Take Better Smartphone Photos & Videos

I'm so in love with photography I'm jumping to teach smartphone users how to take better photos on devices which notoriously capture poor quality media. If pixel noise, blur, and dim orange shots with demon glowing eyes bothers you too, or if you're a selfie-matic, read on for some tips that may improve your approach to smartphone photography. These tips attempt to take the whole gamut of smartphone brands into consideration. Images posted here were taken on my iPhone 5.

BETTER SMARTPHONE PHOTOS

Left side lit by a second phone's flashlight.

• In dim scenes, try side lighting with a friend's phone's flashlight feature. Direct flash is never pretty, even from a pro DSLR. Get creative with angles of the light.
• Dodge the darkness altogether and look for bright light or choose outdoor daylight, if available.
• Stand with your phone to a window, not your back to it.
• Don't plan to print a serious image from a smart phone, especially for a large print. You'll see a load of pixelization and noise. If you're serious about quality and printing, get a real camera... or a pro photographer.
• Turn on the snapshot sound indicator so someone you're photographing knows you have taken the photo.
• Get close, take time to compose the shot.
• Smartphones can't handle blur well. Stabilize your subjects.
• Don't even try capturing motion (especially fast children) with a smartphone camera - take video instead.

BETTER SELFIES

• Download a self timer app so you can compose shots without arms holding your own camera. Sometimes face shots get boring, and we want to see what else you can do.
• You don't always have to be looking into a mirror. The last point probably solves this thing.
• Never shoot yourself from the angle at which you normally read your phone (see below). Utilize the live viewer to compose your shot in a way that actually looks like you.
• Don't look at the live image of yourself when you shoot, look at the camera's eye.

The most attractive angle is usually from your phone looking slightly down on you.

A self timer app actually allows for an honest pose.
Hands are expressive! I knew they could do more than hold a phone :).

Don't shoot with your back to a window!

BETTER VIDEOS (same above lighting tactics apply)

• Always take horizontal video. (Notice this is bold, italicized and underlined.) This is how the medium was designed. Actually it's because our eyes are aligned horizontally. Vertical video feels unnatural and disorienting because that's not how we biologically view the world.
• Never switch from vertical to horizontal orientation while you're shooting... it won't correct itself later, and your watcher will have to finish viewing with a tilted head.
• Practice hand steadiness. Try holding your breath to achieve, or use a tripod. Don't give your viewers motion sickness.
• Move around when you shoot long, continous shots. Unmoving shots are boring, especially if we're waiting for a baby to do something. Move in, move out, get a new angle... all in one shot.
• Trim your video. If you haven't shot it succinctly, trim it short to show just the moment that matters. Internet users have extremely short attention spans (like, shorter than a toddler's), and they want the meat of the movie pretty much right when they press play.
• Keep it quiet. Narration distracts too much unless this is a documentary. Let babies silently explore their world (below).

Move in, out and around to show hands and expressions.

Motion jazzes up a pensive video.

Fun times! As everyone else does, I love capturing media. Although I'm used to professional equipment, I still enjoy the challenge of trying to fudge professionality with something completely stifling to it. Anyway, have fun trying these tactics and improving your photography!

Disclaimer time: Every smartphone claims different specs when it comes to its camera's abilities. Some claim better low light abilities, some claim greater image resolution. Some even have the ability to fit DSLR-like lenses and other equipment to improve the phone's ability to capture. I'm just going to say right here that if you're that serious on getting good quality images from a phone, might want to buck up and get a big boy camera rather than hunkering a phone around with top-heavy equipment which negates the slimness of toting the phone in the first place. Just sayin'!