Do you remember the first cell phone cameras? And the grainy, blurry, low-quality photos they produce?
Well, phone photography these days has some pretty impressive features. Plus, it’s always at hand, unlike that bulky DSLR you carry around on vacation.
Learning to take amazing shots using just your phone is the best way to stand out and build a strong Instagram presence.
In this post, you will learn how to take good Instagram photos using only your phone and some Instagram photo ideas to inspire your feed.
How to take good Instagram photos on your phone?
Learning how to take good photos on your phone requires understanding some basic principles of composition and lighting, and developing your own instincts as a photographer. You just need to follow a few simple rules.
Step 1: Use natural light
Lighting is the foundation of good photography. Understanding how to use light is the first and most important rule of thumb for taking great photos using only your phone.
Avoid using your flash in favor of natural lightcreates richer and brighter photos.
A flash can flatten your photo and clear your subject. If you can’t shoot outside, take pictures near windows or in well-lit rooms. It is preferable to find ambient light sources such as street lamps and shop windows, even at night.
Step 2: Don’t overexpose your images
You can brighten a very dark photo with editing tools, but there’s nothing that can fix an overexposed photo.
Avoid overexposure by adjusting the lighting on your screen: swipe and slide your finger up or down to adjust the exposure.
Another way to avoid overexposure is to swipe your finger across the brightest part of the frame (in the case above, it will be windows) to adjust the lighting before taking your photo.
Step 3: Shoot at the right time
There’s a reason photographers love the golden hour. This time of day, when the sun is lowering on the horizon, makes every photo more beautiful. This is nature’s Instagram filter.
If you’re shooting at noon, clouds are your friend. It’s difficult to get a good shot in direct sunlight, which can be harsh in photos.
Clouds diffuse the light from the sun and create a softer, more pleasant effect.
Step 4: Follow the rule of thirds
Composition means organizing a photo: the shapes, textures, colors, and other elements that make up your images.
The rule of thirds is one of the best-known compositional principles and refers to a simple method for balancing your image. It divides an image into a 3×3 grid and aligns the objects or objects in the photo along the grid lines to create balance.
For example, you can center your photo:
But you can also get a nice effect with “balanced asymmetry” where the subject is off-center but balanced by another object. In this case, the flowers are arranged in the lower right corner of the photo and offset by the sun in the upper left corner.
Pro tip: Turn on gridlines for your phone’s camera in settings and use them to practice aligning your photos.
Step 5: Consider your perspective
When you take a photo on your phone, you probably hold it at eye level and take it, right? That’s what everyone else is doing. Resist this natural tendency if you want to take interesting, unexpected photos.
Taking photos from a different perspective will provide new perspectives, even when it comes to a familiar place or subject. Try shooting from above or below, crouching on the ground, or climbing a wall (if you’re feeling ambitious).
Don’t break your leg for the perfect shot, challenge yourself to look at everything from a new perspective.
Step 6: Frame your subject
Leaving a space around the focal point of your photo can add more visual interest than zooming in. Sometimes you get a surprising detail that makes the photo even better, like the moon rising in this photo’s sky:
Unlike an adjustable-lens camera, your phone’s camera “zooms in” narrowing your field of view. In fact, you’re just pre-cropping your image. This can limit your editing options later and you may miss interesting details, so avoid doing it.
Instead, simply tap the subject or focal point of your photo to focus the camera.
If you want to give yourself more options, you can buy an external lens that fits your phone.
Step 7: Draw the viewer’s eye
In photography, “leading lines” are lines that run through your image, attracting the eyes and adding depth. These can be roads, buildings or natural elements such as trees and waves.
Notice the leading lines and use them to add movement or purpose to your photo.
You can use the main lines to direct the viewer’s gaze towards your subject, as in this shot:
Step 8: Add depth
It’s easy to just focus on the subject of your photo, whether it’s a person or a nice slice of pizza. But photos with layers with patterns or objects in the background as well as in the background are naturally interesting because they offer more depth.
Rather than tightly clipping the flowers, this photo also includes a scarecrow behind them, a tree beyond that, and then a sunset and the horizon. Each layer of the photo offers something to look at that draws you in.
Step 9: Remember to be creative
Some photos on Instagram are so popular that they become clichés and inspire an Instagram account dedicated to repeating images. Don’t get so caught up in Instagram photo trends that you’ll lose your creativity.
