It’s often said that a picture is worth 1000 words but I think a good picture is worth a million. With the incredible growth of online platforms, there is such a high demand for good quality visual content; because the first few seconds of coming into visual contact with an object are the most important as that moment determines whether you’ll give it a second look or not.

It’s no different for social media where we post photos on a daily basis about places we visit, a day out with friends, new fashion trends or just random selfies. Whether an organization or an individual, we would all like to portray our best image and thankfully we now have mobile phones with cameras to help. So today we’d like to share 6 tips to take the best photos with your camera phone.

These tips are from my photography class, my own experience and a few top travel bloggers.

1 .A good camera phone

Of course you first need to have a good camera phone, you would know the better ones by checking the mega pixels which are usually written on the box, and nowadays there are many affordable ones to choose from. With a good camera phone, you won’t have to go through too much trouble editing.

1. Lighting & Focus

Natural lighting (from the sun) is your best option to bring out rich, bold colours of the objects you take pictures of. The only exception is at night when you have to use indoor lighting; however this is still fine as long as the object is not directly under the light. Quick tip is that the light should hit the object, and the camera should face away from the light.

1. Angles and alignment

Apart from the subject of the picture, there are so many other objects in the picture, more so in the background. Ensure to observe straight lines, whether it’s a building, a door or a window, it has to be straight in order to be picture perfect

1. Focus & Rule of thirds

Back in campus I had a unit in photography and the lecturer brought out the lesson on the rule of thirds in such a beautiful way. It may sound unfamiliar but it’s quite simple, just take a sample of a picture in a magazine, draw two horizontal lines and two vertical lines (the result should be 9 equal squares). So the theory is, the main subject in a picture should not fully land in the middle box, it should fall mostly in either of the other boxes, this gives the photo more depth and life.

1. Apps and Filters

Thank heavens for apps! They always help personalize your pictures to suit your theme and personality. My favourite photo editing apps are Pixlr and Aviary which I use to brighten and frame my photos. You could do so much more with them to bring out your pictures in the best way. Filters are also available on some social media sites in case you need a final touch before posting.

1. Shoot with your mind

Before taking that shot, think about what emotion you would like to bring out and the best way to do it. If it’s an expression of joy and a beautiful day, you need to have more colour. However, you should always keep it simple and not have too much going on in one picture.

 

Share with us more picture perfect tips!

xoxo,