Cellphone photography tips

diggitydon

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2013
Messages
397
Location
southern Ohio
Hey everyone.

I hope you don't mind me giving a few tips on photographing your finds with a cell phone (Smart Phone).

I use a Samsung Galaxy s3 and have had very good results. I know there are a lot of different phones in the market today and you can make just about any version do an amazing job of focusing even in low light. Here are the keys to achieving that:

1: Imobilize your phone: find some way to imobilize your cellphone, ie. by resting the base on top of an object sitting on the ground/table/desktop. Nothing elaborate, just steady is the goal. When in low light the camera in your phone is trying to capture as much light as possible to create an image that is viewable. This means that the shutter speed is greatly reduced causing the phone to pic up any slight movements and causing the image to be blurred.

2: Tap Screen Focusing: Most cellphone apps that take pictures will also have a feature that allows you to tap the screen while your subject is in the view finder and the phone will focus on the area you tap. Once you have a steady base, and you see the phone has focused on your subject, press the shutter release. (Trying to keep the phone as steady as possible.)

3: Macro Photography: This is basically taking a photo of your subject at very close range to capture fine detail. This may be different for each brand of phone, but I'm able to photograph subjects within 6-8 inches of the cellphone camera lens. If you can't get the phone to focus, there are two options to help this situation. Back up a bit from your object, or add more light via artificial lighting or by taking advantage of outdoor natural lighting.

These three tips should help when taking pictures with your cellphone. Hope this helps you with capturing stunning images of your amazing finds! Enjoy!

HH and GL!

Don
 
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