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the sun.
If the sun is out, be sure your back-and not
your subject's-is to the sun or the subject will look
like a blacked-out silhouette. The hour before and
after sunset creates gorgeous light for photos.
Be a human tripod. If you can help it, don't hold
your phone at arm's length when taking photos.
You'll probably shake the phone more than you
Captued moments think, which could result in blurry images. Instead,
turn yourself into a human tripod by holding the
Tips for great smartphone photos camera with both hands and pulling your arms into
your chest or stomach. You might look a little silly,
but you'll see the difference with your sturdier grip.
THE BEST CAMERA, as they say, is the one you
have with you. Position for composition. Instead of placing your
Oh sure, your digital-SLR-toting friends subjects in the center of the frame all the time,
might get their lanyards all tied in a knot about you move them to the left or right to make your photos
hoist- ing your iPhone or Android device. But instantly more powerful and beautiful. Better yet,
smartphone cameras have some advantages go in on an angle to add extra energy to the shot.
when it comes to editing and sharing your work. Also, try to match the height of the subject,
To help you get more out of your summer such as by kneeling on the ground to snap a pic-
"phonegraphy" consider the following tips and ture of a toddler, to ensure you're at eye level in-
tricks. stead of angling up or down.
Turn the phone sideways. Unless you're taking a Have fun with filters. Phone cameras usually in-
picture of the Empire State Building, use the hori- clude filters as part of the software, but there are
zontal ("landscape") orientation when taking a numerous apps that can help you easily edit and
photo, as it will look much better on a computer or share photos and videos. Some automatically
television later on ( that is, no vertical black bars tweak your shots for better color and brightness.
on each side of the photo). Besides, a landscape Apps like Instagram can add fun filters, such as a
photo is better for group shots and scenery, as it sepia finish or a retro '70s look. Snapchat adds fun
gets more into the frame. Speaking of scenery, animated effects to your pies. Literally thousands
play around with your phone's panoramic mode for of apps are available, for all platforms, so experi-
ultrawide photos. ment away.'
Get up close and personal. Don't be shy. Unless Back up, back up, back up. There's nothing
it's a large, growling dog, there's no reason to be 5 worse than losing your smartphone and never hav-
feet away from your subject. Fill the whole frame ing backed up all those photos on it. There are
with your subjects. many ways to back them up. One is to plug your
Going in closer also means you can cap- phone into your PC or Mac every night to charge it
ture more facial detail, such as light freckling, a up, and check off the option to back up everything
charm- ing dimple or soft, pale blues of the iris. onto the hard drive.
Don't use your phone's digital zoom, as it might Another option is to take advantage of a
make your photo look pixelated-get closer your- free password-protected "cloud" service-like
self. Play around with how close is too close, OneDrive, Drop box, iCloud, Google Drive or
though, as that "macro" shot of a flower petal Google Photos- and have it upload all of your
might look blurry when you look at it later on. phones· photos when- ever you snap them. To
save cellular data, you can select to upload only
Use the light around you. Avoid using the flash over Wi-Fi.
wherever possible; instead, try to use the light Finally, some USB thumb drives are wire-
that's accessible, whether it's overhead lighting less and let you back up photos and videos from a
while indoors or, preferably, the sun outside. phone. It's worth safeguarding your memories.
Cloudy days are great for photos, as they diffuse
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