[Editor's note: This is an updated version of a previous article.]
These days, everyone is a photographer. We're taking more photos than ever, but most of those photos aren't being captured with digital SLRs or even compact cameras. Instead, we're living in the Age of Smartphone Photography. Just consider Instragram: On Thanksgiving day, more than 200 photos were posted every second.
And now, the holidays are looming. If you plan on capturing a few photographic moments with your iPhone, Android phone, or any other mobile device, consider these tips for taking better photos. Some of these basic lighting and flash tips will come in handy if you're using a full-fledged camera, too.
Beware of backlighting
This is good advice for any camera, but a smartphone camera is especially vulnerable to bad lighting. When you compose your family holiday portraits, don't position yourself so that there are bright lights–the sun, indoor lamps, a wall of Christmas lights, and so on–behind your subject. Make sure the light source in your scene is behind you or off to the side, and if there are windows behind your subject, it might be a good idea to close the blinds or shades. Otherwise you'll be capturing a bunch of silhouettes.
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