How can I use my phone as a professional camera?
Bonfire Night is back and it’s that time of year again where people up and down the country head out into the cold to admire the colourful spectacular and crackles. But how can you preserve these vibrant moments in great photos that truly do justice to the magic in the air? You don't have to hire professional photographers to get the ultimate photo. Your phone camera is all you need.
In this blog, we light the way on how to capture that perfect self-shot Bonfire Night photo with our photography tips, whether you’re an Apple or Android fan, it’s time for you to ignite your camera skills and create some pictures that sparkle with the spirit of the season!
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How can I take better pictures with my iPhone camera?
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Night Mode:
With Night Mode, iPhone users can capture more detailed and awesome pictures in low-light situations. With the iPhone 11 models and onwards as well, these devices offer a Night Mode feature called Wide Sensor, with 100% Focus Pixels that capture indoor and outdoor low-light environment photos when you don't have complete natural lighting.
How do I turn on Night mode on my iPhone?
Setting – Control Centre – Brightness – Night Shift – On.
(With Night Shift, you can then schedule when the night shift automatically turns on so you’ll never have to remember to alter it again.)
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Live Photo:
What is the point of Live Photos on an iPhone?
Live Photo records one second before and after you’ve taken your picture, creating a short video from the image you’ve taken. This video can then be watched, and you can select a ‘Key Photo’ to save as your new image.
The Live Photos double as a long exposure technique which can create effects like light trails and glowing effects in darker atmospheres, they also make it much easier to take a photo as you have plenty of options to choose from, no more scrolling between blurry images!
(Although automatically turned on for iPhones but can be turned off on the camera app.)
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Avoiding Flash:
Using flash on the actual iPhone camera can disrupt your photo, it can take the colour and detail out of your image whilst also making your phone work harder as it also needs power to work the flash. However flash is still a great tool to use, especially in nighttime photos, as it can illuminate your foreground focus whilst keeping the rest of the image dark. So, how to fix this?
Simply use another phone's flash, use a torch, or use natural background lighting to DIY your flash. The images will appear crisper, and you can then alter where the light is coming from and where it hits the image creating some cool light tricks.
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Adjust exposure using yellow focus point:
Reducing exposure will make the photo appear darker which is great for nighttime photos because the detail in the image can shine through.
How do you adjust exposure?
Exposure can be edited after the photo has been taken, but this can appear unnatural when editing after. To alter the exposure whilst taking a photo, press the screen where a yellow box will come up, next to the box there will be a small sunshine icon, drag this to the bottom of the screen and hold it whilst taking pictures, your exposure will be much lower now.
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How can I make my Android camera better?
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Adjust Depth Of Field (Samsung)
When adjusting the depth of field on your Samsung camera, allows you to have clear photos over a greater or lesser distance in front or behind the subject creating a stunning photographic tone.
How do I get the depth of field on my Samsung phone?
To activate this feature, swipe your finger to the middle of the screen with the Samsung smart camera app open for more shooting options.
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Activate Night Mode (Samsung)
Night Mode helps to take vivid, optimised photos in low light conditions on your Samsung.
Open camera app icon – Swipe to more – Night – Use shutter button to take your photo.
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Motion Mode (Pixel)
What is pixel motion mode?
Motion Mode is a relatively new feature which was introduced to the Pixel 6, it adds a blur to photos to create depth dimension and detail. Not only does it make your foreground more detailed, but it also makes it look like the background is still moving while taking the picture.
Open Google Camera app – Scroll to motion – Choose blur effect – Action pan – Add creative blur to background.
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Night Sight (Pixel)
Night Sight is brand new for Google Pixel 8 Pro, allowing users to now get crisper detail in videos as well as photos. Google users no longer have to worry about shaky or imperfect video quality.
Select photo mode carousel – Night Sight – Hold still whilst the device captures photos.
Related blog: Google Pixel 8 Review
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Which smartphone has the best camera right now?
Wanting to upgrade your mobile device to a stronger, clearer camera? Take a look at our selection of the best camera phones. We have plenty more mobile phones on our website, take a look!
Mobile Accessories:
We also have plenty of mobile accessories, great for you to bring along to make your photos even better, check out our selection now.
- Belkin Portable Power Bank
- Belkin Boost Charge Wireless Charging Pad
- Vodafone Emergency Portable Power Bank
Conclusion:
In conclusion, these phone tips and tricks are great ways to secure the ultimate firework display photo this bonfire night to impress your friends. These tips should help answer your question of how do you take pictures like a pro. Do you have any more camera tips? Leave a comment below now letting us know which ones you suggest!
