9 tips for perfecting your phone photography

***Rachel Khoo would like to thank all the inspiring people who helped make the Khoollect studio a hive of creativity. Although the Khoollect studio’s doors have now closed, you can keep up with Rachel’s newest adventures on RachelKhoo.com and on Rachel’s Instagram and Facebook pages – and, continue to enjoy the Khoollect website’s stories and recipes, which will remain available.***

If you too find inspiration in unlikely places, and appreciate it enough to snap a photo, you might like to improve your phone photography skills. Here are my tips for capturing the moment:

Make sure it’s clean

If your phone is in your pocket or handbag, the lens can get dirty or smudged with fingerprints. Give it a light and gentle clean with a cloth or better yet, with lens cleaner.

Never use flash

In fact, forget you even have a flash. That’s all I have to say.

Stick to a filter and roll with it

If you share your photos on Instagram, a handy tip for a beautiful feed is to keep filters consistent. If you like bright images, pump up the brightness and add a layer of your favourite filter. You can now tap the filter and reduce the intensity – find your own cocktail of tweaks and keep continuity when you share.

Shoot in bright spaces

When possible, find somewhere bright to take the photo. Natural light is best and if you are shooting outdoors, avoid direct sunlight. If you are photographing your food (because, don’t we all?) try to find a nice surface to take the picture. Wood, stone or even a kitchen tea towel make great backdrops.

If its not bright, fake it till you make it

Our phones are equipped with the ability to over or under expose the image. If your image is too dark, tap the darkest area of the screen while shooting – this will activate the exposure and compensate for the dark room.

Keep very still

Position your feet in a sturdy position when taking a photo, and try be as still as you can. Often with phones, the “shutter” pauses before the picture is taken. Hang tight and keep still.

Tap for focus

It sounds obvious, but making sure the object/person/building you are capturing is in focus is a key point. There’s nothing worse than realising that you have lost focus on the key aspect of the frame!

Check your surroundings

Nobody wants to see your unmade bed or dirty laundry, so it’s best to take a look around you before you take the photo.

Take multiple photos

The luxury of phone or digital photography is that we can take as many photos as we like. Play around with composition and angles until you find one you like. Try something different too! Overhead, 90 degrees, from the side… Find your ‘thing’.