How to take beautiful photos with your Smartphone

You hopefully now have set up your Instagram Account and have started posting valuable content for your followers. But you might wonder how to take a great photos with your smartphone?

Amazing photography is no longer limited to those with professional cameras. You can take eye-catching photos your audience will love using a tool you already have in your hands. Here are some tips to drive follower growth and Instagram engagement.

Tip 1 – Follow the rule of thirds

To instantly improve your photo composition, turn on your camera grid lines. Aim to place your subject at the intersection of one set of vertical and horizontal lines. This technique, known as the rule of thirds, is popular among painters, illustrators, and photographers. Placing your subject off centre creates a slight imbalance that catches your viewer’s eye. To turn on your grid lines (on an iPhone), go to Settings > Photos & Camera and switch Grid to on.

Tip 2 – Focus on a single subject

A crowded background with multiple subjects in a frame only distracts from the focus of your shot. It can even confuse your audience. Instead, focus on a single subject in each photo. Remove distractions by cropping them out or finding a clean background to shoot against.

Tip 3 – Take advantage of negative space

Negative space is the empty space around your subject. Leaving negative space around your subject will draw attention to the desired focus of your image and prevent it from looking crowded.

Tip 4 – Look for interesting perspectives

People are used to seeing the world from eye level. To create interesting and fresh photos, National Geographic photographers commonly use shots from different perspectives. Change up your shooting perspective to capture a bird’s eye view or worm’s eye view. Experiment with different angles to find new perspectives on common sights.

Tip 5 – Leverage symmetry and patterns

The human eye is naturally drawn to symmetrical shapes and objects. Sometimes, it’s best to break the rule of thirds and centre the scene in your frame. Leading lines are another more specific form of symmetry that pulls the eye into the photo. People are also drawn to patterns. A pattern could be man-made, such as a tiled floor, or natural, such as petals on a flower or vines on a wall. To make things really interesting, break up the pattern with your subject.

Tip 6 – Use natural light

Standard overhead lighting creates harsh shadows and highlights that create unwanted dark and light areas in your photos. To prevent this from happening, use soft natural light wherever possible. Try taking photos next to a window, and for outdoor shots, the half-hour just before sunset and after sunrise often offers the most striking lighting as the sun is low in the horizon.

Now that you know how to take beautiful product photography, head on over to Instagram and share your beautiful imagery with your followers! You can also follow us on @aldigitalza.