In this fun article, we learn how to take print-quality photos with your phone!

Before the days of smartphones — if you can remember such a time — taking a great photo was a labour-intensive process. You’d have to buy a fancy camera and editing software for your desktop computer, and on top of that invest some serious time and energy into learning how to use it all.

But, thanks to our mobile devices and the editing apps that come with them, we can now take high-quality photos and edit them without too many bells and whistles — all from the same device that we use to make calls.

Taking a great photo on your smartphone is not as simple as pointing and shooting. There are plenty of bad smartphone photos out there — I’m sure you’ve seen at least a few.

What’s the secret to taking great pictures with your smartphone, then? As it turns out, there are a few of them. Check out these tips below to improve your smartphone photography game. Plus, once you have the photo-taking part down, why not have your awesome photography skills showcased and printed onto one of our impressive Canvas options!

1. Use gridlines to balance your shot.

One of the easiest and best ways to improve your mobile photos is to turn on the camera’s gridlines. That superimposes a series of lines on the screen of your smartphone’s camera that are based on the “rule of thirds” — a photographic composition principle that says an image should be broken down into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, so you have nine parts in total.

According to this theory, if you place points of interest in these intersections or along the lines, your photo will be more balanced, level, and allow viewers to interact with it more naturally.

Source: Digital Photography School

To switch the grid on …

  • iPhone: Go to “Settings,” choose “Photos & Camera,” and switch “Grid” on.
  • Samsung Galaxy: Launch the camera app, go to “Settings,” scroll down and switch the “grid lines” option to “on.”

2. Focus on one subject.

Many of the best photos include just one, interesting subject. So when taking a picture of one, spend some extra time setting up the shot. Some professional photographers say that the subject shouldn’t fill the entire frame, and that two-thirds of the photo should be negative space — that helps the subject stand out even more.

But be sure you tap the screen of your smartphone to focus the camera on your subject — that’ll help to ensure that it’s focused and the lighting is optimized.

Pro Tip: Once you’ve taken your photo, you can use filters and apps to make the subject even more vivid, or to crop it to frame the subject correctly. The brightness, contrast, and saturation of the photo can also be adjusted accordingly — all from your phone.

Source: Patrick Janelle

3. Embrace negative space.

“Negative space” simply refers to the areas around and between the subjects of an image — and it can take a photo from “good” to “great.”

When you include a lot of such space in a photo, your subject will stand out more and evoke a stronger reaction from your viewer. If you’re wondering what negative space looks like, it’s often a large expanse of open sky, an empty field, a large wall, or water, as in the example below.

Source: Eric Christian

4. Find different perspectives.

Taking photos from a unique, unexpected angle can make them more memorable — it tends to create an illusion of depth or height with the subjects. It also makes the image stand out since most mobile photos are taken either straight-on or from a bird’s eye view.

Try taking a photo directly upward and playing with the sky as the negative space. Or, you can try taking it at a slight downward angle, like in the first photo below.

Pro Tip: If you take a photo and find the perspective is a little askew or tilted, use the SKRWT photo editing app to make the lines look clean and square.

Source: iPhone Photography School; Paul Octavious

5. Play with reflections.

There’s something so idyllic about seeing the sky reflected in a body of water. There’s a reason why we love seeing that — our eyes are drawn to reflections. So look for opportunities to play with them in photos, it might surprise you how much it can change a picture!

There are plenty of out-of-the-box places to find reflections — puddles, larger bodies of water, mirrors, sunglasses, drinking glasses, and metallic surfaces just to name a few.

Source: Joshua Lott

We hope you found these awesome tips inspiring! Why not try them out and send us your pictures on Facebook or Instagram, we’d love to see that creative talent of yours.

At Canvas Print Co. we deliver handcrafted canvas prints that represent your identity and capture your memories forever. In today’s virtual landscape, our homes and offices are one of the few places left that can represent who we truly are. You deserve a product that is made with love – let us assist you in personalising your space.

Contact us today to learn more about bringing your memories to life!

For more information:

info@canvasprintco.co.za | (071) 281-6101 |

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Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/good-pictures-phone-tips