Mobile phones have come a long way since when they first came out. I can remember having a LG flip phone that shipped with a 2 megapixel camera. Not only did it ship with a tiny camera, but you couldn’t really do anything with your photos after you shot them.

That all changed when smartphones came out. Now almost everyone has a great camera in their back pocket and they probably all have photo editing apps on their phone too. But what good is a great camera if you don’t know how to properly use it? In this blog I’m going to give you some quick tips that help you take your cell phone pics to the next level.

Rule of thirds
The rule of thirds is when you divide an image up into nine equal squares.

Rule of thumb is to place important parts of your image at the intersecting parts of the grid. You can easily choose to show this grid on your phone. That might make things easier for you. (I have my grid enabled

 

 

Composition
Before you take your photo think about the composition of it. Is there anything distracting in the photo that takes away from your subject.

Adjust your exposure
Most smartphone cameras make it really easy to adjust your exposure. On an iPhone for example all you have to do is tap you focus point and click the slider that pops up next to the yellow box. You can increase (brighten) or decrease (darken) the exposure.

Use third party editing apps
There’s a ton of amazing apps out there that you can use to edit your photos. I personally use Aviary and VSCO. They’re both great and free!

Try Some Add-ons
There’s some great iPhone accessories out there that can greatly enhance your photos. Checkout these add on lens.

Lastly, never stop shooting. For the longest time I’d get discouraged because my photos wouldn’t come out all that great. The key to getting better at anything is practice, practice, practice.

Here’s a few photos I took on my iPhone 6S