Phoneography Photography with mobile phones presents the same challenges as photography with any camera. The mentality and workflow should be the same no matter what camera you’re wielding. There is a saying that has become somewhat of a cliché, but it still rings true.

The best camera is the one you have with you. That being said, phoneography presents special challenges, because the fact remains that the black square in your hand is a phone first and a camera second. As technology improves, this distinction will continue to blur. But for now, there are specific challenges you will face with every picture you take. Let’s take a look at what those challenges are and how to confront them. Phoneography Foibles Bad attitude. The biggest challenge is taking photos seriously while wielding a smartphone. The default approach is a bad attitude. This results in pictures taken quickly and without thought. Those pictures are more likely to be blurry and poorly composed. Dark days. Even though those guys at Apple are geniuses, the camera they put in your phone still costs about $25. Compare that to a $3,000 dSLR. This matters less than you might think. Under good conditions, an iPhone will take a sharp and beautiful picture just like a dSLR. The two cameras diverge when the lights go dim. An iPhone will never perform as well in low light. Slow load. Have you ever been walking down the street and seen something crazy? Have you ever wanted to take a picture? Have you fumbled around in your pocket, finally found your phone, cursed at the lock screen, then waited what seemed like an hour for the photo app to load? Yeah, so have I. Phoneography Feats Be ready. If you’re going into a situation where you know you’ll be taking photos with your phone, take a moment to unlock your phone and load up the photo app. Leave the app open and lock your phone. Or, better yet, leave the phone unlocked and wait for the magic to happen in front of you.

Be steady. Though this is a serious limitation, many more photos could be usable if the photographer had just consumed a bit less caffeine that day and avoided the shakes. In low light, prop your elbows against your rib cage, exhale then take the photo. Even better, find yourself a table and set the phone down before snapping. Snap. Snap. Snap. Here’s a general rule of thumb: For every photo you expect to publish, you should snap 10. There are apps, like Camera+, that make it much easier to take a lot of photos quickly. Use them liberally. Use your fingers. Both the native photo app and apps like Camera+, allow you to tap on the screen to set the focus and exposure for a photo. Use your fingers to find the right setting, then snap. Focus less. Mobile phones usually only have a few aperture sizes. That’s reason behind the low-light limitations of the phone, but it’s also a blessing in disguise. In pretty much all phone photos, everything is in focus. There are no depth-of-field issues to trip you up. Expose for the light. That being the case, you should focus your finger ninja skills on setting the exposure. Pictures often come out to blurry because photographers poked the darkest part of the screen. The camera overcompensates by slowing down the shutter speed, and you get a blurry photo. Instead, poke the brightest part of the screen. This will speed your shutter up. No more blurry, and we can use an editing app to turn up the exposure later. Camera rules apply. Everything you’ve learned about composition and effort still applies on the phone. Get low. Go up high. Take a step to the left. Rule of thirds. Don’t decapitate your subject. Don’t maim them. Zoom with your feet. With a phone, usually that means zooming out by taking a step back. Edit on your phone. Practice your photo editing skills by going through the tons of photos you took. Pick your favorites. Pinch in to make sure they’re in focus and not blurry. Send us the best!

Essential apps. ProCamera Separate focus and exposure controls. Shoot with this all the time. Downside: no volume shutter button. Filmic Pro The same thing, but for video. Camera+ Volume shutter! Separate focus and exposure controls. And seperate Turn off the lightbox to save photos directly to camera roll. Downside: Cumbersome exposure lock. Afterlight The best and most subtle of the editing apps. Nice sliders and tasteful filters. It can also add white borders to your images to make a non-square image into a square for posting on Instagram. Other apps PicFrame – Make photo collages on your phone. Blender – Combine two images into one for a double exposure effect. Use masks to choose what carries over. FilterStorm – Photoshop for your iPhone. Just as complex, but also amazing PS Express - Photoshop dumbed down for your phone. This app is getting better. KitCam – Nice exposure adjustment tools and some interesting filters. Decim8 – Randomly tweaks your photo like when your Nintendo cartridge had dust in it. Glitche – Like Decim8 with a more 3D tilt and a little bit rougher around the edges.