Smart Photos: 52 Ideas To Take Your Smartphone Photography to the Next Level
£9.90£12.30 (-20%)
A camera phone is something we always have on us and creativity is something we all have in us but often we struggle to use them properly, feeling like we don’t have the time, space or inclination to dedicate to it.
Here, photography expert and bestselling author Jo Bradford supplies a collection of practical exercises that allow you to master the features on your smartphone camera to take incredible images and also help you to easily reconnect with your creative side.
By encouraging you to try something different with your camera and seek out creative opportunities – from light painting to collage, image stacking to time-lapse landscapes – soon you will once again feel the satisfaction of thinking and acting creatively, with the added benefit of taking you from a snapper to an accomplished photographer with visual literacy.
Smartphone photography is addictive with a tangible feel-good factor; it’s time to embrace it and capture the moments that matter to you in all their glory.
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Additional information
| Publisher | White Lion Publishing (23 Aug. 2022) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 144 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0711265461 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0711265462 |
| Dimensions | 16.26 x 1.91 x 21.08 cm |
by CJ
Today’s smartphone cameras are amazing but most of us, not being trained in photography, do not know how to take full advantage. Jo Bradford, who has already written two books on smartphone photography, has come up with this third one, 52 examples showing how to take some spectacular shots. Each example is two or three pages and includes a sample photo demonstrating the technique, a description of the method, a list of the kit you need, and setup tips.
Number 36, for example, is called Through the Looking Glass and describes how to take an ornate mirror, seal it, lay it on the grass, fill it with a shallow layer of water, and photograph a model’s hand as she touches it, creating an amazing ripple effect over the reflected sky.
It’s good but quite a lot of work for something that, once seen in the book, you will probably not bother to do yourself. The idea though is to be creative and come up with your own imaginative routes to special effects using ordinary-ish household objects.
Some of the examples are inspirational. I loved number 26, Ray of Light, where Bradford explains how to take a picture early in the morning or late in the afternoon, to capture the “natural spotlight” of the sun shining through a bridge.
Nothing comes for free and the price of getting superb results is considerable effort in setting up and taking note of detailed instructions, like how to add a secondary “fill light” to soften the shadows when photographing a product.
This is a lovely book and you will enjoy the pictures if nothing else. It is in a way quite advanced though, and for me I would have preferred a higher proportion of down to earth tips and fewer of the more arty ones, though I may well be in a minority here!
by Bonnie
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I’m not sure what I was expecting with this book to be honest. I obviously thought it would give some tips and tricks on how to take better photo’s with your mobile device, however, I didn’t realise how many brilliant ideas it would give.
This book is filled with so many ideas on pictures you can take whether in the home, office, or out and about. All of the ideas are well explained and require little less than your imagination to succeed. There are some that may need some other tools and these are detailed i.e.; such as backgrounds, or objects around the home etc.
As it is a book about photographs, you would expect there to be photo examples in the book and I found all of these to be great examples and easy to understand just by looking at them.
Note: I have attemped to upload a video of the interior of the book, however I’m not sure if this is loading correctly. The product page currently has a ‘Look Inside’ options with some great examples of what you will be learning.
by CJ
Its pretty easy to write a book on different photographs you can take. Its harder to teach new skills. Apart from from free-lensing, this book is all about the former.
So, nothing on obvious new skills and techniques (such as using an ND, IR photography or use of various apps), but it is written well and might push you out of a ‘creative blank sheet’ moment. It just won’t teach you many new skills.
by D. J. Pickett
They say the best camera you have is the one you have with you and given that we are never far from our phones at any time this is an excellent book to improve your phone photography. Furthermore given that most phone camera can now produce images of exceptional quality it really is worth investing your time finding out how to get the most from your camera phone.
There are loads of ideas to send you off creating super class images, however the book does not tell you a lot about controlling exposure with your phone camera, it assumes that you already process this knowledge. Having said that there are plenty of instructions on the net from which to learn so it’s not a deal breaker.
Although I have been using my phone as a tool in my professional photography for sometime to take test shots it certainly opened my eyes to just how much more creative you can get with a phone camera. I have been working through a lot of the ideas in the book.
I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to get more out of their phone camera. I would also suggest they also purchase a tripod for their phone. They can be bought for under a £10.00 along with a slow shutter speed app.
by Helen
Really well written, clear instructions and great ideas. Highly recommended.
by David
Love it
by Bonnie
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This is a lovely, good quality book.
I was a little disappointed as I assumed it would be more about editing photos – but it is actual photography projects.
The book has 52 projects, so you could challenge yourself to a project each week.
I love that the book is paperback, but has an extra flap like a hardback would – so you can save the page and find it again easily.
The projects can be a little complicated and often require a tripod, which is a bit of a shame.
The print is a little small for my liking. At 52 I need reading glasses now, and even with them it’s a struggle to read the print.
However, for all the negatives I have mentioned, there are a lot of positives. It is well written and the projects are easy to follow. The paper is good quality as is the print.
Overall. I like the book and it’s reasonably priced.