Top tips for taking stunning lockdown photography with a smartphone
Whether out for a leisurely stroll or on a more challenging hike while on lockdown one thing we all have in common is that urge to reach for our camera when we stop at a beautiful scene. We’re incredibly lucky to live in such a picturesque country, and there’s so much evidence of that through the beautiful photos our followers share with us on our social channels.
When taking landscape photos, it doesn’t have to be a complicated process to take your shots to the next level, so Ordnance Survey Ireland have put together some landscape photography tips for beginners to help you on your journey.
Before jumping into our tips on improving your photos, it’s been said that using the right equipment can be half the battle, so let’s briefly touch on some equipment you might need.
Photography Equipment Basics
The Camera
If you’d like to get into photography as a long-term hobby, investing in a good DSLR camera will set you on the right path. DSLR cameras give you full control over your camera settings which will allow you to take some beautiful high-quality photos. You can also change the lenses and filters on a DSLR camera which will allow you to experiment a lot more. It takes patience and a lot of practise to get the hang of a DSLR, but the results can be incredible.However, if you’re interested in some tips for taking better landscape photos with just the use of your phone, the tips we outline below can equally be applied to using your smartphone camera.
The Tripod
Do you really need one? Tripods really are a landscape photographer's best friend. The tripod will stabilise your camera so you can get the exact photo you want and will help you achieve a much crisper and sharper image making it worth the extra weight on your walk. Again, even with smartphones, you can invest in low cost gimbals or mini tripods to stabilise your phone for those much higher quality photos. Even the humble selfie stick can help stablise your hand and deliver a clear picture for the perfect finish. Now let’s get into taking the actual photos, what are the important elements for a beginner to watch out for?
Tips for Taking Great Landscape Photos
The Right Light
Image Copyright: Nataliya Hora
Image used with kind permission by private user Rachel Kiernan
However, to capture aesthetically pleasing landscape photos in general, using ‘the rule of thirds’ can really help you up your game.
Image used with kind permission by private user Susan Nicholson
Play around with filters
Image used with kind permission by private user Aengus O’Conner
Practice, Practice, Practice!
Photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, famously said, “your first 10,000 photos are your worst”. So get snapping! You cannot take too many photos. Explore your 5km routes and try different shots and positions with your subject matter, you’re all the more likely to get an amazing photo if you’ve taken heaps of shots. Delete the unwanted photos later to save on your memory space.
And that’s it. Truth be told, there are hundreds more landscape photography tips and tricks out there for you to learn, but when you’re just getting started, improving elements like your lighting and composition are such a great place to start. Try mastering each element one at a time, and once you’ve built up confidence on each one, you can begin to combine the tips all together in your photography, and you’ll drastically improve your photos.
The main thing is just have fun, take lots of photos and keep sharing them with us on our social media channels.