Seven training methods for becoming a mobile photography expert

Mobile phone is an indispensable tool for every modern person. It has changed the way we interact with the world, especially photography. Change also means innovation, althoughMobile photography

The technology is becoming more and more perfect, but it will still be resisted by many camera users, who believe that using a camera is really photography. The camera is becoming smaller and smaller, more and more intelligent, and more and more integrated into our life. This is not a bad thing, but a trend.

Pick up your mobile phone and record the world from a new perspective. Here are 7 training methods to transform you into a mobile photography expert in a week!

Training 1: Try to make photos simple

Jobs once said: simplicity is the ultimate. You are often told that photography should be subtracted. Indeed, this is the rule of photography. Because of the characteristics of mobile phone lenses, shooting is mainly based on wide angle and large depth of field, which cannot compress perspective and blur the background (fortunately, dual lens mobile phones provide us with a new choice), so the first element of “simple picture” should be pursued.

Use more negative space (left blank) and discard redundant elements, which can highlight the key points of your composition.

In view of the size of the mobile phone screen, minimalism is very popular on social media. If you pay attention to IG, you will see many cool photos. Stick to “simplicity”, maybe it will become your style.

This is the most basic training method for beginners, but it is simple and efficient.

Training 2: Find a different perspective

The small mobile phone completely surpasses the camera in terms of convenience. We can take it as we want and shoot as we want. Compared with the camera, it has more room to play.

Traditional Canon and Nikon SLR users are more accustomed to optical viewfinder (except Sony Weidan), so there will be a lot of inconvenience when shooting from a low angle, but the real-time viewfinder of mobile phone screen has no such trouble. Lower your mobile phone and compose pictures from a new angle!

The low angle of view can not only “simplify” the background with the help of the sky, but also use the ground to create a “mirror” effect.

Training 3: Shoot Macro

The focusing distance of mobile phones is often closer than that of camera lenses. Although the magnification is not as good as that of professional macro lenses, it is enough for daily macro lenses. When shooting still life, amazing details, colors and textures can be captured by using macro.

Macro helps us jump out of the daily perspective, and the world is hidden in details. It is not only applicable to plants, but also very effective in shooting portraits and pets.

It is also a great way to shoot scenery and highlight the big scene with small scenes!

Want to be closer? Mobile phones also have many peripherals with additional lenses, such as Olloclip, Moment and Zeiss Exolens.

Training 4: Some advanced silhouettes

Due to the limited light sensing elements and lower tolerance of the mobile phone, it is a blessing in disguise when the light and shade contrast is very high, because it is easier to take a silhouette! Click the mobile phone screen to select metering (highlight measurement). If the contrast is not enough, continue to slide the screen to lower the exposure until a silhouette is formed.

The key to taking silhouettes is to ensure simplicity and find interesting points. Because the elements of the picture become silhouettes and the solid is abstracted into a plane, more consideration should be given to the combination of geometric elements when shooting.

The best time to take silhouettes is at sunrise, sunset and at night when there is a strong light source. Know that you can’t get up in the morning, so go out to shoot more at dusk; Otherwise, it is also a good choice to look for billboards and windows at night.

Silhouettes will be popular if they are not used well, but they will be very interesting if they are used well. Practice more!

Exercise 5: Find Symmetry

Did you find that all the examples in front of us are 1:1. Although mobile phones also have 4:3 and 16:9 formats, due to the influence of IG, more and more people begin to use 1:1 pictures, and 1:1 is recognized as the most stable picture. Since it is stable, central composition and symmetrical composition are indispensable.

Symmetry can be up and down:

It can also be symmetrical:

They are usually used together with the central composition to create a symmetrical picture and enhance the sense of structure.

Training 6: Grasp the near and far levels of photos

As mentioned earlier, due to the limitation of mobile phone lens, shooting is usually “wide angle and large depth of field”. Although it is a limitation, making full use of this can also strengthen the depth level when shooting scenery.

The simplest way to express the depth of three-dimensional space is to use lines. Roads, railways and rivers are good guides to help you add perspective to your composition.

The second way to create a sense of depth is to match the front and rear scenes. Find some interesting elements in the foreground to match with the perspective, and the screen will naturally have a sense of hierarchy.

The third way to create the depth of the picture is to rely on the picture elements to build a framework. For example, shooting through windows, arches, arch bridges, or even hanging branches is OK. When you guide the audience’s eyes through a certain picture element, you will have the depth of front and back.

Training 7: Correlate the elements in the screen

Mobile phone hardware is still not comparable to SLR, so we should not rely on technical means (virtualization, perspective), but rather focus on content. If there are elements that can echo each other in the picture, the interest of the work will be greatly enhanced.

The way of interaction can be related in content, which can trigger the association of the audience.

It can also be the echo of the composition.

Hidden training: I forgot that you used a mobile phone

In fact, there is also a hidden target for these 7 trainings – to make you forget that you are shooting with your mobile phone. Whether it is a camera or a mobile phone, it is just a tool for taking pictures, and your attention should be focused on the content, not the tool. Cultivate the ability to observe life and capture it with the eyes of photography.