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USE LOTS OF LIGHT
The better lit your subject is the clearer your image is likely to be.
- Shoot outside or turn on lights when shooting inside.
- If your phone has flash try using it for daylight shots - the extra 'fill' light gives a great effect.
- If your phone has a 'night' setting try turning it on during daylight shots.
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GET CLOSE TO THE SUBJECT
For best results, you want to be about a metre from the subject. Camera phone images tend to be smallish due to their lower resolution so fill up your viewfinder with your subject. That way you'll avoid a common phone camera problem, the subject being a tiny, unrecognisable object in the distance. |
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PRESS AND...WAIT
There's often a delay between the push of the button on a camera phone and the moment when the picture is captured, it's called Shutter Lag. Don't move the camera until you see the captured image on your screen. Also keep the camera as still as possible, lean against something if that helps you, this is especially true for low light conditions when the camera takes longer to capture the shot. |
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DON'T THROW AWAY 'MISTAKES'
The quality and size of your phone screen is no match for a proper monitor. So a picture that doesn't impress you on your phone might end up impressing you when you see it at full size on your PC. You'll also find that even 'mistakes' and blurred shots can actually be quite useable (in an abstract kind of way). |
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AVOID USING DIGITAL ZOOM
Digital Zoom achieves magnification by enlarging the pixels in your image and it leads to loss of image quality so try and stay away from it. Some phones however offer Optical Zoom (check out the Samsung G800 on page 14). Optical zoom uses the optics (lens) of the camera to bring the subject closer with no loss of image quality so it can be very handy when composing a shot. |
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USE THE HIGHEST RESOLUTION (IMAGE SIZE) POSSIBLE ON YOUR CAMERA PHONE
If your phone has a 3 megapixel camera for example, go into the settings and makes sure you're taking 3 megapixel images. The higher the resolution, the more options you have with it - a larger image means you can produce good quality large prints or it gives you the option to crop it down to a smaller size when editing it with photography software. |
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TAKE LOTS OF SHOTS AND BE CRAZY!
The beauty of digital photography (including camera phones) is the ability to go crazy and shoot off many shots quickly and without cost. So take as many shots as you can, use the portability advantage a phone camera gives you and break the rules. Shoot from down low, up high, close up, from the hip - you'll end up with interesting and fun shots!
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