Tips For Improving Camera Phone Photos

Digital Photography School is out with it's latest installment. These tips are something I can totally appreciate because a lot of times I don't have a real camera handy when the kids are being cute. 99% of the time, I whip out the cell phone camera and take a picture that is ridiculously bad.

Here are 2 of the 13 to get you started.

· Well lit subjects - The better lit your subject is the clearer your image is likely to be. If possible shoot outside or turn on lights when shooting inside. Be aware that different lights impact the color in your images differently. Experiment with White Balance to rectify this (see below). Some cameras come with a built in flash or light - this can really lift a shot and add clarity to it, even if you’re shooting outside. If your camera doesn’t have a flash or light you should avoid shooting into bright lights as you’ll end up with subjects that are silhouetted.

· Get Close - One of the most common mistakes with camera phone images is that their subject ends up being a tiny, unrecognizable object in the distance. Camera phone images tend to be smallish due to low resolution - so fill up your view finder with your subject to save having to zoom in on the subject in editing it later (which decreases quality even more). Having said this, getting too close on some model camera phones creates distortion of either fisheye effect or lack of focus due to poor macro ability.