Photography Tips

BrianH

BrianH

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I look with envy at some of the superb photography posted on the site and wonder what tips there are for improving photograph quality using iPhone or similar?
 
Good light. Good composition. Remove clutter. Direct light/sunlight does not help, but diffused is good.

Take a few pictures at different angles. The lens on the iPhone is at one end of the phone and can distort what you're picturing.

One big tip is once you've framed your shot, touch the screen on the bit you want the eye to focus on. It will then calculate light and focus around that point.

Click edit and boost a few things:

Click the auto
Turn up Sharpness (to, say 15)
Turn up Definition (to, say 25-33)
Add a Vignette? (66)

Try taking the picture from a little further away ...

This will give you the opportunity to twist the picture in the frame and potentially give a pleasing effect having removed the notion of the horizonal. Crop that in close and fiddle with the settings.
 
Hi Brian - what do you mean - more specifically - by improve? What would you like your pictures to look like? Are you most concerned with technical quality, composition, the overall feel of the pic? It might make it easier to understand what you want to achieve. Best - I.
 
Digimonkey said:
Hi Brian - what do you mean - more specifically - by improve? What would you like your pictures to look like? Are you most concerned with technical quality, composition, the overall feel of the pic? It might make it easier to understand what you want to achieve. Best - I.
Click to expand...
Hi Ian
When you look at some of the regular contributors to SOTD there are some that stand out head and shoulders above the rest. They seem so much sharper and well defined. So it's the technical quality of the image that interests me.
Regards Brian
 
BrianH said:
Hi Ian
When you look at some of the regular contributors to SOTD there are some that stand out head and shoulders above the rest. They seem so much sharper and well defined. So it's the technical quality of the image that interests me.
Regards Brian
Click to expand...
As has been pointed out - pay particular attention to your light source - and the way it will affect the overall look of the picture - equally importantly - all digital images need some degree of post-production - I don't use it - but could recommend Snapseed - it is a very powerful bit of software - and free. I helped a couple of mates turn out images from their phones they needed for commercial Instagram posts - and this was the best - in my opinion. Keep it simple - think about your backgrounds - cheers - I.

@patw - ha ha - that's how you do it - looks a lot like flash. Continuous light source - Petzl?
 
patw said:
Hello Brian

Loads of great photos on SOTD and most are sharper than mine.

I use my mobile phone.The majority of my photos are taken in a darkened room with the aid of a torch.I also get a bit of help from a couple of free aps (Snapseed & Pixir ) but that's between you and I. ;)

All the best
Pat
Click to expand...

Just a mobile phone? Stunning. I was expecting a confession to taking them with some top of the range expensive piece of kit. Like you say a lot goes down to composition, light (and a lack of) and a knack for just taking a photo.

Think outside of the norm. I think @Digimonkey goes a long way to taking them from strange perspectives which really does carry. I used to use Pixir but found some of the quality disappeared when cropping and viewing them in a larger format so I've recently gone over to 'Polish' and so far so good. Or use what is available on the phone for editing. I tend to play with saturation quite a lot, sharpen and contrast.

My problem is I need to move away from literally the only two places I use to take photos...........and take better photos
 
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Digimonkey said:
As has been pointed out - pay particular attention to your light source - and the way it will affect the overall look of the picture - equally importantly - all digital images need some degree of post-production - I don't use it - but could recommend Snapseed - it is a very powerful bit of software - and free. I helped a couple of mates turn out images from their phones they needed for commercial Instagram posts - and this was the best - in my opinion. Keep it simple - think about your backgrounds - cheers - I.

@patw - ha ha - that's how you do it - looks a lot like flash. Continuous light source - Petzl?
Click to expand...
Downloaded Snapseed, seems very useful
 
Satanfriendly said:
Just a mobile phone? Stunning. I was expecting a confession to taking them with some top of the range expensive piece of kit. Like you say a lot goes down to composition, light (and a lack of) and a knack for just taking a photo.

Think outside of the norm. I think @Digimonkey goes a long way to taking them from strange perspectives which really does carry. I used to use Pixir but found some of the quality disappeared when cropping and viewing them in a larger format so I've recently gone over to 'Polish' and so far so good. Or use what is available on the phone for editing. I tend to play with saturation quite a lot, sharpen and contrast.

My problem is I need to move away from literally the only two places I use to take photos...........and take better photos
Click to expand...
I too thought they were taken with a top of the range camera
 
Digimonkey said:
As has been pointed out - pay particular attention to your light source - and the way it will affect the overall look of the picture - equally importantly - all digital images need some degree of post-production - I don't use it - but could recommend Snapseed - it is a very powerful bit of software - and free. I helped a couple of mates turn out images from their phones they needed for commercial Instagram posts - and this was the best - in my opinion. Keep it simple - think about your backgrounds - cheers - I.

@patw - ha ha - that's how you do it - looks a lot like flash. Continuous light source - Petzl?
Click to expand...

Spot on , Iain

20200627_221025-01.jpeg
 
Satanfriendly said:
Just a mobile phone? Stunning. I was expecting a confession to taking them with some top of the range expensive piece of kit. Like you say a lot goes down to composition, light (and a lack of) and a knack for just taking a photo.

Think outside of the norm. I think @Digimonkey goes a long way to taking them from strange perspectives which really does carry. I used to use Pixir but found some of the quality disappeared when cropping and viewing them in a larger format so I've recently gone over to 'Polish' and so far so good. Or use what is available on the phone for editing. I tend to play with saturation quite a lot, sharpen and contrast.

My problem is I need to move away from literally the only two places I use to take photos...........and take better photos
Click to expand...

Haven't kept up with the latest phone, I use my Samsung Galaxy 6.
 
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