Mobile Photography Guide

[Mobile Photography] – Ultimate Guide To Take Better Photos with Smartphone

Table of Contents

Are you someone who just loves capturing the world as you find it? Some people see the beauty in every situation, whether it’s within a city, at the coast, or traveling through the countryside. 

While many keen photographers carry their top-of-the-range cameras with them everywhere they go, lugging around a camera bag and the associated equipment isn’t for everyone. 

That’s where smartphones come in. But as you probably know, not all smartphones are up to the high standards of mobile photography that we’ve all come to expect. 

Some of this is down to the quality of the camera on our chosen phone, but often it’s because we don’t know how to spend time working out how to capture the perfect mobile photo with the device that we have. 

This guide has been put together to tell you everything you need to know about mobile photography, so you can capture incredible images wherever you are in the world. 

We’ll introduce many handy tips and techniques that you can employ to get the best out of your current phone, as well as the smartphones to look for with the best camera technology. 

When you come to the end of this guide, you will be a pro when it comes to taking the perfect smartphone photo, so you can illuminate your social media feed with the most incredible snaps. 

Sound good? Let’s jump into the guide and begin by looking at what we mean when we say ‘mobile photography.’ 

What is Mobile Photography

As you might have guessed, mobile photography is the art of taking photos with a mobile device like a smartphone or tablet. So many smartphones available on the market today have in-build camera technology that is capable of taking photos of an exceptionally high standard. 

Many smartphones also utilize apps that you can download to embellish and enrich your photos directly on your device, which makes the whole editing process straightforward. 

In spite of the quality of many smartphone cameras, they still can’t quite replicate the quality of the image that is produced on a high-end digital camera. These are also known as Digital Single-lens Reflex cameras (DSLR for short) and come in many shapes and sizes. They’re absolutely awesome, but they’re expensive, and they don’t fit into your pocket like a smartphone. 

Because of this, most people make do with their smartphones when it comes to capturing everyday photos, and wherever you are in the world, you will see people snapping pictures on their mobile devices.

Why to Use Mobile for Photography

Unless you earn your living by taking photos, the chances are that you don’t carry a digital camera around with you every day. Most people pack their digital cameras when they go on vacation or when they attend special events like weddings. For the rest of the time, they make do with their smartphones.

The vast majority of us have our smartphones in our pockets or bags at all times, yet we don’t always think about taking mobile photos unless we’re prompted to do so. But the reality is we are presented with so many photographic moments throughout the day, we’re just not paying attention to them. 

If you start thinking about your smartphone as a mobile camera, you will start seeing the world in a different light. You can take snaps of beautiful morning sunsets, memorable moments with friends, or of your child’s venture out into the playpark. Each day presents you with a wealth of opportunities to take photos, and there should be nothing stopping you from curating a stunning collection of images on your phone.

Because mobile cameras are nowhere near as powerful as DSLRs, you have to rely more on your photography skills as opposed to many of the manual controls that help you capture the perfect still on a camera. 

When capturing mobile photos, you have to think about the natural light, variation of colors, the placement of your subject, and everything else you’re taught in school about photo composition. This is an excellent development opportunity for any budding photographer, as it encourages you to enhance your skills as opposed to relying heavily on editing software. 

Another reason why mobile photography is such an excellent skill to develop is that it’s extremely sociable and it allows you to connect with like-minded individuals. You can upload your collection to a social media site like Instagram or Flickr and use hashtags to communicate with other people in your niche. 

Photographers who really maximize their personal collection are also in with a chance of monetizing their images and social media feeds, which is another appealing aspect of mobile photography.

Choosing the Right SmartPhone

When you’re looking to upgrade your smartphone, there are lots of things to consider. It’s beyond the scope of this guide to tell you what to look for in a smartphone, but if you want to enjoy a phone that is capable of taking excellent mobile photos, there are many things you need to consider when conducting your research. 

When you look past a phone’s marketing, you can actually find out a lot of information about its camera potential before buying it. Here are some of the things that will help you buy a high-performing camera phone: 

Processor

A phone’s processer is perhaps the first thing you should check. Regardless of how good a phone’s camera is, if it isn’t able to process images well, it will result in poor quality photos. For brands like Samsung, Asus, and Google, you should look for a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor or higher, or for specific Samsung phones, an Exynos 8895 processor will also do the trick. 

