Take better photos with your camera phone
6 December 2004
Many memorable moments in life have disappeared into a haze of blurry bits, because photos snapped on a camera phone have miserably failed. Slight movement of the phone when the shutter key is pressed is a common reason for the dud. Keep your phone steady, and learn seven other valuable tips that will quickly improve the quality of photos you capture on your camera phone.
1. Keep the camera phone steady.
One of the most common reasons for blurry photos is a slight movement of the phone at the moment when the image is being captured. Often, the phone moves when the shutter button is pressed, or the happy snapper believes that the picture has safely been stored, but in fact, the camera is still processing the image (see also tip number 7). For steadying the phone, try to support it with both hands or hold it against a tree, a traffic sign or any solid object. If you are still shopping for a camera phone, try also a model that has a dedicated shutter button on the side of the phone.
- Which shutter button feels steady in your hand? Left: a dedicated shutter on the side (Sony Ericsson T630), right: a multifunction navigation key as a shutter button (Nokia 6600).
2. Use flash for indoors photos.
When you take photos indoors, use a flash or find a spot with plenty of light. Nothing will save you from murky, unrecognizable faces if there isn't enough light. Those lucky ones who have a new camera phone model, such as LG VX6100, Samsung SPH-V4400, Sanyo PM-8200, or Sendo X can use the built-in flash. Use it. The flash will consume phone battery, but good photos are worth it - they will last longer than the camera.
- Photos snapped with a mid-range VGA-resolution camera phone in a dimly lit room. Left: normal or 'outdoors' camera set-up, middle: 'night' set-up, right: with a flash.
3. Let the light shine from the side in outdoors photos.
It is possible to take excellent photos when the light is shining straight into the lens, or when it is reflected from behind, but it requires a camera where the shutter speed and aperture settings can be adjusted. Positioning yourself so that the object is lit from the side is perhaps the easiest choice in bright sunshine. Beware of taking photos of objects in water or in snow: they are tricky to capture, because snow and water reflect large amounts of light compared to the object.
4. Focus on one object.
Photos rarely do justice to a wide open, beautiful scenery. Camera phones are not at their best when used in landscape photography, so it is better to get close and focus on one object, and if there just happens to be some beautiful scenery in the background, you may have an excellent image in the palm of your hands.
5. Capturing moving objects requires some practice.
Trying to frame a moving object is rather difficult and easily results in a blurry picture. Photographing moving objects requires good optics, enough light and plenty of practice. Try to follow the movement smoothly with the lens before and after you press the shutter button.
6. Pay attention to framing your shots.
Optical zoom is a great help for framing photos, because the optics bring objects closer to you. You shouldn't use the widely advertised digital zoom function at all, since it magnifies the image by adding pixels and results in a mosaic-like photo. Try different camera angles: point the lens from a lower or higher angle than the object, or get close-ups that create depth and dimension to your photo.
7. Take the shutter delay into account.
There is a delay between the moment you press the shutter button and when the camera has captured the image. The clicking sound doesn't mean that the phone has captured the photo, it just indicates that you pressed the shutter. The length of the delay varies between phone models, but it tends to be longer than in digital cameras. So, keep the phone steady for a moment after you have snapped the photo.
8. Snap extra photos.
If the situation allows it, take a couple of extra photos. A camera phone is great for capturing all kinds of events, but in the heat of the moment it is impossible to tell if the image you shot was a success or not. Some people claim that their first photo on any subject is always their best, and they rarely save any backup shots. Still, take the extra photos, you can easily remove them once you have viewed and selected which photos you want to keep.
The sheer number of photos people take with their camera phones ensures that there always are a few excellent images among them, but improving your chances of getting more great photos doesn't cost anything. Except that you might want to upgrade to a megapixel camera phone, purchase a large spare memory card, get a model with large color screen, and - oh, well. In any case, the memories are priceless.
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