Unfortunately, in social networks there are quite a few not only horrible photos, but those that are generally embarrassing to show. Moreover, the "authors" usually do not stop, but dozens of various "popular" filters are used, which they can only find, considering that this can indeed correct a deliberately wrong composition.

We want to convey that really good pictures can be taken on a not very high-quality camera. Of course, their quality will not be perfect, but it will not be a shame to show photos in the social networks.

Part one. Learning to take pictures

To get a really good picture, you need to know and understand the basics of photographic techniques that are sure to make your photos incredibly beautiful, regardless of the number of pixels of your camera.

1. Lighting

Of course, when shooting on the phone’s built-in camera, there is no talk of professional lighting equipment to improve the clarity of photos and color. But do not despair - you can always use sunlight or artificial light to your advantage. But it is still better to rely on natural light. It is much better combined with almost any camera and provides a natural color palette.

Artificial lighting can often spoil your photo. Incandescent lamps, as is well known, will give off yellowness, and besides, they will not be able to adequately provide an adequate level of illumination. Fluorescent lamps, on the contrary, can provide an excessively bright and sharp light, which is also not a good assistant in photographing. Natural light sources will provide you with warm shades that can emphasize the object of shooting and not "wash off" the details. That is why, if possible, avoid using camera flash.

So, you have found the ideal source of light for photography, positioned the object so as to maximize the use of light, and that the light illuminated the photographing object, but did not get into the camera lens, otherwise you will get the overexposed image.

Do some experiments, do not be afraid to shoot from different angles, with different brightness of lighting - in the morning, afternoon, evening. Advices are, of course, good, but they will not give you anything without practice - only from personal experience one can understand how it all works.

2. Exposition

Exposure, in its simplest sense, is the effect of the amount of light falling on the camera sensor on the overall brightness of the image. In conventional cameras, this parameter can be changed using experiments with the shutter speed, with the aperture and ISO value. This combination will determine how much light will fall on the camera lens and how sensitive it is to light. The better the lighting, the lower the sensitivity should be chosen. And vice versa - in case of poor lighting, more sensitive to light settings are needed, although this, of course, can result in an image grain.

Android’s "native" camera is largely deprived of customization capabilities, and in most cases it only allows adjusting the exposure with a moving slider. More advanced applications allow for almost a full range of manual settings - to change the ISO, aperture, etc.

3. Sleight of hand and no fraud

Of course, we will talk about the focus because well-chosen exposure and good lighting - this is not all. Before taking a photo, you need to make sure the subject is in focus. Fortunately, almost all modern smartphones are able to adjust the focus and most of them have quite "smart" autofocus; During this time, it is important to keep your hand as firmly as possible, otherwise you will get a smeared photo.

Also, most cameras offer the possibility of arbitrary focusing - the focus in the area that you choose by tapping on the screen. There are also a variety of different automatic effects that would be quite difficult to manually obtain on such a camera (for example, blurring the background - "bokeh").

4. Image composition

Now that you know some of the subtleties of the process of photographing, you can apply them all to get a high-quality picture, do not forget just the practice. But even with all these subtleties, your photo will be as good as the composition will be correctly selected. One of the main principles of photography is the "rule of thirds". It divides the image area into nine equal parts using horizontal and vertical lines. The main concept of this rule is that the subject (or object) should be located along the lines or at their intersection.

Unfortunately, in reality, natural lighting will not always be perfect, the moment may be fleeting, the object itself may constantly move, etc. All these nuances make you rely more on memory than on a photo. Fortunately, there are many software options in order to improve the already taken photo.

Part two. Programs for processing and shooting

No, there will be no talk about Instagram filters and other "popular" items on the network. We want to get the most out of the photo, so we will try to do everything manually, because in this case we will be able to get a result that can suit us.

1. Google Camera

This application is installed by default in most Android smartphones. It has a simple user interface and has a minimum of settings, but it has several unique photo modes in stock, as well as several effects.

With the help of Google Camera, you can impose a grid on the camera interface, adjust the exposure, and it can also provide you with an HDR mode that will "draw out" a good picture even in not the best conditions. With this camera, you can also create circular panoramas.

2. Camera FV-5

This application provides you with so many settings that not every professional camera can boast. With it, you can manually adjust the exposure, ISO, focus mode, white balance, etc.

This camera also has several modes of night shots, frame-by-frame HDR shooting, as well as self-timer. Using this camera will allow you to feel the full power of manual photo settings, allow you to practice with different shooting modes, as well as with this application you can make really high-quality photos.

3. Photoshop Express

Of course, you cannot do without Photoshop even on Android. This application will allow you to customize and improve the photos taken directly on the screen of your phone without a computer.

Of course, this application does not have a tenth part of the settings of its "big brother", but this is quite enough for you to eliminate the red-eye effect, adjust the contrast, exposure, adjust color, brightness, shadow and much more. And, of course, filters are available here, so beloved by all.

And finally

The obvious tip is to keep the camera clean.

Good luck!