As for iPhones, you should check that they come with an in-built A10 processor at least, although many of the new models come with A11 processors as standard. Don’t underestimate the importance of a phone’s processor, as your photos will be of poor quality if they can’t be internally processed well. 

Megapixels

When looking for the ideal smartphone camera, you need to pay attention to the Megapixels. Generally speaking, the more megapixels, the better. You should look for a minimum of 16mp if you want to take high-quality pictures on your smartphone. 

Screen

You should pay close attention to the screen your smartphone comes with. Its size, resolution, and quality of contrast are all important aspects that affect image quality. The better your screen, the easier it is to capture mobile pictures in poor lighting. Your screen will also influence how well you’re able to edit your photos before printing them or uploading them to social media. 

Image stabilization

The best smartphone cameras come equipped with an image stabilization feature. This might not sound a lot, but it’s super helpful if you take pictures on the move, as it reduces blurriness caused by the movement of the camera. 

Sensor

Your camera’s sensor essentially dictates the quality of the image you can capture. Larger sensors are capable of capturing more light than smaller ones, which means your chances of snapping the perfect image are increased. 

Video Quality

If you’re a budding YouTuber, you might want to invest in a smartphone with a camera that is capable of shooting exceptionally high-quality video content. For instance, most cameras can shoot HD video (1080P), but some support faster frame rates for slow-motion videos. There are also some smartphones on the market that shoot videos at an ultra high definition (4k) resolution. 

Storage space

If you plan on taking lots of photos on your smartphone, it’s important that you have enough internal memory to store them. You should be looking for minimum internal storage of 32GB to ensure your phone can work successfully with all apps and images saved. Failing that, you can check if you can add external storage in the form of a memory card. 

Battery life

Although not exclusively related to the quality of the camera, if your phone has a poor battery life, it will struggle to keep up with the demand of taking lots of videos and photos. As such, you should look for a phone that has a decent battery life and is capable of keeping pace. If your phone’s battery is poor, you could always invest in a portable charger to keep in your bag. 

Price

If you’re serious about mobile photography, you will have to save up and buy a premium smartphone to capture the best images. While there are perfectly good smartphones available for less than $250, they don’t necessarily have the best cameras. The better the spec of your chosen phone, the more expensive it will be. 

Product reviews

While you should spend time research a smartphone’s spec, you should also dive into the product reviews written by both customers and independent review sites. Looking at both will give you a good idea of what to expect from the camera’s performance. The following sites will help you get a good idea of a smartphone’s camera quality: 

  • DXOMARK– Arguably the go-to place for smartphone camera reviews, you will find a detailed, impartial review of almost every smartphone out there. They follow a simple process and give each phone’s camera a numerical score. They review all of the points we’ve discussed above and offer helpful comparisons to other phones of a similar budget—an excellent resource. 
  • Tom’s Guide– The written reviews shared on this site are helpful and informative and explain many of a smartphone’s key features in a language that’s easy to understand. 
  • Tech Radar– One of the best review sites for the latest technology, Tech Radar is a trusted source that you can use to find the smartphones with the best cameras. We particularly like their ‘reasons to avoid’ feature, which gives you an insight into why a specific phone might not be the best choice for you.

Mobile Photography Accessories

If you’re serious about mobile photography, you need to choose a smartphone with a high-spec in-built camera. But it’s possible to boost your smartphone’s camera performance by investing in some mobile photography accessories, which will enable you to capture the best snaps while on the road. 

That being said, not every accessory is worth the investment. The good news for you is that we’ve done the research on your behalf and found the best mobile photography accessories that will definitely improve your travel photos. Check them out below: 

Case and screen protector

Don’t you think your phone feels naked without additional protection? After all, they’re precious and fragile, and even the most careful user drops their phone now and again. This can be a nightmare when you’re on the road, as it can be super difficult to find someone to help you fix your device when you’re away from home. 

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Because there are so many options for you online (and a lot depends on your model), we’re not going to recommend any specific protective gear. That being said, avoid the cheap products you can pick up for a few bucks and invest in something with excellent user reviews to make it worth your while. 

External lenses

External lenses are an excellent way to boost the quality of the pictures that your smartphone is capable of taking. Available for both Android and iPhone, there are lots of options available to you. You can read some excellent reviews on Digital Camera World and find the perfect lens to suit your phone and budget. 

