DSLR + Lightning = Awesome.

Went on a small storm chase with Perth Weather Live Founder Steve Brooks.

We had a bad run but didn't come off empty handed.

Mobile Photography

This post is going to be a little longer than normal, as I have a point that I really wish to drive home:
Use that tiny camera! Whether it be a latest and greatest iPhone or Android Flagship, or a simple Nokia with a 2 megapixel camera.

Just one thing to remember before we start. I cannot stress this enough, and failure to follow this simple instruction will render this post useless.

NEVER USE DIGITAL ZOOM, EVER!

If you use the 'zoom' function on your phone. Stop right now (Unless you own an 808 Pureview). You are destroying your image quality. You are turning your 8 or 5 megapixel camera into a 0.3 or 0.1 megapixel camera. The results might look good on the phone's screen, but if you try to print that photo or look at it on your computer, you will want to poke your eyes out with a medieval battering ram. That is all.

Introduction

Everyone I know who is passionate about their photography owns a decent compact, DSLR or Mirrorless camera. They get great results from these cameras. But not because of the cameras themselves, but because of way they compose their shots and handle their cameras. But, when they go out and leave home, they usually only bring their mobile phone with them. Sadly, none of them use that little onboard camera to its full potential.

Sure it might have awful to plain nonexistent:

• Manual control (Though Nokia may buck the trend soon)
• RAW Format shooting.
• Resolution
• Lens quality
• Signal-noise ratio
• Output quality
• Lens Capabilities (No zoom)

But it does have one thing that a large platform doesn't have that is enough to overcome nearly all of its shortcomings; The ability to go everywhere you go.

I have an example right here. Last year I went for a bike ride and saw an awesome afterglow. I pulled out my phone and got this photo:

I wasn't deliberately out to get photos, and at that point, I only had a Film SLR at my disposal. I certainly wasn't going to take such a fragile photography solution out and about on a bike ride!

However, because I had my phone on me, I was able to get that shot. Sure, there is a metric ton of noise slathered on the photo, but it is forgiveable considering the sensor is less than 2 mm across.

Yeah, there's a ton of noi- hey look! Ducks!

How to get the most out of your phone's camera

There isn't a lot you can do to overcome the limited options and quality afforded to you, but there is lot you can do to improve the composition, and the lighting.

Composition

I first and foremost apologise for not already doing a post on this. It is the first thing anyone should ever think about when about to take a photo of any kind. To put it very simply, composition is made up of a set of rules. But, for the purposes of this post, I'll only explain the most common one:

The Rule of Thirds.

Note, GIF source here here

The Rule of Thirds is one of the easiest and most simple rules to follow as it allows the photographer to find the correct ratio of ground, horizon, subjects, and sky. This ensures that the eye can scan across and find context immediately, allowing the viewer to actually enjoy the photo, not leave them guessing as to what the photo is meant to convey. 

Photo by Wikimedia User Moondigger.
Licensed under the Creative Commons.

Following it is as simple as it looks. If you have a smartphone using Belle, Bada, Android, or iOS, you will have the option to use a gridline. You don't need it on, but it sure helps.

To follow the Rule of Thirds simply:

1. Align the horizon to the top or bottom gridlines. Usually, if you are up on a hill, you will want to align the top line to the horizon to show what you can see, while out on flatlands you will want to align the horizon to the bottom line to show the distance. You should never put the horizon in the middle. A common mistake that ruins the photo, as it splits the view in a manner that is not very pleasing to the eye.
2. Place your subject in a cross area, if you can see the image, you can see how the photographer places the tree in an area that is pleasing to the eye. The image seems natural, and allows your eye to relax and take in detail.

Shot from a bus in Adelaide, this image shows a little bit what I mean. The ''horizon' is actually the top of a hill.

Lighting

It is a well known fact that phone cameras are awful at collecting light. DSLR's have big lenses and big sensors for a reason: They collect and capture light a lot more efficiently. With a mobile phone, we have a tiny lens and a tiny sensor. So we have to make sure that it can capture as much light as possible.

With a phone's camera, you usually can get some very decent photographs when it is bright outside. The reason for that is that the sensor is set to a low ISO, and a higher shutter speed (1/250 or higher) , meaning that the photo isn't very grainy, and that any motion in the frame is frozen reasonably well.

I took this photo with my phone during the Perth 2011 Sailing Regatta.

Unfortunately, on the other side, when indoors and with low lighting, it can seem that the camera can't cope. Because of the crippled lens, the ISO has to be raised to a higher level, and the shutter speed dropped to some really low values (1/10, 1/5 or 1/2). The only real things you can do to improve the situation is see about turning up lighting and/or bracing the phone against a wall, chair or an elderly person.

I braced the phone against another cannon to take this photo in a museum.

Indoor action photos are totally out of the question with phones. You might get lucky, but you probably won't. Try it anyway, and you will see what I mean.

Shaking it up a little

If you really want to try something different with your phone's camera, go find a pair of binoculars and point your phone's camera through it.

These are the results I have obtained by using the digiscoping method.

I wouldn't consider any of these perfect, they all have some level of artefacts, but it's pretty damn good for a <2mm sensor. 

In Conclusion

What you carry around with you every day is perfectly acceptable as a camera, if you follow basic composition, and not push the boundaries too far you can get some really good results, even if you don't enjoy photography

Thanks for reading!