Everyone has a camera on them these days – your cell phone. More and more people are going away from carrying traditional dslr or point and shoots in favor of their camera phone for pictures. Heck, even I do it sometime. It’s quicker to post to Facebook from my iPhone than it is to download and post from my point and shoot.
Here is the problem, in many cases the pictures & the quality are awful. Camera phones give you very little control over apature, shutter speed and ISO which are the key components that make up a good picture. Many pictures posted from peoples camera phones are so blurry (camera shake from a slow shutter speed) or so dark you might as well have saved the time to post the pictures.
But don’t fret – I have a few tips for you camera phone enthusiasts that will ensure better pictures. And you don’t need to be a professional to be able to do this. 
Tip #1 – Shoot in bright sunny locations. Part of the problem with your camera phone is it is picking all your setting for you (basically auto on your camera). In bright sunlight the camera phone will pick a fast enough shutter speed for you to hand hold and get a good sharp picture.
Tip #2 – Don’t hold the camera out at arms length. You are less steady and there is more of a chance for camera blur from your hand not being steady. Keep your elbows in close to your body and hold the camera close to you.
Tip #3 – Steady the camera – if you can, steady your camera up against a wall, rest it on the back of a chair, use something that is solid and not moving. This should eliminate camera blur.
Tip #4 – Use an app. There are a million apps out there for camera phones. Dan Burkholder, a very good fine art photographer and author on photography. He works exclusively with an iphone for his camera these days and makes super huge prints. They are amazing. But he is using a bunch of apps to get these amazing pictures.
Tip #5 – Practice! Get to know your camera phone and what it can do. Especially the apps. Some apps like Hipstamatic have some pretty cool tools, but if you don’t know what they do, you’ll never get good pictures from them.
Tip #6 – Have fun! You don’t have to be Ansel Adams to get fun memories! (If you don’t know who Ansel Adams is – google him!)
Remember, this is not your point and shoot or your DSLR, but it can be a very fun creative tool just like your camera. If you know its limitations you can capture some amazing images.
{All of the above images were created using an iphone.}
