How do I take better photos with my phone?

Phone cameras are limited mainly by physics — small sensors need light. Almost everything that improves phone photos is about giving the camera more light or a better subject, rather than about settings. The most common single fault is a lens smudged from being in a pocket.

Step by step

1. Clean the lens.It lives in a pocket against fabric and fingers. A smudged lens is the most common cause of soft, hazy phone photos and it takes two seconds to fix.
2. Look at where the light is coming from before anything else.Light behind the subject makes a silhouette; light behind you lights the subject. Soft light from a window is generally the most flattering.
3. Get closer rather than zooming.Digital zoom crops and degrades the image. Moving closer keeps the full resolution and usually improves the composition too.
4. Tap the screen on your subject to set focus and exposure.It tells the phone what matters. On most phones you can then slide up or down to adjust brightness.
5. Turn on the grid and use it.It helps keep horizons level and gives you the thirds lines. Crooked horizons are the most noticeable amateur giveaway.
6. Steady the phone — brace against something or use both hands.In low light the phone uses a longer exposure, and camera shake is what makes those shots blurry.
7. Avoid the flash where you can.Direct flash from a phone flattens everything and gives harsh shadows. Finding more light is almost always better.
8. Take several frames of anything that matters.Storage is cheap and expressions, movement and focus all vary between shots. Delete later.
9. Edit lightly afterwards — exposure and crop do most of the work.A small exposure lift and a considered crop improve most photos more than any filter.

Tips

• The hour after sunrise and before sunset gives warm, low, soft light that flatters almost any subject.
• Portrait mode works by software estimation of depth, so it struggles with hair, glasses and complex edges. Good light matters more than the mode.
• For food, side light from a window is far better than overhead light, which flattens texture.
• Shoot in the highest quality setting your storage allows. You can't add detail back later.

Common mistakes

• Not cleaning the lens — The single most common cause of hazy, soft phone photos, and the easiest to fix.
• Using digital zoom — It crops and interpolates, degrading the image. Move closer instead.
• Shooting with light behind the subject — The camera exposes for the bright background and your subject becomes a silhouette.
• Relying on the flash — Direct on-camera flash flattens the subject and creates harsh shadows. More ambient light is nearly always better.

Questions people ask