How to Get Beautiful Photographs from your Camera Phone.

Absolutely everybody has a mobile phone these days! Almost all phones have cameras and the quality of some of photo cameras are quite amazing.

I don't suggest that you replace your camera with a camera phone but, phone cameras are great for when you don't have your camera with you or you have simply popped to the shop and you see something you want to photograph.

I'm going to prove to you that you can take great photos with your mobile phone in 10 simple steps.

1.Keep that lens clean.

All digital cameras have a cover that goes over the lens when its not being used, to keep it clean. Most lens's on cameras do not. Your phone is often in your hand, in the bottom of a bag or left about where the lens is just collecting dust and grime. To get the cleanest photographs from your camera phone you want a clean lens, here are 2 tips to keep that lens clean.

• Keep your phone in a protective pouch that you can take off when taking a photo. This will minimise dirt getting to the lens when your phone is in your bag or not in use.

• Clean the lens. The ideal solution is not to get it dirty in the first place, but lets face it, that is quite hard. If you have a dirty lens take a ear bud and really gently clean the lens in a twisting motion.

2.Avoid digital Zoom.

Using digital zoom on your camera phone is a bad idea, digital zoom will decrease the quality of your photograph making the image much more pixelated.

Some camera phones are now being sold that have optical zoom. This is fine to use as it will not enlarge the image by enlarging the pixels so you wont get a grainy out come.

3.Get close to the subject.

Use your feet and get close to what your photographing. Fill the frame. Camera phones tend to have low resolution making the subject seem very tiny and sometimes unrecognisable, so get close.

4.Hold still.

As with a normal camera the stiller you hold the camera the clearer and crisper the photograph will be. In low light the camera phone will set a slower shutter speed, this will increase camera shake and ma

ke the photograph blurry if you don't hold still. Its a good idea to grip the phone tightly and the lean your hand on something such as a table or wall. This will help you keep the camera phone from moving when your taking a photograph.

Remember that in camera phones there is usually a delay from pressing the shutter button and the photo being taken. This is called shutter lag. Because of the shutter lag you will need to hold still a few extra seconds until the camera takes the photograph.

5.Give your photos a chance!

Remember that the screen on your phone will not be as good as the screen on your computer. If your memory allows, keep all your photos and look at them more carefully when you look at them on the computer.

6.Use the highest resolution.

Most camera phones allow you to set different resolutions. Put it on the highest setting, remember that when the resolution is higher the photograph will be clearer and crisper!

There is one downside to high resolution images and that's the file size will be bigger, if you want to send the photo in a message it will take a long time. If you know you want to send the image in message set the resolution low.

7.Read the manual.

This may sound really obvious but its worth pointing out. So many people throw their manual out and don't may it any attention. The manual will really help you get to know the camera setting on your phone.

8.Light your subject well.

Not all camera phones have a flash so make the most of natural light. If possible shoot out side or when shooting inside turn lights on to add enough light.

If you do have a flash remember to use it when shooting in bright light too as this will act as a fill flash.

9.Be respectful.

When shooting with a camera phone it is easy to conceal your camera and take sneaky photos! There are no set of rules when using a camera phone but please remember to be respectful of others. Always ask if you can take someone's photo. When your in another country ask to take some ones photo in their language, its respectful and fun!

10.Shoot hundreds of photographs.

The great thing about digital photography is that you can literally take hundreds of photos and your camera phone is no exception.

Take hundreds of photos and experiment. Have lots of fun snapping away with no worries of using up all your film!

Start taking amazing shots on your camera phone. Make the most of your extremely portable camera and don't miss a moment. (Please don't forget your 'real' camera though!)

Abby x