Trek GERMANY: Neuschwanstein - Pro results with your camera phone!
Armed with nothing but your new(ish) smartphone and using Google's FREE photo editor, take and make shots that will make you look like a pro! Plus maybe earn a few likes :)
In this step by step blog, I will illustrate the tricks and tips that pro's use to get the best shots from any equipment, and that includes your phone!
STEP 1: Get supported
Your phone gets the best shot by keeping it still. The best way to achieve this is to use a tripod or gimble. Good advice, but no one lugs these things around. So what do you do when the light gets low? Find support. See that railing with the dude? I leaned right up on that so my arm and phone were as steady and solid as a tripod, so even in the low light I could keep the phone steady and the shot sharp.
STEP 2: First make it POP!
In some situations, in GOOGLE's online editor (search: photos.google) you can push the 'Pop' way up and bring out the details and keep the image looking natural. For best results pump the pop first, then edit other aspects such as shadows and blacks afterward to get a good balance of color and contrast. Doing non-pop edits first and then turning up the pop can render the image to mechanical and unnatural.
Check out the pop for this one:
More POPtastic shots of the all too famous palace:
Pop with the 1:1 Lens
Pop with the Wide Angle Lens
Pop with the Wide Angle Lens
STEP 3: Add in COLOR!
Once you pushed that Pop and spent some time with the 'Exposure', 'Whites', 'Shadows', and 'Blacks'. More on these later :) you can pump the colors in your scene by pushing the 'Saturation', 'Skin tone', and 'Deep blue' levers all the way to the right, don't be afraid to let your colors show!
As you can see for the above, I pushed Skin tone and Deep blue as far as they would go, and then some, and look at that Pop:
STEP 4: Zoom in if you got it
Newer phones have dedicated zoom cameras built-in from 2 to 5x. Be sure to learn how to switch to your zoom, and know when your switching to software zoom. Software zoom is never as sharp as an actual camera lens. You can apply the same tricks with pop and color with your zoom camera as well.
STEP 5: Going wide for that dramatic effect
Now many of the newest phones from Apple, Samsung, and Huawei feature wide-angle cameras as well. Wide-angle is super useful when close to a structure to capture more of it in detail, or when trying to capture a big vista through a large arch with your back against a wall, such as in the image above. All the same post-processing tricks apply, be sure to learn how to switch to your phone's wide-angle lens.
STEP 6: Going pro with Post Process
The above 'raw' shot from the 1:1 lens is washed out, lacks color and contrast, but all the light and detail info was present to turn it into a great shot. To nail the sky, I turned up the pop, then started adjusting. I focused my attention on just that sky, tunning down, leftwards, 'Exposure', 'Contrast', and 'Highlights' until the lights and darks had good contrast. Focusing next on color, I pushed the blues and skin tone levers to the left until the orange of the sky and blue of the mountains were more lifelike. Finally focusing on the foreground trees and background castle, which had become much too dark, adjusting the 'Shadows' and 'Blacks' to the right to brighten and contrast the trees with the illuminated castle to finish the image. Here it is full size to see all the details:
STEP 7: The BLUE hour
Once the last warm colors from the setting sun have gone, the 'Blue Hour' begins. Approximately for one hour, the sky will still show a rich blue in photos. At that time, support becomes even more important. look for railings, posts, even tree trunks to give your phone extra stability when making your shots. and note that your wide-angle camera has the best chance to capture this most heavenly of blue tones. All the post process tricks above will work, pay particular attention now to the 'Deep blue' as you may not need too much adjustment on this one, and going too far with the blue will not look natural.
The following are a few more 'Blue Hour' shots. This is a wrap for me, hope my tips help you out, now get out there and start shooting!
Towards the end of the 'Blue Hour' ground features are almost completely blacked out
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All images ©copyright 2019 by Duncan Pond and Crown ADAM AG
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