Keep It Steady!

A great scene can easily be ruined by a shaky hand. Mobile phones have small camera sensors that require more light, hence a longer shutter speed (the time it takes for the camera to capture the photo from the moment you click the shutter button). So, you should always try to keep your hands as steady as possible. It’s not easy to do at first as most phones are designed to be slim and small, but with some practice, you will get the hang of it.

The only exception is the use of xenon flashes on certain camera phones. These flashes are so bright, they virtually eliminate the need to keep your hands steady because they allow faster shutter speeds of 1/250 seconds or so. The same thing applies for outdoor environments where you have bright direct sunlight (where shutter speeds can go up to 1/640 or more).

A Noise-Free Photo Doesn't Mean It's Good

What you need to know beforehand is that most camera phones employ noise-reduction algorithms into the camera’s built-in post-processing software. Once you take a photo, it will usually look pretty good on the phone due to the small screen. But when you review it on a PC, there may be a great loss of detail in the photograph, even after you lower its resolution to 800 x 600 or even 640 x 480.

If you are using a mobile phone that has a large screen, you can even spot the loss of detail in the photos. Of course, the loss of detail would be quite apparent if you print out your photos. Even a small 3R print would show a distinct lack of detail. Basically, this is how a camera phone can ruin the photos you take :

• Camera detects relatively-low light in the scene.
• Camera software chooses the ‘right’ ISO level for the scene to make it bright enough for pleasant viewing.
• Due to the miniscule sensor used in camera phones, ISO levels that are 400 and above (which are needed as the lenses are small and usually with an F-value of 2.8 or 3.5) will introduce incredible amounts of noise into the photos.
• To remedy this, the camera software automatically runs a noise reduction process across the image, giving the user a seemingly flawless image that is bright to boot.
• Your image is ruined!

There’s just no way to disable this noise-reduction feature that we know of. Even if you could, you will either get amazingly noisy images, or amazingly dark images which are both quite unusable. In the end, there’s only one way to take great photos using a camera phone - under great amounts of light!

Macro & Close-Up Shots

As we live our everyday life with no worries and a mundane feel (wake up, work, sleep, repeat!), sometimes we just have to make do with what we see every day and relate it in our photos. The things that we see in our daily lives usually belong to just a few categories only, which are people, food, and small items. Of course, we still go for vacations and travel once in a while, but how often does that happen?

This is where close-up shots come into play. Our first category : People. We meet all sorts of people every day, some new acquaintances, some old but with different outlooks. It can be great fun to take pictures of people and even strangers going about their business. The best part of this is, it adds emotions, character and personality to photos.

Next category : Food. Many people online seem to have blogs displaying their daily activities, especially what they eat! It’s always good to share these kinds of things with your family and friends. Plus, it’s definitely entertaining to go through those photos whenever you are free.

Last category : Small Items. Besides going about our daily life, there’s surely one thing that we like to do - shop! This does not only apply to girls, but also guys as well. We may not be shopping for shoes, but we sure do like our gadgets! There are just so many new products released everyday, whether it's a gadget or a new brand of underwear, it just never ends!

When it comes to capturing those aspects of our lives, a camera phone is actually all the camera you need. Its small lens and sensor may limit its ability to take good landscape or faraway photos, but they sure take superb macro and close-up shots.

You can also use the camera's macro mode to take much more artistic photos. Play with the focus. You can try focusing on different areas of the scene by first doing an auto-focus lock (half-press the camera shutter button) on the subject, and then shifting your camera a bit to move the focus away from the subject. The rule of thirds can be applied here, but you can always go beyond that!