You want to stand out from other brands on Instagram, so always challenge yourself to find a new angle on something common. This will also help you create a distinctive and memorable brand identity.
For more tips on taking good Instagram photos on your phone, watch this video:
10 Instagram photo ideas
Now that you understand the principles of photography, let’s talk a little bit about the subject.
There are certain topics and themes that perform well on Instagram because they offer broad appeal and tons of visual interest. Take note as posting attention-grabbing content will increase your visibility on Instagram.
Here are a few Instagram photography ideas to consider:
1. Symmetry
Symmetry is pleasing to the eye, whether it emerges in nature (Chris Hemsworth’s face) or in the man-made world (Royal Hawaiian Hotel). Symmetrical composition often enhances a subject that might not otherwise be exciting.
You can also break up your symmetry to add interest. In this photo, the bridge creates vertical symmetry as trees and sunlight refract it.
2. Patterns
Our brains also love patterns. Some Instagram accounts have even garnered massive followings by documenting beautiful patterns like I Have This Thing With Floors.
Our universal love of pattern also explains the viral appeal of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s mirrored rooms, which create endless repetitive patterns of simple shapes and colors:
Look around for inspiration. Architecture, design and nature are sources of fascinating patterns.
3. Vivid colors
Minimalism and neutrals are in vogue, but sometimes you just want a pop of color. Bright, rich colors make us happy and energize us. When it comes to Instagram photography, they make a big impact on a small screen.
They can make even a flat, high-rise building look beautiful:
4. Humor
If you want to get depressed about the state of the world, go to Twitter.
Instagram is a happy place, so humor plays well here. Especially in contrast to the perfectly rendered and edited photos that proliferate on the platform. Funny photos are a breath of fresh air for your audience and show that you don’t take all this too seriously.
5. Sincere action
Capturing your subject in motion is difficult, and that’s what makes it so impressive. A compelling action shoot is exciting and eye-catching. It turns even a mundane subject into something beautiful:
You don’t need to strive for perfection all the time. Sometimes a little blurry motion adds an artistic, dreamy touch:
When taking action photos, use multiple options to increase your chances of a great shot. You can use burst mode (holding down the camera button) to take 10 photos per second.
6. Detail shots
Sharply focusing on an unexpected or interesting detail can be particularly noticeable in a post filled with intense, dynamic photos. It is like a palate cleanser that gives a feeling of stillness and calmness.
Using Instagram editing tools like vignettes (darkening the edges of your photo) or tile shifting (which creates a soft blur around your focal point) can improve detailed photos.
Take your photo at close range to maintain the quality. Shooting and cropping remotely lowers image resolution, resulting in grainy, lifeless photos that hurt your brand. Make sure to upload sized images for Instagram.
7. Fascinating backgrounds
It’s a simple technique, but it works: take advantage of a great background! This is why you always want to take a selfie in a restaurant bathroom with killer wallpaper. People curate good photo walls for a reason.
The more creative your background, the better. Like this example, a gorgeous background can be the perfect complement to a product post.
8. Animals
While we don’t really understand why, some things are true. Yawning is contagious. Light is both a particle and a wave. Instagram photos are better if there is a cute animal in them.
It would be fair to say that this is the cheapest trick in the book. But if you have a very beautiful pup (or throw it into the universe, a miniature pony), it would be a mistake. immortality to use them.
9. Food
Has your mom ever told you that your eyes are bigger than your stomach? This doesn’t get any more true than Instagram, where we can’t get enough of food photography.
The secret to a perfect food photo? Shoot from above, take advantage of photogenic environments and use natural light. The last one is especially important, because people dining next to you definitely don’t want to be interrupted by your flash.
10. People
Studies have found that people love to look at faces on Instagram (again, hello to Chris Hemsworth). In fact, photos taken with people get up to 38% more likes than photos that don’t.
Follow the principles above to take a stunning portrait: use natural light, choose an attractive background, and explore the shot from different angles for a more interesting shot. Some phones even include a portrait mode that will optimize lighting and focus.
Now that you’ve learned how to take great photos using your phone, learn how to edit them using our step-by-step guide. Master amazing content creation techniques for your brand account using a few inexpensive and easy-to-learn tools.
Save time managing your Instagram presence using Moyens I/O. From a single dashboard, you can schedule photos and post directly to Instagram, engage with viewers, measure performance, and run all your other social media profiles. Try it for free today.
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