you get some orders.
Smartphone photography is time-consuming.
you don’t take enough time to take your photos. The final mistake basically sums up everything I’ve said today once again. Yes, you can take great photos with smartphones. But to take a good photo, you have to take your time.
You should think about the location, exposure, or how the person you are capturing is posing. All of that takes time.
So now I don’t want to steal any more of your time. Give some thought to everything I’ve said today and just practice a bit. You will see, your photos will improve quickly.
If you want to add some typical mistakes or tips yourself, write them in the comments.
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