Taking Painterly Phone Photos

This past week I had two experiences that led me to write this post. First, last Friday I had the opportunity to co-present photography tips to a group of nonprofit communication leaders. Although we covered all types of gear, most of the questions were about how to get good smartphone photos. Here are some of the ideas we shared with them.

Remember composition:

When taking photos on your phone, use all of the composition techniques you know, such as the rule of thirds, finding the best light, filling the frame, looking for shapes and colors, and capturing the moment. We sometimes forget these when snapping photos on our phone, but you will get better images if you keep composition in mind.

Get close:

If you want to focus closer on a subject do not use the zoom function on your phone. That actually decreases the pixels so the photo won't be as sharp. Instead either move closer with your feet, or use the crop function in your editing software to get the image you want.

Take time to edit:

Often we take a photo to share immediately on social media. That can work for many of your photos, but if you want to take them to the next level, use editing software. There are many apps now available such as Photoshop Express, among others, but the one that is my go-to app is Snapseed. It is free, easy to use, and is a robust editing tool available for both iPhone and Android.

The second experience was watching Kathleen Clemons' Creative Live course on Creating Painterly Photographs. Among many things that she shared was a section on what apps to use to turn your photos into art that I will highlight here.

Formulas-Photo Lab Effects:

This app gives you various filters to get the look you want. It is easy to use and creates great images. I enjoyed playing with this app and got some interesting shots, such as this photo of a rose that I took along my walk. It is grainy and mysterious.

Distressed FX:

Another fun app with filters that will help create a rougher image. Here is one from Whidbey Island that I captured on one of my walks. With this app you can add birds to your photo that weren't there before. That's what I did here. I think it adds more to the story.

Waterlogue:

This app takes some practice to master I found. Not all photos lend themselves to be painted. I liked how this one worked though. It took an ordinary planter and transformed it to a more interesting photo.

Tangled FX:

This app gives your photos an interesting twist (or tangle) to create arty images. I also found that this app took some practice, but the results are worth it. The photo below is a tree that I walk under most days. I am always amazed at the vines and love taking photos and playing with different effects.

The truth is that the best camera is the one that we have with us, and for most of us that is our smartphone. With a bit of editing, you can transform your photos into art! Try it and let us know what you think by commenting below, posting on our Facebook page, or sending us an email. We love to hear from you.