Portable charger

If you’re on the road and taking lots of photos and videos, even the best smartphone batteries will drain faster than expected. As such, portable chargers are a savvy investment and will save you from missing out on the perfect snap due to low battery. Like lenses, there are so many options, so take a look at these reviews from Tech Radar to find one that is ideal for you. 

Waterproof case

When you’re traveling, a waterproof case for your smartphone is pretty much essential. While you might not be planning to totally submerge yourself in water, it does allow you to take those incredible beach shots without worrying about dropping your phone in the ocean! 

Similar to screen protectors and cases, there are lots of options available. We would advise you to read the reviews carefully, as you don’t want to invest in a case that makes it impossible to use the touchpad on your screen.

External memory

While we recommend buying a phone with a minimum of 32GB internal memory, if your phone gives you the option of inserting an additional memory card, then we would advise you to take it. Another useful option is to sign up for an unlimited plan to a cloud service provider, so you can upload your pictures and videos directly to the cloud. You can read all about the best photo cloud storage services on Tech Radar.

Mobile Photography Tips

Now we’ve looked at the best smartphones and the associated accessories that can help improve your mobile photography, let’s look at some tips that will improve your skill as a photographer. 

Some people think you can secure the perfect shot by simply pulling your phone out of your pocket and directing it at the landscape or person you wish to capture. But those in the know recognize that there are many simple yet effective ways of improving your mobile photography, and we share many of these in this section. 

Experiment with your camera’s different modes

When you buy a new smartphone, don’t just assume you know how to use it. Spend some time scrolling through the various modes (panorama, video, etc.) and learn how they work. You should also take pictures in different lights and with and without the flash. Even entry-level smartphone cameras will offer the following modes:

  • Portrait
  • Panorama 
  • Pro 
  • Slow-motion 
  • Time-lapse 

If you don’t spend time getting to know about them when you first start using your phone, you won’t know how to make the most of them. 

Work on your composition

You don’t need to be a professional photographer to understand the importance of composition. When you’re composing your shot, you need to ensure you consider all of the following aspects of the image you wish to capture: 

  • Lines: When we talk of lines, we basically mean the way we look at an image. Our eyes will latch onto a line within an image and follow it. For instance, if you want your viewer to look at an object within a picture, it’s a good idea to position them at the end of a line within your photo (could be at the end of a bridge, a staircase, a road, etc.) 
  • Space: You can use space to your advantage when composing an image. If you really want an object to stand out, you should consider making it the focal point of an image, leaving the rest of the ‘space’ in the image blank. This works particularly well when you’re snapping landscapes with something in the foreground. 
  • Frames: Framing the central feature of your image allows you to draw people’s attention to the key feature. Think about natural frames like trees and overhangs that really bring into focus the main subject of your photo. 
  • Light: This helps direct attention in your image and focuses the audience on the element of the photo you wish to emphasize. You can alter the lighting yourself by paying attention to your angles, using the flash, or even adding or taking away light from the room in question (if inside). 
  • Colors: When setting the mood of your image, color is absolutely vital. You also need to try and use colors that complement one another to ensure your image is aesthetically pleasing. Many photographers pay special attention to color alongside light, as the two often go hand in hand. 
  • Reflections and shadows: You can do wonderful things with reflections and shadows in images. You can use them to set the scene or to create an illusion. At the very least, be mindful of them, as they can also ruin a picture if you don’t consider them! 

If you look on Instagram or Flickr, you will notice that accounts with the highest number of followers are excellent at composing images. This is something that you learn with experience, and it requires lots of trial and error. 

To improve your composition, ask yourself the following questions: 

  • Are the lines within my image straight, or are they distorted? Do I have to tilt my head to make sense of the image? 
  • Are all of my images uniform? Does the object always appear in the center of the image? Could I change my angles to make things more interesting? 
  • Do all of my photos seem a little dark? Is there a way I can improve the lighting and colors that I capture? 
  • Have I thought about everything that’s in the frame? Could I remove particular items or objects to make the frame tidier and bring the object of the image into better focus? 

Use gridlines to balance the shot

Gridlines on smartphones are based on the ‘rule of thirds,’ which is a photographic composition principle that says an image should be broken down into thirds (horizontally and vertically), so you have nine parts to your image. Without getting into it in great detail, gridlines ensure your image is balanced and improves the quality of your image. 

