Ever took a photo you were so excited about only to realize later that it came out soft, blurry, and out of focus? It can be super frustrating, especially if it was a moment you can’t redo. (Your baby’s first steps! Your child getting their diploma!)
Here are five easy things you can do every time you use your phone camera to make sure you nail the focus.
- Clean the lens first Yes, you should do this every single time you want to use your phone’s camera- if you don’t, your phone’s lens is guaranteed to have fingerprints, dirt, or dust on it which, surprise surprise, results in a picture that’s not completely sharp. A quick wipe with the bottom of your shirt is usually good enough. (Unless you have kids with sticky fingers who like to touch your phone. Then you need to bring out the heavy duty cleaning supplies)
- Set the focus manually Don’t freak out, this is way easier than it sounds. Open your camera app, and before you snap the picture, just tap on the screen right over your subject’s face or eyes. A little square or circle icon should appear, and what that does is set the focus to be right where you want it- for a portrait that’s the person’s eyes or face. If you skip this step, you’re just relying on the phone to choose the focus point- and most of the time the phone does a decent job. But sometimes the phone places the focus on the wrong spot- (For example if your subject is far away or in the middle of a busy background) So get in the habit of tapping the screen to put the focus where you want it to be and you’re going to nail the focus every time.
- Check your lighting If its too dark where you’re shooting, its going to be much harder to get a super clear and sharp photo. Make sure there’s enough light in the room and on your child. (I cover exactly how to find great natural light for portraits- and more- in my free mini course-Get Gorgeous Photos of your kids- check it out here!)
- Minimize movement Hold your phone as still as possible to eliminate motion blur caused by the camera shaking or moving. An easy way to do this is to lock your elbows tightly against your body as you snap.
- Shoot in burst mode When you’re trying to capture sharp photos of someone in motion, (for example an energetic toddler, your child’s first soccer game, a dance recital) use burst mode (sometimes referred to as continuous mode). It’s one of those camera features I always forget about, but it can be so awesome! What it does is it lets you shoot a rapid burst of images extremely fast, with one touch of the shutter button. For newer iPhones, slide the shutter button to the left to activate burst mode. If you’re an android user, holding down the shutter button will let you shoot continuously until you lift your finger. Then you’ll be able to view and go through all the shots you just took, choose the ones you want to keep, and delete the rest.
Hope these 5 tips help you capture more moments of your life in super sharp focus so you can enjoy them over and over again! If you’d like to learn how to get gorgeous photos of your kids with your phone click here to check out my free mini course!
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