Tips for Taking Photos With Your Phone

0

Raising kids in this generation means that taking photos of them is easier than ever! We carry a camera with us everywhere we go right in our phone. We can capture every baseball game, vacation, birthday, milestone and holiday all while texting our BFF and checking the weather. The cameras in our phone have greatly improved over the years and it’s pretty hard to find someone who actually owns a point and shoot camera anymore! I’m a professional photographer and have a fancy camera and yet 99% of the time, I’m using my phone to take photos of my family. It’s convenient and I can be ready to snap at a moment’s notice.

But how can you get the best photos with your phone? Here are some tips!

Get outside! Try to find shade if it is a sunny day so you don’t have squinting eyes looking at the sun. Gather everyone under a tree to get good light. Let the kids run and explore and take in their surroundings outdoors, you’ll get more natural photos this way. Sometimes the setting can help to capture just how small they are right now. Nothing beats natural light so if you can’t get outside, use window light indoors. 

Don’t use the flash OR zoom unless you have to. The flash on our phones has definitely improved, but it still isn’t great. Sometimes you have to use it because it’s just too dark. When it comes to fireworks or sunsets, use the flash if there are people in front of it you are wanting to capture. If it’s just the fireworks or sunset, keep the flash off. The zoom just tends to just make things fuzzy. Instead, take the photo and crop it after.

Use portrait mode if you have it! Our phones are getting better and better at being cameras so make sure to take advantage of all of the new features. The portrait mode newer phones have is great! It can really make the photos of your little ones have an extra special feel.

Capture the moment, not a perfect pose. Don’t worry about getting a perfectly posed photo, and don’t worry about the perfect smile. Focus more on making the photo capture that moment in time. Snap a photo of your child enjoying the moment instead of stopping what they are doing to look at you. Get down to their level and don’t stress if they don’t want to smile.

Get in the photo! So often us moms are taking the photo and not in the picture. Make sure to hop in a few, even if you hate having your photo taken. Your kids will want to look back on these photos and remember what a fun time they had with you too. They won’t care if you wanted to lose a few more pounds, aren’t wearing makeup, or are on day six of dry shampoo hair.

Edit. There are tons of great editing apps that you can download straight to your phone! Some of my favorites are VSCO and A Color Story. You can even add text and graphics with other apps. Play around with them and have fun!

Last but not least, back them up and print them! Living in a digital age, we don’t have film negatives to go back to so make sure to back up your photos digitally with something like Google Photos. Now don’t let all of the beautiful photos you take sit in a digital wasteland! Print them, make them into magnets, make albums – there are tons of fun and inexpensive ways to play with your photos.

Now let’s see you put these tools to use and show us your photos!

Previous articleI Need More Time: Why We Downsized
Next articleThe Question That’s Helped with Listening
Katie
Hi! I’m Katie, boy mama to 3, wife of a picky eater, photographer, business owner, and food lover. My husband and I both grew up in the Dayton area but moved away for college. We quickly found ourselves back in Dayton after having our first baby. I never really thought I’d end up back in Dayton but we soon realized how much we wanted to be close to our families after starting our own! I love exploring local restaurants and shops all around Dayton and you’ll probably see me snapping photos to share on Instagram @eatprettydarling!