A Simple Trick For Better Mobile Photos: Use Your Other Hand – 31+ Days To Better Photography

This trick is simple and effective.

Mobile phones suffer when their cameras are pointed near a light source. You might have seen this happen. The image ends up being washed out with a bright white all over.

Here’s an example:

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The open sliding glass door at the left is letting in a lot of light and while that source is outside of the field of view, it still causes a washed out image.

The Cure Is Simple

All you need to do is place your other hand along side the phone and lens to block light. In this case here I am exaggerating the example so you can see my hand in the frame. When using Instagram this trick is very handy as my hand would be cropped out.

Notice the better contrast and definition in the image.

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Exact same picture, taken 10 seconds later. If you don’t want to see your hand in the image, just move it around until it is out of the frame. This won’t work when looking directly at the light source, but it helps 60% of the time. That’s a scientific fact.

This example was with an iPhone 4S.

31 Days To Better Photography is a series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey on The Carey Adventures.Com. The series is designed to unravel the mysteries of photography so you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

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