Learning how to take better photos using your phone is a skill we should all possess. While it may seem strange for a pro photographer to teach you how to take better photos, sometimes hiring a professional just isn’t feasible. Since we’ve all been in isolation for some time, you are likely spending more time with your family. Capturing these precious moments in a beautiful way is oh so crucial. We might not all own an SLR or have the faintest idea of how to use it properly. For those who do own an SLR, sometimes you can relate to just not feeling like making it such an “official” shooting moment. (or at least I often feel like that).

I recently was asked by The Parenting Series to host a seminar teaching tips and tricks to taking better photos using just a phone. Here, I will share the Lighting segment of our workshop.

USE NATURAL LIGHT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

There are 3 TYPES OF LIGHT to analyze before taking a photo. It is important to learn how to utilize these types of light to your advantage.

1. DIFFUSED LIGHT

This can be any kind of light that is not direct. Whether it is light coming through the diffusion of clouds, a curtain, a tree etc, it gives a “soft box” effect.

Advantage: Great for even lighting on faces. Finding diffused light can soften the look of the photo and is great for photographing children, women or someone that has features you don’t want to embellish like wrinkles for example.

Disadvantage: This light can sometimes be too flat or not dynamic enough.

2. DIRECT LIGHT

This is light that comes directly from the source to your subject.

Advantage: Creates a contrasty, moody or airy look. You can use this to create catch lights, shadows, design, and highlights.

Disadvantage: This light can be ugly if used in the incorrect way. It can create more definition where you don’t want to bring attention to by elongating shadows.

3. BOUNCED + REFLECTED LIGHT

Light that hits something before hitting your subject is a bounced or reflected light.

Advantage: Using walls or reflectors can help you add light where it wouldn’t normally be.

Disadvantage: Incorrect usage of this type of light can create unflattering looks like “ghoul lighting” or strong colour casts from other light sources or the environment.

Solution: Move your subject or adjust your light. In the case below, I moved Khari into the shadow for an even, diffused light, instead of having the light hit the floor and light his face from underneath.

COMMON LIGHTING MISTAKES

Everyday I witness people taking photos with their phone and cringe at the thought of their result. There are very simple techniques to avoid these common mistakes which will drastically improve your photography.

SPOTTY LIGHT

To be honest, I can’t think of any scenario where spotty light looks good. Spotty light is everywhere, especially in the afternoon when the sun is high in the sky. Shooting in spotty light with an SLR is hard but more controllable. However, with your phone, it is impossible to improve.

The Solution

The best reaction to spotty light, is to remove your subjects from it altogether. If this is not an option, turn your subjects so their backs are to the sun and try to use it as back-light. If the sun is directly over-head, this is not an option and moving your subject into full shade (diffused light) or full sun (direct light) are your best options.

This is particularly important if you have a group of people to photograph. If you have one subject in the sun and one in the shade, the camera will expose only one of your subjects properly. This will result in an ugly image on at least someone’s face or body part. 

Below, my family was taking photos of me with my friends for my baby shower. Our porch had spotty harsh light. After reviewing a few of these images, I quickly removed us from the porch and went to the front yard where there was even, diffused light. For me, this is much more important than the background for example. In my case, the background was better too! 😉

WHERE LIGHT + SHADOW MEET

The line upon which light and shadow meet can be soft and beautiful, or it can be very contrasty and harsh. It might take some time to start to recognize the difference but this is an important factor to notice. Would you put your subject in the shade or the light? No answer is correct but you must understand the effects of both.

The Scenarios:

Subject in light with dark shadow behind

If you choose to put your subject in the light, know that your phone will expose for your subject so your background will become even darker than you see with your eyes. In some cases it could look almost black or without much detail. This isn’t wrong, it’s just something to understand.

Subject in shadow with bright light behind

Putting your subject in the shadow with bright light behind them will cause your phone to expose for your subject, making the background brighter than it appears to your eye. This can make your background void of much detail or completely white.

OVERHEAD LIGHT

Shooting at noon is not your best friend unless you have endless options of open shade without spots. This type of lighting will give most people raccoon eyes with big shadows in their eye-wells and unflattering shadows below their nose.

The Solution

Head over to open shade. If this isn’t an option, you can use a reflector to bounce light into your subjects face to try and even out the shadows. If you really want the shot, try having your subject look towards the light or put their sunglasses on and have the light source light their face directly. (this isn’t easy to look into obviously).

If you are indoors, get your subject to step a foot or two in-front of the pot-light or light source instead of under it. Flash can also resolve this issue from a very short distance from your subject only. (2ft max)

COLOUR CAST

Many people are unaware of why their photos look pink, red, orange or blue. This is the colour temperature of your light source. Without going into great lengths, basically you want to keep your subjects in daylight balanced light as much as possible to avoid colour casts.

The Solution

Indoors is mostly where the issue occurs. Try turning off the lights in your home and using just the natural daylight through the windows instead. This will be a more natural and balanced colour-wise to what the naked eye sees. Below, you can see a combination of lighting colours from different sources. If you wanted to keep it consistent, use a flash. Choosing night mode on your phone might also have with ISO selections to get a more balanced image. Another option is to turn off the warmer coloured lights.