HOW TO TURN YOUR PHONE'S CAMERA INTO A PROFESSIONAL CAMERA

Do you know you can actually make your phone's camera take better pictures? Here's how.

Please pardon me for the gruesome sight of my soccer boots.

Please pardon me for the gruesome sight of my soccer boots.So...lately,I've been doing some research on how to use our android phones to take better pictures because not everyone can afford a professional camera (even if we all want one) but we all want very good photos.

          Early yesterday morning,I went to work out ,then towards the end,I caught myself playing with my phone,and I discoverd few things I'd like to share with y'all today.

       This photo here was taken when I was testing what I discovered.I know it's not a good looking photo but,I just think it's good...lol..I probably don't know fine things.So..let's get started.

Smartphone companies keep trying to upgrade their cameras with each release of a newer model but most of us don't actually know how to use our cameras.Althought there are many applications with built-in manual controls,we can use just our phone cameras to create masterpieces...it might involve some editing shaaa.

       So .. for those of us who don't know how to manually set our android cameras...this is for you.

 

ISO

The ISO is probably the most important setting in any camera as it adjusts the camera's sensitivity to light.ISO is the sensitivity of your sensor to light. The ISO setting you use depends on the amount of light in the scene you are photographing. The more light you have to work with the lower you can set your ISO.It's one of the most important settings we must get used to.The rule of ISO states that...lol...more light,less ISO and vice versa.Thank me later.

SHUTTER SPEED

This setting is also known as exposure time and it's responsible for the brightness of the image .The longer the shutter is open,teh more light reaches the image sensor and the brighter the image will be.The rule of shutter (by me..lol) states that the lower the ISO,the loer the ISO,the longer shutter time required to capture the same image at a higher ISO....but there must be a balance between the two for managing the quality of the image.Longer shutter speeds are used to intoduce artistic motion blur while shorter ones  are used for capturing images in fast motion.

EXPOSURE

This is also known as the aperture as it tells us the size of the lens opening with which light passes through on its way to the sensor.The larger the lens opening,the more light but that's a smaller aperture figure known as "f-stops" ,and it represents a larger aperture.This implies that f/1.8 is a larger aperture figure than f/8.Unfortunately...smartphones can't alter their aperture but upcoming software technologies will allow this.

WHITE BALANCE,WB.

This is a very common setting that adjusts the color of that represents white light in our photos between red and blue.This allows for creativce use of cooler and warmer shots.This is a very easy setting to adjust as our camera have options for us to choose from depending on the brightness or climate of the environment.

HDR

High Dynamic Range is also a setting that is very common even in basic smartphone apps, and is a quick and easy way to boost the look of your pictures. You should easily be able to notice extra contrast and more vibrant looking colors in many shots just by tapping on the HDR and this makes it tempting just to leave this setting on for every shot.However, you can leave HDR on for most shots, but might want to turn it off when capturing fast motion or when struggling with blur in low light situations.

        So...in conclusion....to take stunning photos using your phone's camera ,first assess your environment.If it's dark,increase the ISO to the highest,lower the shutter speed...turn on the HDR .In extremely bright conditions...lower the ISO and increase the shutter speed...you could leave on the HDR though.The most important thing to consider when taking photos with your phone's camera is how much light is available.

PS:Always take photos in Landscape mode,not portrait mode and use the volume keys instead of tapping on the screen.Using a static stand is better than holding the phone with your hand.

             I hope with the tips above,you have learnt how to optimize your phone's camera.You have more tips you think I should know?Please let me know in the comments below.