How to capture stunning photos with your phone

In today’s digital age, mobile phones have become powerful tools for capturing beautiful photos, enabling everyone to try their hand at photography. With a few simple tips, you can elevate your mobile photography skills and create stunning images, with the camera in your pocket. So whether you’re a pro or a beginner, these 10 tips will come in handy while using your cell phone to capture stunning photos.

Clean Your lens

I know it probably goes without saying, and maybe a little obvious, but I thought it was worth mentioning. A clean lens ensures photos are crisp and clear, without any unwanted smudges or blur. As a professional photographer, I can always remember to wipe my camera lens, but can hardly ever remember to wipe the lens of my camera phone. 2025 New Years revolution for all of us should be to make a habit of wiping our phone camera lenses. Making a habit of wiping your lens is important especially if you use your phone heavily throughout the day.

Natural Light

Master the power of natural light. Whenever possible use natural light, natural lighting is inherently more flattering and brings out more detail in your subjects than natural lighting. Shooting during golden hour, (shortly before sunrise or sunset) for soft, warm lighting. Avoid harsh lighting or shooting during the brightest point of the day to avoid harsh unflattering shadows.

Grid Lines

Frame your shots using grid lines to perfect your composition. Using your phones grid lines helps you follow the rule of thirds which is a composition technique that can make your photos look balanced and aesthetically pleasing. Position key elements along the grid line or their intersections to create a more compelling composition. Turn the grid lines on via your phones camera settings and start mastering composition today.

Pro mode

Many smartphone model offer a pro or manual mode, allowing you to adjust ISO, shutter speed, and white balance for a more professional looking photo. for example if you use a lower ISO in bright settings to avoid grain and increase it in low light. just shutter speed for motion blur or to capture fast moving objects.

Portrait Mode

Portrait mode creates a shallow depth field effect, which blurs the background to make the subject stand out from the background. On a professional camera you achieve this effect by adjusting the aperture. You can use portrait mode on all subject types not just people. Any subject or object that you wish you to emphasize, give portrait mode a shot, you likely won’t be disappointed. You can also adjust the blur in post processing if your phone supports it.

Avoid Digital Zoom

Instead of using the digital zoom on your phone try moving closer to your subject instead. Digital zoom can reduce the quality of your photo making it look grainy or pixelated. If necessary you can always crop the image in post, this will yield a crisper clearer image than zooming in will.

Use Editing Apps

By adjusting the brightness, contrast, colors and removing unwanted objects will help elevate your photos and take them to the next level. Use apps like Adobe Lightroom Mobile or Snapseed to help enhance your photos, but be careful not to over did it.

These tips can most definitely help you get the most out of your phones camera and capture incredible photos. Remember, great photography is just about the type of camera you use. It has much more to do with knowing how to frame, light and capture your subject in the best way. So get out thre, experiment with the techniques, and let your creativity shine! If you want more photography tips, check out this article.