Intro to MoPho & first apps

In his video, iPhone photographer Emil Pakarklis explains seven really simple techniques you can use to make your mobile photography good. As with DSLR and larger format photography, the key ingredients are light, composition, and perspective or point of view.

Below is a summary of his advice. You can find Emil’s page on Facebook, and his website has a pretty good series of tutorials on mobile photography. (And hey, it’s ok to use a non-Apple phone. Most apps are available for iOS and Android.)

1. Have a subject

   The subject is the first thing your eye sees.
   Boring subjects are better than none
   Multiple subjects can tell a story, or provide scale or context
   If you don’t know what the subject is, ask yourself why you’re taking the photo

2. Take silhouettes

   Sunrise and sunset are good times because of the directional lighting (though a bright source of light such as a sunlit wall will also work perfectly well)
   Silhouettes look great because they’re high contrast (works well on a smaller screen)
   Silhouettes also add an air of mystery
   Shoot against the source of light (be careful of ‘flare’, or light shining into the camera lens)

3. Include shadows in your composition

   Don’t crop shadows out
   Increasing contrast in a photo editing app makes the shadows stand out
   Best times are early morning and late afternoon (and winter is better than summer) because shadows are longer at those times

4. Use reflections

   Find a good reflective surface (water, wet surfaces, glass, anything shiny)
   Get close to the reflective surface, try little tricks such as breaking the surface of a smooth puddle of water to create interesting distortions

5. Take photos from a unique angle

   Familiar scenes look completely different from a unique or unfamiliar viewpoint
   Get low, get up high, point your camera up or down

6. Use simplicity

   Don’t overcomplicate things
   Simple, clean images look better on a smaller screen such as a phone or tablet
   Eliminate distractions when you’re composing your photograph

7. Combine all the above techniques

   I’d add as a tip of my own, take more than one – take several photos of the same subject. Move around a bit, change the composition slightly, play with the exposure.

   Useful apps

Instagram: Android or iOS

Snapseed (photo editing): Android or iOS