How to take great photos on your phone

Any advert for a contemporary smartphone or tablet is likely to emphasise the calibre of its cameras as much as any other components.

Indeed, the fact that smartphones can make phone calls is often forgotten, let alone that every other function has evolved out of a basic calls-and-texts telecommunications service.

Today, we demand 5G connectivity for seamless internet access, high-end processors to support multiple applications and crisp screens capable of displaying 4K video content.

We also expect smartphones to take high-calibre photographs in low light conditions, of fast-moving objects or while we’re in motion ourselves.

However, high-calibre images aren’t really the responsibility of camera lenses. They’re ultimately down to individual users framing and taking images effectively.

Whether you’re undertaking home product photography or simply capturing a special occasion, these are our tips on how to take great photos on your phone.

Frame with care

The art of good photography involves what you don’t see as much as what you do, and this philosophy extends to the framing and composition of photographs.

As far as possible, crop out unnecessary clutter like street signs, shoes in the corner of a room or passers-by (unless they’re intended to be in shot, of course).

It’s conventional to position a subject centrally in shot, though the rule of thirds supports a focal point one third of the way across the frame widthways.

Hold the camera vertically

Estate agents are notoriously bad at photographing houses with their cameras tilted back. Although this lets them capture upper storeys, it often looks as if the building is falling backwards.

Ensure vertical lines are actually vertical before taking a photo, since even the best post-production image editing software will struggle to correct this retrospectively.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re taking a photo in portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) format. Straight lines should always be straight – if they’re not, take a few steps back.

Get the lighting right

It’s easy to leave the camera flash on and then wonder why daytime shots look dark, or nighttime shots have a bright central circle surrounded by inky blackness.

Conversely, avoid taking pictures with the sun in shot wherever possible. Haloes and light circles often result, and other elements may look artificially dark.

Adjusting your stance or angle slightly can transform a photograph’s appearance, particularly when you’re indoors to include (or exclude) lights or windows as preferred.

Don’t overestimate your phone’s capabilities

Knowing how to take great photos on your phone involves not expecting too much of features like optical zoom, which become increasingly grainy the more they’re deployed.

If you’re on a beach trying to photograph speedboats , get as close to the water’s edge as safety permits, rather than standing further back and expecting the camera lens to compensate.

Internal phone flashes won’t illuminate a night-time scene, and they’ll struggle to capture motion in low light as well. In such circumstances, a short video clip may be safer.

Delete duplicate images

In today’s age of cloud storage, photos taken on smartphones are often automatically backed up via Microsoft OneDrive, iCloud Photos, Windows Camera Roll and so forth.

If you’ve taken ten photos of something, they won’t all be needed, or even wanted. Review your digital spool after the event, save the best shot and delete everything else.

This achieves several things – decluttering digital archives, saving hard drive space on phones (and any linked cloud servers) and making it easier to find a great photo at a later date.