You don't need an expensive DSLR to take great photos. Smartphones these days take really good pictures.
There's a lot that goes into a good photo besides the camera. Here are a few things to keep in mind when
you're shooting that'll dramatically improve your shots.
In photography, lighting is extremely important. If you're shooting outdoors, you want to shoot during magic hour.
These are the few hours after sunrise and before sunset when the lighting is softness and not as harsh.
If you are shooting during the day, try to avoid taking pictures of people in direct sunlight.
It casts harsh shadows and obscures people's features. Try to go somewhere in the shade where the lighting's more uniform.
An overcast day is also a great time to shoot because cloud cover provides even lighting.
An important thing to keep in mind when you're shooting photos, make sure you're exposed to the brighter parts of a
photograph. That way you're retaining all the information from the scene.
If your photos are coming out too dark, you can always brighten them with
editing software. My personal favorite is Lightroom. It has some really
great presets and has very robust editing controls. Another popular option
is Afterlight. You've probably heard of the rule of thirds, this is a key
part of taking better photos. Most smartphones have a grid option that
overlays over the camera app. Try using this to align points of interest
when you're taking photos. When you're taking pictures of people, frame
them so you're cutting them off mid-shin or mid-thigh. Also, try to be
mindful of how much headroom you're leaving.
Don't leave too much space above your subject, or too little, aim for
something in between. If your native camera app doesn't give you a lot of
control, maybe try using a third party one. I really like using Camera+.
It gives you plenty of control over important camera features like ISO,
aperture and even lets you control the focus manually. Some top of the
line smartphones have features that add software depth the field,
essentially giving you look of a DSLR camera, and it's actually pretty
good. It works best when you have plenty of light and depth behind your
subjects. If you're a selfie lover I got some bad news for you. That front
facing camera isn't as good as a rear facing one. So next time you're
taking a selfie, maybe ask somebody to take that photo for you. Another
way to get really creative with your photos is to use lenses. These are
similar to what you have access to on higher-end cameras but cheaper and
more portable. A fisheye lens gives you an extremely wide field of view.
It's a bit more stylized but can allow you to take some really creative
shots. A wide-angle lens works similar to the fish eye it's just not as
extreme. It works great for dramatic landscape shots or even when you're
indoors or in confined spaces. A telephoto lens is the zoom lens and it
works really great for taking shots of things far away. This is what you
want to use instead of the digital zoom your phone provides. Every time
you go further into the image it just pixilates it and degrades it more
and more. It's also great for taking pictures of things up close. It'll
add depth of field between your subject and its background. And lastly,
there's the macro lens, which lets you take extreme close-up shots. Like
the fisheye, this one's a bit more stylized and used for artistic or
creative shots. Just in case you were wondering, all the photos in this
video were shot on my iPhone X, with the lens portion using Olloclip's lenses.
So as I mentioned at the beginning of the video, there's a lot
that goes into photography besides the camera, and these tips will help you go a long ways in improving the photos that you take.
But the biggest piece of advice I can offer is to practice, so get out there and start shooting.