Regularly wipe the lens

So many people forget to wipe the lens of their smartphone before taking a mobile picture. The result? Blurred images! If you wear glasses, the lens wipe is the ideal thing to help clean the lens. Failing that, soft tissue or a handkerchief works perfectly fine. 

Use both hands

How often do you see someone taking a mobile photo with just one hand? This reduces the control you have over the image, and it’s harder to control the shakes! If you hold the phone in both hands and stabilize the shot, you will get a much better image. 

Tap the screen

Did you know that by tapping the screen of your smartphone, you will bring the image into focus? This gives you creativity over the composition of the image and allows you to focus on different objects or landscapes within the shot. 

Use panoramic mode for landscapes

Panoramic mode is so often underutilized, but it’s the perfect option when you’re trying to snap an extensive landscape. It gives you the option of snapping the most incredible view, and you can have lots of fun experimenting with it. 

Blur the background

If you’re running short of time and can’t adjust the contents of your shot, you can decide to blur the background, so people don’t see whatever it is you’re trying to remove from your image. This is also an excellent way of bringing something at the forefront of an image into better focus and is a good technique to learn. 

Utilize a third-party camera app to give you full control

If you want more creative license when it comes to taking photos, you can download a camera replacement app on your smartphone that packs more features than the installed camera. For Android, try Camera Zoom FX, and for iOS, try Camera+ 2. They give you greater flexibility and control over the images you take.

Avoid using digital zoom

If you can’t get any closer to take your picture, don’t be tempted to use the digital zoom feature. This significantly reduces the quality of the image. You’re much better served to purchase an optical lens attachment and zooming that way. 

Walk around before committing to an image

If you have a bit of time, don’t just take a picture and leave. If you’re snapping a monument or particular landscape, it’s a good idea to spend a couple of minutes walking around checking out different angles before you decide on where is best to get the ideal shot.

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iPhone Photography Tips for better Photos

Many mobile photographers swear by iPhones, and for good reasons. They consistently rank highly for the quality of mobile photos that they take, and there are many additional things you can do with your iPhone to take even better snaps. Here are some iPhone-specific tips that will improve your photos: 

Swipe to access your camera

When you’re on the road, you’re never sure when you will spot something worth photographing. iPhone users can edit their settings to ensure you can swipe left for quick access to their camera. 

Use the self-timer feature

iPhone’s come with an in-built timer feature, which is helpful if you want to take a group photo or if you’re traveling alone. You can set the timer to three or ten seconds and rush round to get into position. 

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Crop your images

On your iPhone, you have the option of cropping your images straight away without having to upload them to your PC or other software beforehand. Not only does this save you time, but it allows you to touch up your photos on the go and rectify any little mistakes you’ve made with composition. 

Set the location

If you find yourself looking at your images and often forget exactly where a snap has been taken, you can set your location by using the ‘view on map’ feature. This enables you to view the images you have taken in a specific place and also remember exactly where some of your favorite pictures were taken. 

Create HDR photos

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. On your iPhone, you can take an image with three exposures: light, dark, and normal. The images are then automatically blended together to create an image with more details. This is one of the iPhone’s most valuable features and can save you lots of time editing.

What to Photograph: A Few Photography ideas

Although it might seem obvious to some people, knowing what to photograph isn’t always a given. If you head to a popular tourist destination, you might notice hundreds of visitors flocking around the same feature or point of interest, and you can copy what they’re capturing. 

However, the beauty of photography is noticing something stunning by yourself and capturing a unique image that you don’t think anybody else has. Let’s take a look at some ideas that can help bring focus to your mobile photography. 

Everyday life

In many parts of the world, life travels at 100mph and often passes us by. But if we actually stop and pay attention to the world around us, we realize that the world is a pretty special place, and we have so many opportunities to capture stunning moments and incredible features. 

Whether you’re walking the dog, eating out with friends, wandering around a new city, or sitting in a park, you can capture stunning images of the life that’s going on around you. If you maintain a personal Instagram account, you can use the hashtag #widn [What I’m Doing Now] to show your followers what you’re up to. It’s a powerful way of capturing life on the road. 

Vacations and new experiences

Everyone loves getting their camera out when they’re on vacation or visiting new places. This is only natural, as when we’re in a new place, we want to remember what we’ve been up to. When you’re on a trip, you can capture stunning images of exciting places and famous landmarks and upload them to your social media account. 

