How to take better photos with your Android phone

Smartphone cameras have come a long way in the last decade. While the Google Pixel 7 Pro sports one of the best cameras we’ve ever used, you don’t need a flagship phone for a perfect shot. Many of our favorite budget phones have capable cameras.

How can you take even better pictures from your Android phone? A great camera is only as good as the person using it. So, it’s time to level up your photography skills if you want to take breathtaking shots from your Android phone.

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Always know where the light source is

When taking a photo using your smartphone, it is vital to know the light source position. Smartphone cameras can only take a limited amount of light. A lot of light can overwhelm the sensor. It can also throw off their exposure, especially if it is a challenging scene.

You should always ensure that the light falls directly on the subject. So, when clicking pictures indoors, ensure the subject is standing facing the light source. The light should never come from behind. That leads to your subject being underexposed.

Look at the picture below. It was shot in broad daylight. But with the sun behind the subject, the phone’s camera can’t balance the exposure properly, leading to the subject being heavily underexposed.

Standing with the sun behind the subject, you can see how the colors of the t-shirt are washed out.

For the next shot, the subject is facing the sun, and the results speak for themselves. Admittedly, this is not always possible, particularly when trying to capture a landscape like in the background of the picture below. In such cases, you can tone down the exposure level by a couple of notches before taking the shot.

Facing the sun—the colors are a lot better.

You can improve the final photo by ensuring the subject is in the correct position in front of the light source. Also, use as much natural light as possible, as that gives the best results unless you are clicking photos in a controlled studio environment. When shooting indoors, if the available light is less, switch on a few bulbs to complement the limited natural light. And keep your hands steady, as smartphones tend to compensate for the limited light by opening the shutter for longer. If the subject or phone moves, it could introduce motion blur, especially on Samsung phones.

Keep your phone’s camera lens clean

Your phone’s camera lenses are bound to get dirty and smudged over time. Dirty camera lenses can lead to unwanted flares, glaring, and focus issues.

The fastest way to improve your phone’s photo quality is by cleaning the camera glass before capturing a shot. And you don’t need a special solution for this. Just wipe the lenses using a clean cloth. It would be enough to clean the smudges from the glass. Ideally, it’s best to use a microfiber cloth, but your t-shirt works in a pinch. Avoid using jeans or a dirty cloth for cleaning, as you could scratch the lens, which does more harm than good.

The image quality improvement with a clean lens might not be noticeable when taking photos in daylight, but it’s immediately evident in low light and challenging conditions.

Zoom into your subject

Up until a few years ago, smartphones lacked cameras with optical zooms. So, it was recommended that you not zoom into the subject while taking a photo, as using digital zoom introduced noise and affected the overall image quality.

That’s no longer the case, with most flagship smartphones now featuring a dedicated camera with optical zoom. For example, on the Galaxy S22 Ultra, you get two telephoto sensors with 3x and 10x optical zoom. This means you can zoom into a subject with a minimal impact on image quality. Another benefit of the telephoto sensor is that it lets you take photos with a tighter frame, thereby putting the focus entirely on the subject.

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Left: Shot using the primary camera. Right: The same scene stands out more when captured using the telephoto sensor.

Avoid using the telephoto sensor in low light, as it cannot absorb a lot of light like the primary camera. In such situations, take a photo using the primary camera and crop it as required.

Even if your phone does not have an optical zoom sensor, you can zoom 2x to 3x into a scene without a noticeable change in image quality. That’s due to modern smartphones using bigger and higher resolution camera sensors that capture more details.

Edit photos to make them pop

Photo editing apps for phones have come a long way. They have become extremely powerful thanks to AI and machine learning (ML). You can tweak the colors, contrast, highlights, and more using one of the best photo editing apps for your phone or tablet. You don’t need to tweak these aspects. All apps feature a one-touch enhancer that automatically tweaks a photo to make it look better.

In the samples below, you can see how the colors on the original photo were a bit muted. A quick edit later, the photos pop a lot more.

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That’s not it, though. You can remove unwanted objects from your photos with Google’s Magic Eraser. And if you don’t use a Pixel, you’ll find plenty of Magic Eraser alternatives you can try on your Android phone.

Hold your phone steady

Place your phone on a steady surface when taking photos in low light or using Night mode. This allows the camera to open its shutter speed for longer by eliminating unwanted jerks and shakes from your hand. In turn, the sensor takes in more light, which should improve the final photo.

This won’t always be possible. In some cases, you’ll need to be a bit innovative and prop your phone against a soda bottle on the table. However, the results could be well worth the effort. Look at the example below.

Get innovative with the lenses and angles

Smartphones come with multiple cameras: wide, ultrawide, macro, and telephoto sensors. Don’t always shoot a scene using the primary camera. Get innovative with the camera lenses and angles. Ultrawide cameras can fit in a lot more of a scene and can be used to take some breathtaking photos.

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Left: Shot from the primary camera. Right: The same scene shot using the ultrawide camera.

Similarly, not every photo needs to be clicked with the subject directly looking into the camera. Flip your phone or bend down a bit to create new angles while taking a picture. The final results could be a lot more dramatic.

Get out your camera and record your memories

The above tips are not that hard to follow. Once you get the hang of them, you’ll notice the pictures you click from your Android phone come out a lot better. After that, to better manage your ever-growing photo library, check out the best Google Photos tips and tricks for some help.