Mobile photography tips

★ Posted on 12-10,2024

Mobile photography skills:

1. Understand the basic elements of photography - light (front light, side light, top light, backlight, golden hour)

Mobile Photography Tips

Light is the life of photography. With light, all things have forms and colors that can be perceived.

Before shooting, you must have the concept of light in your mind. Pay attention to the relationship between the subject, shooting position and angle, and light, whether it is forward light, side light, top light, or backlight. To use light well and creatively, you must have light in your daily exercise center and slowly find your feeling for light. The worst time to shoot is at noon, when the light is the most dazzling, the contrast is strong, the lack of vitality, the exposure is difficult to control, and it is easy to have a "yin and yang face" when shooting people.

The golden time for photography is early morning or evening, when the light is soft and the tones are warm, casting a mysterious veil on the subject. If you can get creative, early morning or evening light can add a magical touch to your work.

2. Understand your mobile phone (scenes, face recognition, portrait beautification, panorama, time-lapse exposure)

To take creative photos, you must first understand your mobile phone. Usually, the camera function of mobile phones has the following common items:

Scene: Mobile phones with powerful camera functions generally support these scenes - normal, smart, macro, portrait, landscape, sports, night scene , snow scenes, etc., it is close to a professional digital SLR. If you have time before taking pictures, try to adjust to the corresponding scene, so that the machine can find the most appropriate aperture, focal length and shutter time, and control the white balance. Of course, I believe that the vast majority of people will not waste everyone’s expressions and interest by adjusting it when taking out their mobile phones to take pictures, so it is recommended to set the scene to the smart setting.

Face recognition: Almost all smart phones now have this function, and it is automatic, so I won’t say more about it. When taking portraits, just wait for the small white frame to come out and point it at the face before pressing the shutter.

Portrait beautification/beautification: At this time, a powerful function emerged in response to the market demand of girls and gay friends. It can remove freckles, smooth skin, adjust skin tone and other needs while taking pictures. Some You can even achieve face slimming, colored contact lenses, etc... ButNote that you should turn this option off when shooting landscapes, otherwise the image quality will be damaged.

Panorama: Panorama is a very interesting function. In the past, it could only be accomplished by using a digital camera + tripod + post-production PS. Now you can do it by just holding your phone and turning it around. If you encounter magnificent mountains, pleasant beaches, colorful rainbows, gorgeous sunsets, or attractive model apartments, it’s time to use the panoramic function to show off your skills.

Slow shutter/delayed exposure: Another very interesting function. At that time, this was also a patent for SLRs, but now it has also begun to be transplanted to mobile phones. It is especially suitable for photographing the endless flow of people and traffic at night and creating interesting light graffiti. If you are smart enough, you can also try to use this mode to keep the mobile phone in synchronized movement and relative stillness with the subject to capture the pleasure brought by speed.

3. Composition (symmetry, golden section)

Composition

In photography and film, Symmetry and the golden section are the two most commonly used and error-free composition methods.

Symmetry can give people a balanced, classical, and dignified aesthetic, and can even create a weird, gloomy, and oppressive atmosphere. Zhang Yimou's "Raise the Red Lantern" and Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" are both examples of symmetrical compositions.

The golden section can make the work reveal an elegant and mysterious artistic temperament. Some mobile phones can display a "well" grid when taking pictures, which is the easiest golden section composition tool to master.

If you want to create an elegant composition like the classical oil paintings of the Renaissance, you need to understand and experience the two high-level composition tools of the golden spiral (also called Fibonacci spiral) and the golden triangle. Of course, currently no mobile phone, SLR camera, or even video camera will provide such a difficult composition tool, and it must all rely on brainpower. However, don’t let these accepted rules of academia limit your creative thinking. You can create your own unique composition style, but it requires more thought and practice.

4. Focus (focus, level, foreground, middle shot, long shot)

Focus

Focus determines the visual focus of a photo. Many friends who have no concept of focus often take photos that are out of focus - that is, the subject is blurred. Maybe it’s because I don’t know how to focus, or my hands are shaking. . Mobile phone cameras can all achieve autofocus, but autofocus uses center focus or scatter/global focus, which can only take care of most shooting needs. If the autofocus mode cannot focus on the subject you want to shoot, you need to use it. Use your hand to specify the location of the focus.

If you want to make your photos layered, you need to know how to place the foreground, middle shot, and distant shot. Usually, you should place the subject in the middle shot, focus on the middle shot, and let the foreground (or not) and distant shot take place.

If the photo is not attractive, it will be terrible. It may be because the distance is not close enough, or the viewing position is not low enough. Only by approaching your subject boldly and capturing enough details can the photo be more impressive.

5. Add some creativity to the photo (backlighting, etc.). Dislocation, playing with mirror/glass, multiple exposure)

Add creativity to photos

6. Filters (Polaroid, light leak, black and white)

 Filter

Polaroid: can capture a natural, vivid and nostalgic taste of life;

Light leakage: This is an unexpected surprise created in the film era, and LOMO cameras also It is often used, and now it has been moved into the app filter, which greatly reduces the Harvesting this unexpected cost, but people who play with light leakage are still a minority, so you might as well give it a try;

Black and white: This is the most classic color tone, and it is also in this era when everyone is looking for stimulation and saturation. , a tone that the public rarely appreciates, can be most truly experienced in the world of black and white.See the lines and layers brought by light, and feel the subtlety of grayscale. Black and white filters are suitable for expressing lines, shapes, textures, calmness, precipitation, and eternal content and subjects.

7. Objects, scenes and stories (clearance, decisive moments)

Photography is not just a skill. If you can treat it as a hobby, you might as well integrate it into your daily habits. A powerful and convenient camera phone can greatly enhance your creative passion. It doesn't have to be in front of handsome guys or beauties or on the road to be useful. Everything in life can be used as a shooting subject and shooting scene.

Object: It is the center and subject to be photographed. It is the origin of conception. Whether you want to capture its lines, contours, gestures, colors, speed, or an astonishing moment determines what kind of shooting techniques you adopt. Think about it, do you have a lot of running photos on your phone that you just clicked the shutter button without thinking? Start with the next photo, first think about what you want to take, and then think about how to take it.

Scene/background: It is the environment where the subject is located. A clean background gives a simple, calm, and thematic feel. All elements in the picture should form some kind of relationship with the subject, or exist to create an atmosphere and enhance the story, otherwise they should be removed ruthlessly. One of the reasons why photos don’t look good is that the background is too dirty and messy. . All elements that have nothing to do with the subject and the story should not exist on the screen. So the first priority before shooting is to clear the location.

The decisive moment: that is, the moment that makes a photo very "moving" and "feeling". This moment can be captured naturally, but the requirements for shooting skills and equipment are very high; it can also be created through artificial guidance, which is especially effective for photographing children and pets. Because they all have ADHD! They can’t be quiet enough to wait for you to press the shutter.

8. Travel and Documentation

Traveling is the best training ground for photography. For example, practice difficult composition...

Practice how to capture portraits. Don’t worry about them being offended. In fact, most locals and travelers abroad are very friendly about taking photos.

9. Take photos of your girlfriend to look thin, white, and tall (natural and confident)

After taking the photo, write three words on the photo: thin, white, and tall. This is a false proposition. You know whether you are fat or thin, white or black, tall or short, so why should you deceive yourself? Although the angle can create an illusion, the range is very limited.

Related reading:

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