Summer Photo Secrets: 7 Tips for Great {phone}Pics

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image image image imageIt’s summer time! You know what that means! Family adventures, kid activity overload and some of the best times of your lives. You want to capture that right? Trust me! You want to capture these moments. I’m going to give you some quick and easy ways to get those photos with the best camera you have….the one you typically have handy. I love my camera and lens collection that costs more than some new cars. But you don’t need all of that. To be honest, it’s bulky, kills your purse weight, and because of the cost, I’d rather not carry it around. Most of my summer images are on my cell phone. I know, right! They are handy, most fit in your pocket, and we always have them on us.

Here are my summer cell phone photo tips.

1) Get in there  As parents we tend to forget how much taller we are than our kids. Don’t hesitate to squat down or get a little closer to get the photo. That’s the other bonus to a smaller camera, just needs one hand. You can just hold the phone down and “shoot from the hip” as we say.

2) Get Candids! These are my favorite images. When I see my kids doing something sweet or crazy that is totally just them, I hate to disturb the moment. They are so used to seeing the back end of my phone, if I hold it up for a photo they don’t notice. Or, use the shoot from the hip technique. Some of my favorite images are done this way! I’ve held the camera/phone at an angle I thought would be good and just fired a few.

3) Try not to zoom. If you can avoid it, the zoom function on a cell phone is not the same as what a zoom lens does. It’s more like cropping an image before you hit the shutter button. The quality really decreases on the image. But, it’s better than not getting a shot. There are times when you just need to zoom in a little.

4) Touch the screen.  Touching the screen on an iPhone pulls the focus and exposure to that point. Without getting to techy photo geek on you, that can make the difference on seeing the face or having it blurred and in shadow. Touch the screen on what you want to see the most in the image.

5) PRINT THEM!!!! I can’t say this enough. Right now we are in our beloved New England (where most images have been shot with my cell phone) and I am dreading the showing of vacation photos already. Yes, I can connect to apple tv and scroll thru. But, passing around images that will be around forever is SO much better! People don’t enjoy being hunched over an iPhone .

6) Don’t get too worried about images, you forget to enjoy the moments. It’s so easy to get caught up in overshooting, that you miss the feelings and emotions tied to the images. My favorite part of our trips back east is after a polo match, watching my kids get to slap fives with the players. This year’s game, I missed it because I was too focused on trying to photo it. I heard it was great!

7) MOST IMPORTANT! BE IN SOME PHOTOS. That is the best thing about cell phone cameras, almost everyone knows how to take a photo with one. Hand it over and get in those photos. My passions run deep on this rule. Not all of my appearances made sense..lol..but I stuck my face in there somewhere.

I’m sure you have learned some tips along the way. Do you have any cool tips or tricks you can share with the other mamarazzi’s out there?

Please share!

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Beth
Hi! I’m Beth Phillips lead photographer and owner of Beth Phillips Photography (www.bethphillipsphotography.com), mom to 3 and Dayton native. Well, both a native and a transplant. My husband and I grew up in Centerville (Go Elks!) and spent many years going coast to coast with his Navy career. This past May I graduated from Wright State with a degree in Fine Art, Photography. My true photography passions are births, new moms and capturing the grace and beauty of dancers.Favorite things to do around Dayton…Dragon’s Games & the splash yard at The Greene. :: Favorite things about motherhood :: Aside from snuggels, cuddels and smiles, I LOVE the pure joy and excitement kids have about the simplest things. Getting to photograph their daily tasks. And of course, bedtime!