Your smartphone’s camera allows you to capture the magical moments of family and friends ’frivolity and seriousness during the holiday season. However, to get stunning shots, it’s best to be familiar with the many capabilities of your phone’s camera before you start snapping pictures. That means you ought to explore the possibilities and practice with the camera app…now!
Despite camera app differences, there are some features shared by most of them if the phones were purchased in the past several years. Knowing how to optimize these features helps you capture memorable moments. Let’s look at a few:
Focus
The camera app tends to focus on the mid-distance in a scene. This feature leads to a lovely image, but some parts might not be in the best focus. However, you can decide what part of the scene you want in the sharpest focus and thus add interest and originality to your photos. For example, you might want the foreground to appear crisp and sharp while the distance is a bit blurry. Take a close-up of a grandchild with every dimple in full display while the Christmas tree in the background is a bit blurry, thus emphasizing the child, not the room decorations.
How do you create this ambiance? Open the camera app and touch the screen. If you have an iPhone, you will see a yellow square. On an Android phone, it might be a circle or a square. Lift your finger and touch another part of the screen — the square or circle will move. That square or circle indicates which part of the image will be in the sharpest focus. Play around with this feature and take several pictures so you can see the differences depending on what you focus on. Delete any images you do not like.
Exposure
Did you know you can lighten the exposure in a dark room so you can better see your subjects ’faces in your pictures? And vice versa…tone down an overly bright situation. The newer phone camera apps usually have a bar you can slide your finger along to control the exposure. On an iPhone, you will find it to the right of the yellow focus box. On other brands like Android phones such as Samsung, the slider is often at the top or bottom of the screen. Just touch the screen to see it. Open your camera app and experiment with the exposure; you will be amazed by the range of lightness and darkness at your fingertip.
HDR (High Dynamic Range)
The HDR setting in your camera app is also related to exposure. Sometimes you will see these letters when you open the app and other times you have to go into camera settings. On an iPhone, you need to open the Settings app (looks like a gear) and then scroll down to the Camera options. On other phones, the settings can be accessed directly from the camera app—look for the little round gear-shaped icon.
When HDR is turned on, three images are taken with one shutter click—an under-exposed, over-exposed, and regular exposure. The camera software automatically combines the images into one image. HDR is helpful in several ways: brings out more details in either bright or darker situations, may brighten colors, helps eliminate shadows on faces on sunny days, and helps to create really interesting sunset pictures. Try taking pictures of the same subject with HDR on and with it turned off. Compare the images and keep the one you like.
Night Mode
Some of the newest phones have a Night Mode in the camera app. Don’t confuse this mode with Dark Mode or Night Shift that controls how your device screen is backlit at night and is not part of the camera app. Night mode, again, helps with exposure and highlights details when there is not an abundance of light.
Selfie Camera
Some folks have never played around with the “selfie” feature of their camera app. Your camera has a lens on the back of your phone and the front. The tiny front-facing lens is very difficult to see, but it’s there at the top of your screen. Look for the icon that resembles a camera with arrows. Tap it, and suddenly you are looking at yourself up close and personal. Selfies are fun to take, just make sure you are not standing near any kind of ledge. We don’t want any surprise tumbles.
Panorama
Panoramas are a fun feature—you can get all the guests at the holiday table in one shot or sweep around a gorgeous vista. Most panorama modes require that you hold the camera vertically. You will see directions on the screen that tell you to pan the camera slowly, left to right or right to left. Here is a neat thing to try. Ask the one or two people on the far end of the shot to move behind you and to the opposite end of the group after the camera sweeps past them. That way they will appear twice in the image. Here’s a caution—if taking a pano of people, get them to hold very still until you complete the shot. Otherwise, you might end up with an arm floating in space or a person with a double-sided face.
Portrait
Many of the newer phone cameras have portrait mode. This feature allows you to create an image with different lighting and depth of field focusing. An example is Studio Light that produces a solid black background behind the subject(s). Again, it is wise to explore this mode to learn the differences among the settings.
Live Photos
This feature is just for folks with iPhones. Have you ever noticed when you are in your Photos app that some images seem to move? These are your “Live Photos.” When the Live Photo feature is activated, the camera takes a 1.5-second video before and after the shutter is released. These mini-videos are what add movement. You certainly do not need the Live Photo turned on for all of your pictures, however any time there is movement in the scene you might use it. Tails wagging, moving water, crawling babies are examples of such times. To turn Live Photo on and off, look for the icon with three concentric circles. If they are yellow, the feature is on.
Time-lapse
Time-lapse is another fun feature to experiment with. Time-lapse condenses minutes of video into a few seconds so you see the action sped up to warp speed. Why might you use this feature during the holiday season? One example jumps right to mind — many families have multi-step fancy dishes prepared only during the holiday season. With time-lapse, you can record every step whether it is a fancy layered dip to consume during the bowl games or a family tradition such as Hanukkah kugel or making a gingerbread house or spice cookies. Place your phone somewhere safe and steady (tripod is probably best), tap the shutter, and leave it until the process is finished. Then tap the shutter again. You now have a record of the process.
Timer
Finally, you really ought to feel comfortable using the timer on your camera app. Too often the family photographer is left out of the photos. With the timer, you can be a part of family portraits. A tripod works best for this process because you can guarantee that your camera will stay still. You don’t need a big fancy one; there are all sorts of fairly inexpensive available online. Again, you probably want to practice using the timer before the family and friends gather. Look for the timer icon on your screen and tap it. You will probably have a choice of times. If you are a sprinter, you might choose 3 seconds, or if less agile, you probably want to choose the 10-second option.
Our phone camera apps are very amazing, and they keep getting more complex with each new phone released. The wonderful thing about digital photography is that if you don’t like a picture, you can trash it and immediately reshoot it. No waiting or paying for the film to be developed!
With the weather staying relatively mild this fall, there are still many opportunities to practice with the different features of your camera app — both inside and out. Most of all, have fun experimenting with this marvelous device that fits in your pocket so that you are well prepared to take fabulous photos over the next several months and beyond.
In our next column, we are going to share some ideas for the composition of your pictures: rule of thirds, how to place the horizon, close-ups, leading lines, and so on.
BoomerTECH Adventures (boomertechadventures.com) provides expert guidance and resources to help Boomers and older adults develop competence and confidence using their Apple devices. Boomers themselves, BoomerTECH Adventures rely on their skills as educators to create experiences that meet individual needs through videos, Zoom presentations, tech tips, and timely blog posts.
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