Many people make a living out of sharing content online, and even if you just do it as a hobby, it’s an excellent way of getting creative with your feed. If you’re traveling, sharing images on Instagram and other social media feeds is an excellent way of keeping your friends and family members up to date with what you’re doing. 

Events

Taking pictures of events and sharing them on social media is an excellent way of connecting with people around you. Whether you’re at a popular music festival, a sports game, or a charity fundraiser, capturing pictures from an event and uploading them to your social media account is an excellent way of engaging with your followers and letting them know more about your personality and interests. 

People! 

Providing you ask for their permission, people are normally very happy to be photographed. If you spend time getting the image right, you can capture some wonderful moments and experiences with friends and loved ones, and they can be the ideal addition to give your social media feed some personality and character. 

It’s also helpful to keep a kind of photo diary of your family, particularly when your young ones grow up so fast. Documenting the early days of their lives can be incredibly rewarding when you’re older, as you can sit and look through the photos with fond memories. If you’ve spent some time to ensure they’re beautiful snaps taken on a quality device, your future self will certainly thank you for the effort! 

Animals

Whether it’s the family dog or the neighbor’s cat, domesticated animals are extremely photogenic and often dominate people’s social media feeds. However, if you’re on the road, you can take photographs of wildlife that you find along the way. If you’re lucky enough to explore the vast savannahs of the Serengeti, you can snap memorable photos of lions, zebras, and hippos. 

Failing that, if you’re relaxing on an exotic beach somewhere in paradise, you could photograph the cheeky monkeys that jump in and out of the palm trees or the stunning birdlife that call the coast home. When you’re looking for the chance, you will find so many wonderful opportunities to take pictures of animals in the wild. 

Street art and frontages

What truly makes a city or town unique? Often, it’s the murals on the side of buildings and the intricate signage above independent shops and eateries. For anyone with a sharp eye, you can create the most stunning photographs of the streets that you walk down while on your travels. Just be careful you don’t take pictures of military installments or buildings! This is seriously frowned upon in many parts of the world and can land you in trouble.

Landmarks and landscapes

If you’re visiting a tourist attraction, the chances are you’re going to want a photograph to remember the occasion. Be sure to take some shots from different angles and points of view, so you can get a unique shot of a popular landmark. When you’re in the countryside, you will be presented with endless opportunities to take pictures of various landscapes, so get creative and snap nature in all of its glory.

Editing your Photos

There’s never been a better time than now to edit your own photos. There are many apps (and we will introduce you to the best ones) that you can download on your smartphone, which allows you to edit your photos there and then before uploading them to your social media feed. 

This saves a lot of time (and money) and gives you full control of the pictures that you store and upload. Let’s take a look at five of the best photo editing apps for iPhone and Android before moving on to look at what you need to look out for when editing your photos. 

Five of the best photo editing apps for iPhone and Android [not including Photoshop & Lightroom]: 

  1. EnlightBoth a high-quality camera and editing app, Enlight gives you the chance to take double exposures, blend images, add text, and much more. It’s user-friendly and easy to get the hang of. 
  2. VSCOWith plenty of editing tools at your disposal, including exposure, contrast, and temperature correction, you can also improve your alignment with this popular photo editing app. 
  3. SnapseedAn excellent free app, Snapseed packs a whole host of editing features. The standout feature, though, is a tool called Expand, which allows you to detect the area surrounding your photo’s subject. A premium app for free! 
  4. CarbonHands down the best black and white photo editor around, Carbon presents some stunning monochrome filters and takes your work to the next level. 
  5. DarkroomAn excellent all-around photo editor, users enjoy using its dedicated library, which enables batch editing. A good option if you have a high volume of images you wish to edit. 

Now we’ve introduced the five of the best photo editing apps for your smartphone, let’s take a look at some of the things you need to know about editing photos on your phone. 

Understand the basics

When you download an editing app, spend a little bit of time getting to know the basics and layout of the app. Bear in mind that they’re all different from one another, so if you don’t feel comfortable with a particular interface, you can always change it up and try out another. 

Learn about the various editing features

There are so many ways that you can manipulate your original smartphone image; it would be difficult to list them all here! However, it’s a good idea to get to know the type of editing you want to do, so you can ensure your chosen app has the desired feature. For instance, Carbon is the best choice if you’re looking for black and white filters. But you will find excellent opportunities to improve brightness, contrast, white balance, saturation, etc., in many of the other apps listed above.

