How to take and edit quality smartphone photos

It’s rare nowadays to encounter a mobile phone which doesn’t have a camera fitted.

Even so-called dumbphones like the retro Nokia 3210 have modest rear-facing cameras, while it’s common to find four or five cameras clustered together on high-end handsets.

Cameras have been key in differentiating the latest phones from their predecessors, with incremental improvements in technical components like pixels or telephoto zoom capabilities.

Yet an array of cameras doesn’t mean you’ll instinctively know how to take good photos – and many smartphones are still fitted with relatively grainy or low-resolution lenses.

Photographs may consequently feature pixellated close-ups, shaky video pans, washed-out colours and dull twilight/night-time images.

A knowledgeable amateur photographer could counteract many of these issues, and issues around framing, composition and lighting are the same as they ever were.

If you’re frustrated by the flaws in your camera roll, these are some insider tips on how to take good photos, irrespective of your handset’s technical specifications.

You’ve been framed

A good photograph is defined by what you don’t see as much as what you do.

A picture of your local park should be framed to crop out bins, graffiti (unless you’re aiming to capture a gritty urban aesthetic), edge-of-frame passers-by and patches of wet ground.

That might mean walking back and forth, zooming the camera in or out, lifting the phone over your head or even standing in a different spot.

Take multiple photos from different angles, reviewing them later and deleting all bar the best shots.

Wherever possible, avoid taking external photographs with the sun behind you, since your body could cast a long shadow and spoil the photo’s focus.

Internal images also benefit from patient framing. Every room has an optimal angle to photograph it from, while windows and ambient weather may affect the best location.

Avoid technical wizardry

Knowing how to take good photos involves minimising the need for technical assistance from your camera or post-production editing.

Walk closer to an object rather than zooming in; frame the shot to avoid having to crop its edges later; add brightness rather than artificially lightening it in post-production.

Any zoomed or edited image will appear less natural, probably losing detail and definition while gaining a ‘worked-on’ look that’s often subliminal but still somehow noticeable.

Try to make verticals look straight rather than angled. Indoors, hold the camera midway between floor and ceiling; outside, avoid shots that look like an object is falling over.

Irrespective of your post-production expertise or the software’s sophistication, a photo that’s been stretched, straightened or distorted will always look worse as a result.

First past the post system

If you do need to edit an image in post-production, there’s no need to spend hundreds of pounds on premium photo editing programs.

Platforms like Pixlr or even the basic Windows Paint tool are fine for cropping, rotating and resizing images.

If you want to dabble with airbrushing or layering, you will need a more sophisticated software package – these can be free, cheap or surprisingly expensive.

YouTube is a blessing when it comes to mastering technical tricks; in-program help guides and instruction manuals may be lacking, relating to older software or unduly convoluted.

Even something as (superficially) simple as adding a blue sky to a cloudy external image could involve a dozen stages and the creation of duplicate images.

When it’s time to save your edited masterpiece, choose a universally recognised image format like JPG rather than less well-known file types which may not open on certain devices.