Photographs are the mighty connectors of the world today. You may not master any other language aside from your native tongue, but you know this much is true – a picture is worth a thousand words and having the right devices to capture these special moments are essential. Picture this: you’re exploring new views on hikes and the sun is just rising over the horizon. You scramble for your phone to capture the moment, but the image simply does not translate on your screen as pristinely as it is in real life.
In the nascent days of mobile phone photography, this was a common scenario. However, today’s smartphone cameras can capture professional-level images in any number of difficult lighting conditions. You no longer need to be a wizard with a camera to take high-quality photographs. Furthermore, these cameras even fit right in your pocket, enabling you to preserve memories in remarkable detail without the need to have a full camera set. Over the years, mobile camera technology has progressed more drastically than any other single feature in our smartphones. Learning to make use of the camera tech that comes with your phone can help you up your photography game.
Utilising the ‘Smart’ in your Smartphone to Capture the Best Moments
We have come a long way from the early, grainy photos taken on flip phones. Today’s smartphone cameras are capable of shooting in formats like wide-angle or telephoto, with crisp images boosted by high megapixels counts, and includes features like low-light functionality, fast autofocus capabilities, and optical image stabilisation for steady captures. Different exposure modes also allow photographers to now manipulate everything from the background of a scene to camera functionalities like shutter speed, white balance, focus, and ISO.
Once reserved strictly for DSLRs, these functionalities are now widely available, and sit comfortably in your hand and in your pocket. For many of us, taking the perfect photo now – whether it is for the books or for social media – is simply cranking up the camera settings to the highest-resolutions to capture quality and detailed images. For some devices, artificial intelligence can even now further assist our manual inputs to provide us with the sharpest photographs available at the push of a button.
While investing time in learning the full range of your smartphone camera’s features and functionality can help, getting the right setting for the perfect shot each time may require more time. In those instances, some phones come with powerful cameras that will save you the time and hassle of getting the ideal image. For example, the Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra’s camera comes with a complex AI system – its Advanced Single Take feature will capture the best picture and clips behind the shutter, and you’ll have access to up to 10 photos and 4 videos in just one shot for your viewing and saving needs.
Making the Best of Manual Photography Apps and Other Features
For seasoned photographers looking to seize more control over how their photos look, they can also look towards their smartphones for access to finer capturing and editing needs. For some smartphones, the camera may have a manual mode feature built in to enable a greater range of options for the user. Whether you have experience with photography or simply exploring the possibilities available to you, making use of the manual photography mode on your smartphone like the Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra’s Pro Mode can help give you the extra perfect shot, with options to change your shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focus, and more, giving you more leeway and control in your shots.
Also, with basic settings available across nearly all devices – such as turning on the gridlines when taking photos to help you better compose your shots – wider shots can prove to be more challenging. Generally, the ultrawide sensor on any phone can be more difficult to work with. However, on the Galaxy Note20 Ultra, the dynamic range allows you to take better landscape shots. With the telephoto, its periscope system enables you to extend its optical zoom range to 5x, and with its “Space Zoom”, the combination of the optical and digital zooms lets you get into an impressive 50x for those ultra-distant shots.
Editing your Photos Digitally Through Your Phone
While you can throw on a preset filter onto your photos, sometimes you need to go the extra mile to create a photograph that is truly memorable, and uniquely yours. Learning the art of editing will help take your photography skills a step higher. A camera can take you only so far, after all. Some basic skills on photo editing, even ones you can pick up by reading or watching tutorials online can go a long way, forming the basis of the new skills you can pick up on your journey to improving your photography skills.
With the range of apps currently available on your smartphone, editing on the go has never been easier. Whether it is adjusting the exposure, saturation or touching up minor blemishes to make that photo picture perfect, the right smartphone can assist you with capturing the pixel perfect image that only requires enhancements to be professional and polished. Sometimes, a simple auto adjust will be sufficient in modifying the images contrast, brightness, and saturation. Other times, you will need to rely on your own eyes and build on your own experience to know if the image is good enough for your needs. Either way, modern smartphones can ensure you have good shots as you hone your skills further. Get creative with adjusting lighting and saturation and play around with editing to gain new perspectives otherwise unavailable on your device.
Ultimately, the first thing viewers see when looking at your images are what is in it, not how it was edited. With editing, less is often more – moderate adjustments combined with minimal use of filters can be used to beautify the photo. Finding the right device with a camera you are comfortable working with should take priority, with editing skills only used to further amplify areas of the image you want your viewers focusing on.
Smartphone Cameras and the Evolution of Modern Photography
Today's smartphone camera technology makes it possible to capture practically any scene with the simple swipe of a finger. However, having the right tool can still impact your photo-taking journey, and the Galaxy Note20 Ultra is on par with the best phones out there, with additional tools still deeply imbued within its hardware and software to enable the perfect picture taking experience. With a good eye and a powerful camera you can use anywhere, you’ll be capturing the best memorable photos without missing a good moment.