Sharing your Images

Perhaps the best thing about mobile photography is the fact that it’s so easy to share your images and videos. In the not-so-distant past, the only option available was to take a picture, wait for the film to be developed, and hand out the prints to family members and friends. 

It’s truly amazing how far technology has come, and as a result, we can share our images with people on the other side of the world in a matter of seconds. But with so many options for sharing our mobile photos, how do we know how to go about it? Here are some things to consider. 

Connect to the internet

Obviously, the first thing you need to do to share your photos is to connect to the internet. If you’re traveling, it’s a good idea to buy a local sim card with access to a decent data plan, so you don’t have to rely on public WIFI to share your images with loved ones. 

Understand your phone plan

If you’re abroad and using your number and data plan from back home, you could be running up an enormous bill! If you’re unsure of charges, it’s best to stick to WIFI. However, it doesn’t take long to understand your phone plan and switch to a local provider for the duration of your trip if you are indeed traveling outside of your own country. 

Choose how to share your images

Perhaps the hardest thing about sharing your images is choosing where and how to share them. We’ve listed some ideas below, and many people use several of these options, but it’s totally up to you: 

  • Social media – Instagram, Facebook, Twitter: Lots of people operate several accounts on different social media platforms these days, and it can be hard to keep up with what your friends are and aren’t using. Instagram is the best social media site for photos but consider what your friends and family use. If they’re not on the Gram, you might need to share your images on a site where they can see them.
  • Snapchat: People have gone crazy for Snapchat in recent times, and it is incredibly popular with the younger generation. 
  • WhatsApp: If you want to share images privately with individuals or groups of people, few services match WhatsApp. It’s a good way of keeping your family and friends up to date, particularly if you’re not a fan of social media. 
  • Clouds like iCloud and Dropbox: You might decide that you want to share your images straight to the cloud and invite your family and friends to view them via a private link. 
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Although there are so many ways you can share images online with family and friends, these sites are the perfect places to begin, and you should sign up for those that you’re comfortable with using. We’re going to share some tips with you on how to get the most out of Instagram, which we think is the best social media site for sharing mobile images.

Instagram Tips for Beginner Photographers

If you’ve never used Instagram before, it can be tempting just to create an account and flood it with all of the pictures you have on your phone. But that’s not what Instagram is all about. The best and most popular Instagram accounts are carefully curated profiles with stunning images that have been specifically selected. 

Think of Instagram as not the place for all of your photos but as the place for your best photos. If you’re not delighted with it, don’t share it on the Gram. Here are some specific tips that will help you curate a stunning Instagram profile that your followers will be jealous of: 

Think about the theme of your profile

If you browse through Instagram, you will see many accounts that have been tailored around a specific theme. This could be cute dogs, stunning beaches, or incredible latte art from talented baristas. You will notice that many of these themes are pretty niche, and that’s deliberate. 

You should decide what type of images you’re going to share with your followers and stick to them. Remember, people use Instagram to check out photos of things they like or find inspiring. Don’t just post anything to your feed without thinking about how it will come across to your followers. 

Make use of Instagram filters

Instagram gives users the opportunity to use some stunning filters. This saves you a lot of time editing your images in separate apps and enables you to bring out the very best in your mobile photos. It’s helpful to stick to one or two filters when posting on Instagram, as too much variety can affect the mood and theme of your feed. 

Use hashtags when sharing your images

The main way that people discover new accounts on Instagram is by using and following hashtags. If you’re posting content within a specific niche or from a particular place, adding a relevant hashtag can get your picture in front of many different people, who then may follow your account if you like what you see. They’re also a useful way of managing your photos from a personal point of view. 

Turn on location tagging

When you upload a new photo, particularly if you’re traveling, be sure to use location tagging, so people know where you are in the world. This then ensures your image shows up when people search for photos that have been taken in a specific part of the world. You can also search ‘places’ on Instagram for inspiration of what kind of photos to take when you’re visiting a particular place. 

Tag friends and family

If you want to make someone, in particular, sees one of your photos, you can tag them using the @ symbol. You can mention this person in the photo caption or comments section, and they will be able to see all of the interactions on this post. This is an excellent way of showing someone that you’re in a specific place or have uploaded an image you think they will like. 

