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Camera phone is taking new age of digital photography so it can be more accessible to everyone. Yet, not everyone now how to take most advantage of their mobile phone camera. Listed below are tips to optimize your experience with camera phone i recently collect from digital-photography-school.com :

1. Light Your Subject Well

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.
If you’re turning on lights in a room to add extra light to your shot
be aware that artificial light impacts the color cast in your shots and
you might want to experiment with white balance to fix it.

2. Get Close to Your Subject

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 small due to low resolution
(although this is changing) - 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 and focusing issues (particularly if the camera
phone doesn’t have a macro or close focusing mode).

3. Keep Still

As with all digital photography, the more steady your camera phone is when taking your shot the clearer your image will be.

This is especially important in low light situations where the
camera will select longer shutter speeds to compensate for the lack of
light. One trick is to lean your camera phone (or the hand holding it)
against a solid object (like a tree, wall, ledge) when taking shots.

Keep in mind that many camera phones also suffer from ’shutter lag’
(ie the time between when you press the shutter and when the camera
takes the shot can be a second or so). This means you need to hold the
camera still a little longer to ensure it doesn’t take a shot as you’re
lowering it away from the subject.

4. Edit Images Later

Whilst it can be fun to use your camera phone’s inbuilt editing and
effects, editing pictures later on your computer produces much better
quality images.

5. Don’t Throw Away ‘mistakes’

Remember that on many phones the quality of the screen will not be
as good as your computer’s. So if possible hang onto your shots until
you can get them on your PC. You might just find that they come alive
on a quality monitor. You’ll also find that even ‘mistakes’ and blurred
shots can actually be quite usable (in an abstract kind of way)

6. Avoid Using the Digital Zoom

As tempting as it might be to zoom in on your subject when taking
your picture (if you have a zoom feature on your camera phone), if the
zoom is a ‘digital zoom’ it will decrease the quality of your shot to
use it (you’ll end up with a more pixelated shot)..

Plus you can always edit your shot later using photo editing software on your computer.

7. Experiment with White Balance

An increasing number of camera phones come with adjustable white
balance which allows you to modify color balance in your images based
on shooting conditions. Experiment with this feature to get a good feel
for the impact that it has on your shots. I find that it impacts
different camera phones differently. Read your manual to find out how
it works on your phone.

8. Take loads of Shots and Experiment

The beauty of all forms of digital photography (including that of
camera phones) is the ability to shoot off many shots quickly and
without cost. This means you can experiment with different modes and
composition and discard those that you don’t want to keep.

9. Follow Rules of Composition (and then Break them)

Learn some basic composition ‘rules’. (for example - the rule of thirds
- ie don’t place your subject squarely in the middle of your frame but
a third of the way in). Simple tips like this can bring life toyour
photos.

But then also remember that the beauty of a camera phone is its
ability to break all conventions - some of the best shots around break
all the rules. So shoot from the hip, the floor, up high, up close -
anything goes.

10. Keep Your Lens Clean

One of the challenges with many camera phones is keeping them
maintained and clean. Phones spend a lot of time in pockets, in bags
and being used in all manner of weather and conditions. As a result
they get dirty and can easily become damaged - fingerprints are a
common problem on camera lenses - especially if your phone doesn’t have
a lens cover. From time to time clean the lens of your camera using a
soft cloth (sunglasses cleaning cloths are great).

11. Observe Camera Phone Etiquette

While there is no formal set of rules for using camera phones - it
is worth considering how you use it and what impact it might have upon
others. There are many cases of camera phones being abused to take
sneaky or voyeuristic photos. Ask permission to photograph strangers,
consider restrictions on the use of cameras in places like theaters and
concerts etc.

12. Use the highest resolution possible on your camera phone

Some phones allow you to choose what resolution you want to take
photos at. It almost goes without saying (but we like to state the
bleeding obvious) that the higher your resolution the clearer your shot
will be. This is especially true for camera phones which often have
sensors of under 1 megapixel in them. Keep in mind however that the
higher the resolution the larger the file size of the images you take -
this means if you want to send images they can end up taking a long
time to send.

photo by : sampo