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7 tips to take great pictures with your smartphone

Cape Town – There’s no excuse for taking poor, out-of-focus pictures with your smartphone.

“Nearly anyone can learn how to take great snaps, provided they learn some basic disciplines and practice them until they become second nature. And with camera technology in smartphones improving all the time, these devices help you to capture meaningful moments and beautiful images wherever you are,” said smartphone manufacturer HTC in a statement.

Here are seven tips from HTC to take great pictures:

1.    Pay attention to your background

Don’t get so caught up in focusing on your subject that you pay no attention to the background. For example, you don’t want to include the pavement rubbish bins when you’re taking a photo of your friend. Rather move closer or ask the person you’re photographing to step to the side to exclude the unwanted detail from the frame.  

2.    Choose a perspective

Take your photographs from unusual perspectives to create interesting effects. Shoot upwards from a low angle to make things look large, or take your shot from a higher angle make things look smaller or to capture a larger area of detail

3.    Zoom with your feet

Zooming with your camera phone results in pixelation and increases sensitivity to camera shake, resulting in blurred imagery. Rather get closer to your subject for the perfect close-up.

4.    Avoid camera shake

To lessen camera shake, be as still as possible while shooting: take a deep breath in, hold, snap, breathe out.

This close-up image was shot with a smartphone. (Duncan Alfreds, Fin24)

5.    Avoid using your flash

Using flash can give your photos a sterile, over-lit look, which can be especially harsh on faces. If you must use flash, why not cover it with some tracing paper to soften the effect?

6.    Learn which apps and filters you love

Experiment with filters apps like Instagram to create a style that you like. When people see a pic with a particular filter, they’ll recognise your style.

7.    Use apps to enhance your photos

Great photos are made in the editing process. Pro photographers almost always touch up their photos to get the exact look and effect they want.

Soon you’ll be able to upload your masterpieces to social networks.

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