Optimize your bio link

Under your profile picture on Instagram, you have the chance to optimize your bio link to make it relevant to the content that you post. Like hashtags, people can find you depending on what type of information you post in your bio, so you should ensure it’s relevant to the content that you’re posting. Also, be careful not to post anything rude or too personal, as it’s the first thing people see when they’re checking out your profile. 

Make your account public

Although it’s possible to set your Instagram profile to private, if you want to secure a large following and attract followers outside of your family and friends, you need to make your account public. While some people may be uneasy about this at first, if you don’t plan on sharing personal images, then it’s absolutely fine to make your account public. If you attract any followers that make you feel uncomfortable, you can always block them. 

Follow influencers and other users within your niche

The great thing about Instagram is that you can follow people who inspire you. You should begin by looking for accounts of people that are posting the type of content that you hope to share yourself. This way, you will get a good idea of what to share and how to post it. You can also connect with people this way and develop new relationships online. 

Get your timing right

Consistent posting on Instagram is so important. You need to work out an appropriate pattern and then stick to it. As soon as you break your post pattern, your engagement levels will drop. Whether you post once a day or twice a week, it’s important that you maintain consistency. There’s no right or wrong way to post; just make sure you stick to a pattern, so you keep engaging with your followers. 

Reply to all interactions

Anytime someone takes the time to engage with one of your posts by leaving a comment or gets in touch and sends you a private message, have the decency to reply to them. As well as just being the decent thing to do, it also helps you to build an online community and interact with people that you might be able to collaborate with.

Keeping your Images Safe

When you’re caught up in the moment and focused on capturing the perfect mobile photo, you might not necessarily think about keeping your images safe. Of course, the problem with this is that smartphones can break at any time, and sometimes you can’t retrieve all of those precious images that you’ve collected on your phone since you bought it. 

It’s also easy to forget to back up your images as you go, and when you upgrade your phone, you risk losing all of the photos you’ve taken over a specified period of time. To avoid this, you need to make sure you keep your photos safe. Below are some of the easiest and most efficient ways of keeping your images secure. 

Use a cloud backup

As long as you have the function of your smartphone enabled, most devices will automatically backup your images and other data to the cloud. The most popular options are iCloud and Google photos and they normally run in the background. You can actually configure the settings of the cloud backup on your phone, to ensure it only runs at certain times, like when you’re connected to WIFI. 

Some people also like to pay for a service like Dropbox, so they can back up their photographs online. This is a good idea if you take lots of photos, as you can create separate folders and organize your snaps in a way that is easy to access. It also means you can wipe your phone regularly to free up memory. 

Perform offline backups

If you’re not confident in cloud backups (sometimes it’s easy to disable the function by accident), you could always perform offline backups of your mobile photos. You can connect your phone to your desktop computer and transfer the images onto your PC for safe storage. 

If you’re worried about using up too much space, you could always invest in an external hard drive that you can upload photos to. Again, this is a good idea if you have several photography projects or if you take lots of images, as it helps you keep on top of the different collections that you’ve put together. 

Print your images

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing things the old way! Some people like to print out their images and keep hard copies of photo albums, as they can prove to be a lovely memento of special times shared with loved ones or of a cherished vacation, for example. If you print your images out, you know that you have them safely stored in your house, just in case anything is to happen to your device. 

Upload to a ‘dummy’ social media account

Sites like Facebook offer excellent photo storing opportunities, even if you don’t intend on using them to interact with other people. Facebook allows you to create albums and save photos from different locations and different periods of time, and best of all, it’s totally free. You can upload your images directly to Facebook from your phone, and they will remain there until you choose to remove them.

Ending Note

As we hope you’ve learned from this comprehensive guide, there’s a lot more to mobile photography than simply pulling your smartphone from your pocket and dangling it in front of a landscape. 

To take memorable pictures, you need to make sure you have the correct equipment and are able to make the most of the key features of your smartphone to ensure you capture the perfect image. 

Given the advancement in technology in recent times, it’s possible to capture, edit, and store all of your images directly from your smartphone, providing you know how to use the appropriate apps. 

What’s more, within a few seconds of taking a mobile photo, you can upload it to your social media page and share it with the world. This is an incredible opportunity for those that are looking to curate stunning online portfolios on sites like Instagram and Flickr. 

Hopefully, you’re now armed with all of the information you need to take the best possible pictures on your smartphone, and you can improve the way you capture your travels and adventures. 

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