Smartphones have become the world’s most popular cameras because they’re always with you, are easy to use, and allow you to quickly take and share pictures. They are far more portable than cameras and the quality of smartphone photographs has steadily been improving. Today’s flagship smartphones can create stunning images, but remember, any tool is only as good as the person using it.Buying yourself a top of the line smartphone doesn’t guarantee great photographs. Photography is a skill that needs practice, even if you are using a camera phone. If you want to improve your smartphone photography skills, I’ve got some useful tips for you.
When to use the HDR mode
Trying to take a picture with bright and dark areas in the same frame? Use the HDR (high dynamic range) mode, present in most smartphone cameras. This mode helps balance out the lighting in a picture – the lights aren’t too bright and the shadows aren’t too dark – so that no details are lost.
To do this, the phone takes the picture twice, at different exposure levels, and then software balances these images into a single shot.
Selective focusing/ refocusing images
Finding the right object to focus on – either in the foreground or the background – can sometimes make the image much better, rather than just pointing the camera at the scene and hoping for the best. Smartphones that let you refocus after taking a shot allow you to experiment and get the best photo.
Some smartphones such as the HTC One M8 come with dual rear cameras that allow you to do this really effectively, but other smartphones use software tricks to let you change the object in focus.

Quick launch
Remember how long it took for your digital camera to start before you could take photos? Launching the camera app is a lot quicker, but can still take a fair bit of time if you’ve locked the phone, for example. Most phones allow you to work around this limitation though, and quick launch the camera, so you can take pictures in moments.
For example, the Samsung Galaxy S6, and Galaxy S6 Edge let you do that by double tapping the home button. Almost all other smartphones also have similar quick-launch shortcuts. Look for a similar way to launch the camera quickly to make sure you don’t miss out on the all-important moments.
Camera button
Another useful tip is to use the volume buttons or a dedicated camera button on your phone to click pictures in landscape mode. This helps you keep your hands steady while clicking pictures, as opposed to shaking the phone when tapping the on screen button. If your phone does not come with a dedicated camera button, check the settings to see if you can set one of the volume buttons as the shutter instead. Many third-party apps on Android will let you do that, if the stock app doesn’t.

Light
Photography is known as painting with light for good reason. Without light there’s no photography so it’s important to learn how to use light to your advantage.
This is the period shortly after sunrise and before sunset when the light is ideal for capturing landscape shots as well as monuments since midday light tends to ruin most landscape shots. Foggy conditions or when the sky is cloudy are not great for photography but you can still click great pictures.
Foggy conditions are best for portraits because there are no shadows or harsh light. Fog also adds a bit of mystery to photographs. Take a scene where you’re clicking a picture of a small settlement in the hills. A bit of fog around the settlement makes it seem mysterious and adds a slight charm to the picture. The emphasis is on making the best of the lighting conditions instead of giving up when nature doesn’t cooperate.

Composition
Look around you and you’re likely to find at least one great photograph waiting to be clicked. The hard part is to compose the frame. There are a few basic rules to get the job done. The first is the rule of thirds. Most smartphone cameras have a grid view. Once you enable this, you’ll see that the screen has four lines that divide the frame into nine equal parts. The rule of thirds says that your subject should be on one of the lines, preferably where these lines intersect. This isn’t a rule you must always follow but if you are a beginner you will notice that sticking to this helps you click better photographs.
Another important point is leading lines. You should use lines in a picture to lead you to the subject. For example, you could compose the picture of a boy sitting on stairs in such a way that the hand rails start at either edge of the frame. The rails create lines that lead you to the boy.

The decisive moment
The last of the basic rules is perhaps the most important. Patience is a virtue that photographers need. Capturing an event at the right moment is the difference between a good picture and a great picture. It’s important to evoke emotion – surprise, wonder or awe – through a picture. And that can only be done if the photo has been clicked at the right moment.
For example, a picture of a path between the walls of two houses is ordinary. A child peeking out from behind one of these walls adds life to the picture. Waiting for that moment is worth it. These basic tips should help you click great photos.