We Asked A Legit Photographer How To Take Kick-Ass Photos On Our Phone
There’s no excuse for taking average photos on your phone.
The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G is now available in six vibrant colours.
These days, there’s really no excuse for taking average photos on your phone. And yet, some of us still seem to find a way.
Most of the time, you’re bound to get a pretty good shot, purely because modern phone cameras are so damn good. But why settle for OK when you could take something seriously impressive?
With phones like Samsung’s new Galaxy S20 FE, you have the triple-rear camera system, quality, and tools to take professional-looking pics in your pocket for less than $1000. (And the 5G connectivity model makes uploading your pics lightning-fast.) You just need to know how to harness all that power.
Image courtesy of Samsung
So, to help take your camera roll from amateur-level to epic, we asked an expert photographer for advice. Aussie Creative Director, content creator, and Samsung Ambassador Sam Evans has travelled the world, shooting incredible content for the better part of a decade, so you know he knows what he’s talking about.
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Sam’s Galaxy-powered photography is beyond what you probably thought a phone could do, and he’s given us his top tips to level up.
#1 You have the tools, so use them
“I think not utilising the full capabilities of phones is probably the biggest mistake that people tend to make…If you’re trying to take a professional-looking photo, the biggest one would be using Pro Mode.”
While Auto Mode lets your phone choose the photography settings for you, Sam suggests taking control and switching to Samsung Galaxy’s Pro Mode. In Pro Mode, you can manually adjust settings like shutter speed, ISO, and exposure levels, to get the exact photo or video that you want.
Even if it seems intimidating, try playing with it, learn new techniques, practice a little, and see what happens.
#2 To zoom, or not to zoom
Zooming used to be synonymous with blurry images and internet memes, but with advancements like the 30x zoom on Samsung’s Galaxy S20 FE series, the clarity and detail opens up a lot of new possibilities.
“It’s honestly incredible what you can find within your frame when you zoom in,” Sam said.
“I like experimenting, so instead of taking like a regular portrait on the wide mode, I go further away from my subject and then zoom in and that kind of creates this really cinematic look where the background is super compressed and things seem a lot closer than what they are.”
One of Sam’s hot tips for using the zoom lens is to prop your phone up against something more stable than your shaky hands, then zoom in and get creative.
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#3 Did you stumble into some bad lighting?
Save yourself from the unflattering glow of fluorescents or the hollowing shadows of your bedroom lights and go find the sun. Not even an influencer ring light can compare with the magic of natural lighting.
“If I’m trying to take a photo of someone else, I’ll get them facing the window and I’ll have my back to the window, and that means they’ll have a nice flat light on their face.”
Sam’s advice is to find some natural light and play around with it to find your angle.
#4 When the sun goes down
Obviously natural light isn’t always available and we still want to be able to get The Shot after dark. So, what do you do?
While using flash is a viable option, this Sam Evans strategy will make you feel like a real pro.
“A little trick I like to do if I’m shooting someone and it is super dark, is not actually using the flash on my phone, but getting someone else to light them up from a different angle. That kind of just creates a little bit more of a stylistic, cinematic look rather than just the stock-standard bright flash straight onto the face.”
Sometimes a masterpiece takes a team, so designate your lighting crew.
#5 Set it up
Whether you’re taking a photo of your brunch, your mate’s outfit, or the Opera House, if you’re serious about composing your shot, you could do what Sam does and turn on the 3×3 grid feature.
“Whatever my subject is, I’m trying to keep it in two of the three parts of the grid…Even though it’s got negative space, it almost draws more attention to the subject, so that’s kind of what I’m looking for when I’m setting up a shot.”
So, to turn a good shot into a great shot, resist putting your subject front-and-centre every time. Even if the subject is you and you look great.
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#6 Is it a video?
According to Sam, all the same photography principles apply to shooting videos on your phone, and he captures incredible content with the Galaxy S20 FE’s ultra high definition video recording.
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He also shared one vital trick:
“Go into the settings and turn your stabilisation on… It takes that really sickly hand jitter out of things and makes the footage watchable.”
Stabilisation might be automatically turned on already, but make sure it is so that your videos don’t make people dizzy.
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Learn more about the new Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, available now in six vibrant colours, here.
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(Lead image courtesy of Samsung)