:: Photography Tips + Tricks : common missteps people make when taking smartphone photos ::

I've talked a lot about how to take spectacular smartphone photos, but less about how to correct common missteps we make with our smartphone cameras. So today, I am going to highlight some of those booboos and show you how to avoid them.

#1: NOT WAITING FOR THE RIGHT SHOT
We've all had this moment: your daughter/son is doing something incredibly cute and you scramble to get the iPhone out of your tight jean pocket or the cornucopia you call a purse/diaper bag. You drop the phone in your haste (and possibly shattering the ever precious touch screen), pick it back up quickly, and point in the general direction of the intended cuteness -- hoping to capture the fleeting moment. Instead, you end up with a useless shot that is so blurry and underexposed that you can't even tell if you were taking a pic of your child or someone else's.

C2 having a cuddle with Scratchy Giraffe on the floor in her room. I knew this moment wouldn't last forever, so I took a deep breath, decided on a composition that would enhance this image and took the shot.

FIX: Change your mindset. Be deliberate with your shots. Take a deep breath before you point the phone at your subject(s). Think carefully about what you are trying to capture and compose your shot purposefully to enhance the story you are trying to tell. Wait for the right moment to happen -- the perfect grin, the goofiest facial expression -- then snap! away. Voila! An image of which you could be proud. For more tips on composition, see here and here.


#2: UNDER OR OVER EXPOSED
Another common mistake folks make with their smartphone cams is under or over exposure -- the images either do not have enough light (under) or too much light (over). Instead of capturing the beautiful colors of a fall sunset, the camera automatically exposes for the darker parts of the composition and we end up getting an overblown sky that is white and not at all what you intended to capture.

Our master bedroom is on the third floor of our house, at eye-level with the canopy of mature trees. When the weather is good, we are treated to a beautiful panoramic view of the sunset. In order to capture the beautiful, intense colors, I usually have to manually adjust the exposure to make sure the colors are not blown out.

FIX: While the smartphone is not as sophisticated as the dSLR when it comes to manually setting exposure, you could "fake it" by doing a little camera magic right on the touch screen. When composing a shot, take into account the amount of light and contrast in the scene. Using the above example, when taking pics of a sunset or sunrise, instead of letting the smartphone choose the exposure, tap the screen on the part of the composition that you are trying to highlight (i.e. the gorgeous purple and golden sky). A square will appear where you've tapped to show you that is where the exposure and focus are set.


#3: BORING POINT OF VIEW
The easiest thing for us to do, most times, is to take a photo where we stand -- especially if we are encumbered by 5 winter coats, a diaper bag, and a baby in an Ergo. Unfortunately, we often end up with, let's be frank, boring images.

During this crisp late Spring day, I was so enthralled by the contrast between O's fushia sandals and the neon green clover that I had to take a shot. In order to tell my story effectively, I asked O to sit down on the clover and got on a higher plane and took the shot from above.

FIX: Put down the winter coats and diaper bag. Tighten the straps on the Ergo. Get down on the ground, squat, get on your tippy toes. Shoot upwards, shot downwards, shoot sideways. Walk around and find that perfect perspective. Really look at your setting and figure out from which point of view you'd like to tell your story. Click here for more tips on finding your unique point of view.