Your smartphone photos can look way better. If you’re willing to put in a little extra work, use third-party apps, and spend a bit of time editing, it’s possible to take photos that — under the right circumstances — can rival dedicated digital cameras. The sensors in modern smartphones have become surprisingly capable, but the default camera app often holds them back. With a few adjustments to your workflow, you can produce images that stand out from the typical flat, over-processed look.

Over the last few years, smartphone camera sensors have gotten bigger, with better light-gathering capabilities and higher resolutions. But even though the hardware has improved, the straight-out-of-camera quality through default camera apps hasn’t improved much, if at all. In some respects, smartphone photos have actually gotten worse — aesthetically, at least. This is because smartphone cameras are mostly optimized for information transfer: sending photos of menus, signs, faces, and objects that are clear and easy to see. That means phones usually pull down highlights and pull up shadows, creating a flatter image that shows more detail but less depth. A photo with too much information in the shadows and highlights can appear washed out. Phones also introduce artifacts like over-sharpening and noise reduction to compensate for their small sensors, which further contributes to the “muddy” smartphone camera look.

But none of this means phone cameras are bad. In fact, the sensors are so good that many can rival dedicated point-and-shoot options on the market today. The real challenge is knowing how to utilize those sensors. It comes down to using third-party camera and editing apps that give you more control over the final image.

The Apps You Need

There are plenty of apps available today that can give you an instantly “aesthetic” photo. Apps like Dazzcam and Hujicam try to emulate film aesthetics like light leaks and Polaroid borders — and honestly, if that’s what you’re looking for, they do a fantastic job. There are also apps like Moment Pro Camera II and Halide that offer “Natural” and “Process Zero” modes, which apply far lighter processing than the default camera app. Those options are great if you want your pictures to look better instantly without any additional editing.

But if you want the best possible photo, you’ll need to shoot RAW or DNG. RAW files are a bundle of practically all the information your camera collects, with extremely minimal processing. In most cases, RAW photos won’t necessarily look better than photos straight from the default camera app right away, but that’s because the default camera app makes a lot of creative decisions for you. If you want the highest-quality photo, it’s best to make those creative decisions yourself.

There are tons of apps that let you shoot RAW. Some of the most frequently recommended ones are Moment Pro Camera II and Halide on iOS, and VWFNDR and Zerocam on Android. These apps force you to stick to the native focal lengths your phone offers, which is actually a good thing. Because RAW images are information straight off the sensor, cropping applies processing. Photos from the main sensor will often be the best quality, since it usually has the biggest sensor on your phone. That said, you can still get good results from the telephoto lens when you want extra reach or compression.

You shouldn’t shoot RAW for every photo. Your phone camera is optimized for everyday snapshots. Instead, consider RAW when you see a nice landscape or city scene you want to share, or when you’re taking a portrait and don’t want heavy computational processing. RAW is for artistic purposes, not informational ones.

Shooting with RAW in Mind

When you’re shooting in RAW, tap on your subject in the viewfinder to get the best possible exposure for it. If the rest of the image is a little bright or a little dark, don’t worry too much. RAW photos retain a lot of information, so you can recover details in editing. However, under extremely dark conditions, RAW on smartphones won’t always be the best option. Physics is still physics, and sometimes it’s better to use the computational photography capabilities your phone offers, which shine in low-light environments by stacking multiple frames to reduce noise.

One of the biggest advantages of RAW is the flexibility it gives you when editing. Since the file contains all the sensor data, you can adjust exposure, contrast, and color with much less degradation than you would with a compressed JPEG. This is what makes the extra effort worthwhile.

The Art of Editing RAW Photos

After you take your photos, you’re going to need to edit them. Most phones won’t show RAW images in the default gallery, so to get them into an editing app, use the share sheet and share directly to your editing app of choice. Snapseed is a great option because it’s totally free and has a clean interface. If you’re an Adobe subscriber, Lightroom Mobile is also excellent, especially if you’re already familiar with Lightroom’s desktop tools.

RAW photos don’t usually look great right away. The magic of RAW is just how much you can tweak the files. Once you’ve imported a photo, hit the auto button to see what the general boundaries are for the image. Auto mode tries to make everything a mid-tone, pulling down highlights and pulling up shadows. This already looks better than the default camera output because it doesn’t apply noise reduction or sharpening — just highlight, shadow, contrast, and saturation tweaks. But it usually still needs more adjustments.

After seeing what auto mode does, you can either edit from there or start over and edit manually. A good photo has a natural amount of contrast, with relatively deep shadows and bright highlights. You usually don’t want to go too hard on either, and having a little detail in both is preferred. But this is subjective. Occasionally, it’s preferable to crush highlights and shadows completely for an ultra high-contrast look.

For color, RAW images are usually flatter than most people find pleasing. Fix this with the saturation or vibrance sliders. Vibrance is generally better because it’s weighted — it increases the saturation of flatter colors more than already-saturated ones, preventing skin tones from becoming radioactive. Saturation increases all colors linearly, which is easy to overdo. A light touch is recommended.

White balance is another powerful tool. Many people find a warmer white balance more pleasing, especially for outdoor photos. You can also use the color mix or selective editing tool to adjust specific parts of the image. In Snapseed, you can change brightness, contrast, saturation, and structure in selected areas. In Lightroom Mobile, you get selective hue shifts, which let you shift a yellow tone towards orange or green, or a blue tone more cyan or purple. This is great for fine-tuning colors without affecting the whole image.

Most editing apps also include geometry or perspective tools. These allow you to adjust distortion, aspect, scale, and offset. If you’re new to these, try hitting the auto button in the geometry or perspective setting. You might be surprised how distorted your phone captured a scene compared to reality. For architecture, perspective tools are essential. For landscapes, you’ll focus more on tone and color. Not every scene needs every tool — how you edit comes down to personal taste.

When you’re done editing, many apps like Snapseed and Lightroom Mobile offer a tool to add a matte (or border) around your image. A white border can isolate the image and make it look more polished. It’s not required, but it’s a nice touch if you want some whimsy.

This process is a lot more work than just opening your camera app and snapping, but the results are worth it. Many photographers are continuously blown away by the quality of images they can get off smartphones, and just how close they can be to a dedicated camera. With the right apps, a bit of practice, and some editing know-how, you can take smartphone photos that truly stand out.

Source: The Verge News