Three tips for taking better photos with a mobile phone

In my previous post on the Washington National Cathedral I wrote that I entered a photo of the cathedral in a photography contest. What I didn't say is that the challenge was to take a photo with a phone. Not an expensive camera.

While you're traveling, you'll likely have your camera on board as you wander new cities and tromp down exhilarating hiking trails. But should you ever be out and about without your camera and see a fabulous sight you'd like to capture, keep in mind that a mobile phone can do a decent job.

And, as a solo traveler, you might be out at night, not planning to take photos of the sights, and end up meeting some fun people. That often turns into a mutual photo-snapping session. 

Here are three tips for taking the best phone photos possible, offered by photography teacher Lynford Morton, who I took a class with in Adams Morgan in D.C. that I wrote about a few weeks ago:

 1. Use both hands to hold the camera as steady as possible. Good cameras have a feature that helps with that imperceptible shake of the hands. Phones? Not so much.

2. Avoid using the the zoom. Move closer if you need to. Using the zoom is going to degrade the quality of the photo.

3. Choose your phone camera's highest resolution. If you can't figure out how to change it, pose the question online.

When you look at some of the photos entered in the cell-phone photo contest, it's pretty astounding to think they weren't taken with a fine camera. (Now the question is, should I have entered the photo above instead of the one entered in the contest??)

Photo: Ellen Perlman. South side, Washington National Cathedral. Taken with a Droid.

Comments

[Dominique]

I'll have to try these! I usually get pretty cruddy shots with my cell phone, but I always try if it's the only camera I have available to me!

[Ellen]

Dominique,

Good luck. I've found these tips very useful.

[Marilyn]

Thanks. Great tips. Am getting a 'new' cell phone this week :)

[Ellen]

Marilyn,

A "real" phone?? Congrats!

[Marilyn]

YES!! A real phone for the real world!