Yes, you can make magic with a smartphone camera. It’s pretty simple, actually! First step, stop downplaying your photography skills and start thinking about your smartphone as if it’s a proper digital camera. There are so many neat settings and tricks to try and up level your photography game with just a bit of practice.
Here are a few tips to get started. Start snapping and don’t forget to tag us in your photos #gorvingcanada #bringbackwildhood!
Rule number one of all photography is always look for natural light. Lucky for you, camping typically comes with lots of this. However, you want to avoid harsh natural light: noontime sun creates heavy shadows on faces. Overcast days and golden hour glows make for the best photos, but shaded areas also work in a pinch.
Finally, never use flash! Cell phone flash can ruin a great photo.
So simple, but so effective! Our smartphone camera lenses get dirty quickly. Give it a wipe before snapping some photos and you’ll be amazed at the difference in clarity. Some camera apps can sense a smudged lens and prompt you as well.
Portrait mode (iPhone) or selective focus (Samsung) creates crystal clear objects and beautiful blurred backgrounds when shooting close to the photo’s main focus. Swipe the camera mode to play around with this setting.
Check the focal point of your smartphone camera by tapping the area on the screen that you want to focus on. For example, tap on faces when shooting people to help the camera recognize their smiles. When capturing closeups of nature, help the camera focus on the details you want to be clear, while blurring others.
Portrait, selective focus, or closeup modes can create an extreme blurred background effect, but it automatically blurs the objects farther from the camera versus the tap to focus with a more subtle difference.
Smartphone cameras aren’t powerful enough to zoom into the horizon and maintain quality, so avoid using zoom at all costs! Instead, try to position yourself to better capture your focal point. It might mean trekking a bit closer or finding an uncomfortable position, but a high quality image is worth the work.
Keep horizon lines straight and note where they fall in your image. Do you want them perfectly centered or a little higher or lower? If you forgot to line things up when taking the photo editing apps can fix this afterwards. A little alignment works wonders on your final images!
Nothing ruins a photo like noticing a piece of garbage floating somewhere. Always pay attention to your background when shooting objects closer to the image. Can you clean the area before snapping a picture or adjust your framing to cut out unwanted items?
A lot of the magic happens when editing. A simple filter works wonders! Choose an editing app and learn your way around the tools or consider purchasing premade filters or presets to add life to your smartphone photos.
We recommend editing apps with tons of free capabilities like Lightroom Mobile or Snapseed.
Upgrade your smartphone camera with cool accessories like clip-on lenses, tripods, and remote shutters. Tech travel gadgets make wildhood photography even more fun.
There you have it! Smartphone photography made easy. We can’t wait to see your #gorvingcanada photos online! Connect with us at , Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
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