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You don’t need a full-frame camera to get amazing photos; your smartphone is more than enough if you know how to use lighting properly. Here are five ways that I get the perfect lighting for my smartphone pictures.
1Using My Phone Camera’s Brightness Feature
Sure, you may’t control ISO on most smartphones. However, you can still adjust the brightness on most modern devices, and I recommend doing that to get the best results with your mobile photography.
How you control your phone camera brightness depends on your device, but you’ll normally have to tap the screen once. A sun icon will then appear; move it up or down, depending on your preferences.
2Shooting With My Back to the Light Source
You can create cool effects like lens flare by facing a direct light source, but unless you’re doing that, I’d recommend turning your back. Smartphone cameras are often quite bad at taking photos when facing direct light, and you’ll get way too much contrast in your images.
By shooting with your back against the main light source, you’ll allow more light to come into your picture. You will also notice that your photos look more balanced. To really up your game, you might want to also try these coolsmartphone photography trips that actually work.
3Using Natural Light to My Advantage
Artificial lighting certainly has its place in photography, and I’m actually going to talk about it more in the next few sections. However, one of the best ways I get fantastic lighting in my mobile photos is by maximizing natural light.
When you take photos outside, you can use the sun to your advantage. It’s possible totake photos in harsh lighting, but you’re better off waiting until the sun is lower in the sky (i.e. morning or afternoon). Golden hour is one of the best times to shoot, and you canuse plenty of golden hour captions on social mediato help your photo stand out even more.
you may still use natural light to your advantage when photographing indoors. If your main aim is to not need extra lights, wait until around midday. However, you can create more subtle shots by capturing your images early or late in the day instead.
4Finding and Using Light Spots Indoors
Indoor photography is where I’d argue that smartphones have an advantage over mirrorless and DSLR cameras (if you’re shooting handheld, anyway). To achieve better lighting in your images, look for and use light spots.
For example, if artificial lights are on, place your camera near them—this works especially well with food photography. you’re able to also place your camera near windows or use shadows for creative effect.
If you decide to use more artificial lighting in your photos, considerchecking out these light modifiers and how to best use them.
5Only Using Flash Indoors
I’ve used flash on my smartphone a few times when taking photos outdoors, and it has rarely ended well. I think that it’s much better to look for artificial lights when shooting in low-light situations and move your phone closer to them.
At the same time, I think that smartphone camera flash photography works quite well indoors. This is especially true when you’re at social gatherings like dinner parties. In my opinion, flash can bring out your subject’s best features. For these reasons, I’d recommend using flash only indoors most of the time. You can experiment when outside, but don’t expect miracles.
Whether you’re inside or outside, there are plenty of ways you can make your smartphone photos look better by mastering your lighting. Use natural light to your advantage, and avoid shooting in the direction of your light source if possible. Also consider turning on your flash, but do so sparingly.
