Photography

What this topic covers

Good photos start with a few principles rather than expensive gear. This topic explains, in seven guides, how to take better pictures with the phone already in your pocket and how to edit and organize them afterwards. It does not recommend particular models or apps; it focuses on principles and steps that work on any device. Menu names vary between phones, so it helps to find each feature in your own camera settings as you read.

• Before you shoot: basics, composition, light
• By situation: portraits, night and low light
• After you shoot: editing, organizing

The key idea: the exposure triangle

Three things set the brightness of a photo together: the aperture, the size of the opening that lets light through the lens; the shutter speed, how long the sensor collects light; and ISO, how much the sensor signal is amplified. Gaining brightness from one always costs something elsewhere. A doubling or halving of light is called one stop, so going from 1/250 to 1/125 of a second, or doubling ISO, makes the image one stop brighter. Most phones have a fixed aperture and adjust shutter speed and ISO automatically.

• Aperture: a smaller f-number means a wider opening and a blurrier background
• Shutter speed: longer is brighter but smears shake and motion
• ISO: higher is brighter but adds grainy noise

Composition and light decide the picture

Two people with the same phone in the same place can get very different results, and the difference is mostly composition and light. Composition decides where the viewer's eye starts and where it travels; light creates shape, texture and mood. Principles such as the rule of thirds, lines that lead the eye, and the soft light when the sun is low have been used for a long time because they work. Follow the rules at first, understand why they work, and only then break them on purpose.

Habits matter more than gear

What ruins image quality most is rarely the hardware. It is small mistakes: camera shake, a smudged lens, focus landing in the wrong place. Wipe the lens, hold the phone firmly with both hands, and tap where you want focus and exposure; those three habits alone make a visible difference. Before buying a new phone, check whether you are really using the grid, exposure control and telephoto lens on the one you have. Taking several frames of a scene and choosing later is another habit that costs nothing.

Suggested reading order

If you are starting out, read the basics guide to learn how to handle the camera, then the composition and light guides to get a feel for what to include and how. After that, read the portrait or night guide depending on what you shoot most. Once photos start piling up, turn to editing and organizing. Editing refines a good photo; it is not magic that rescues a failed one, so reading the shooting guides first saves time in the end.

Common misconceptions

About half of the advice beginners hear is right and half is not. These are the ideas people misunderstand most often.

• More megapixels means better photos: shake and light make a bigger difference
• You can just crop in later: digital zoom and cropping throw resolution away
• If it is dark, turn on the flash: a small flash only lights nearby subjects
• Editing can fix anything: blown-out highlights cannot be brought back

Portrait rights and etiquette

Photography is not only about the person holding the camera. Publishing a photo in which someone can be recognized without their consent can infringe their image rights, and secretly photographing another person's body is a crime punishable by law. Even with a parent's consent, a child may not want certain photos online when they grow up. Concert halls, exhibitions, places of worship and some public facilities restrict photography, so follow the posted rules. If you need a specific legal judgment, check with a professional or official guidance.

The seven guides in this topic

The seven guides below run from before shooting, through specific situations, to after shooting. You can pick the one you need, but the first guide on exposure and focus underpins the rest, so it is worth reading first.

• Phone photo basics: shake, focus, exposure and zoom
• Composition basics: rule of thirds, leading lines, space
• Reading light: front, side and back light, golden hour
• Portraits: focusing on the eyes and a distance that flatters faces
• Night and low light: steadiness, night mode, protecting highlights
• Photo editing basics: the order and signs of overediting
• Organizing photos: culling, folders and names, fixing dates