4 minute read
Smart Photography NEW
SMART PHOTOGRAPHY
with KARL FEHLAUER
Welcome to my new column on smartphone/small sensor photography where I will pass on tips and techniques for creating better images and video from your smartphone (and tablets) or small sensor devices such as action cameras (GoPros / DJI Osmo Action etc.), drones and other portable devices which capture images with a small sensor.
All of the above devices have one thing in common and that is they have small sensors and usually (but not always) will have a fixed aperture at a wide setting such as F2.8 or F1.5. Having smaller sensors means that they are less efficient in taking images in low light conditions and can suffer badly from ‘digital noise’. Also, because they have fixed apertures it is very easy to overexpose your images unless you use very fast shutter speeds or filters. In future columns I will go into what aperture, shutter speeds and digital noise mean, what is meant by having a fixed aperture, and we'll look at accessories such as neutral density filters and how they are used to improve your image-taking skills. For now I would like to concentrate on a brief introduction into smartphone/ small sensor photography. You may ask "Why?" and the answer is very simple. Virtually everyone nowadays has a smartphone which has a camera and each day literally millions of photos are taken with these devices for both pleasure and work. All of the top brands (Samsung, Apple, Google, Sony etc.) now market their smartphones on the capabilities of the cameras in those devices and many of those devices have multiple cameras with different focal lengths (more about focal lengths in a future column). Of particular note is that the latest releases of the top of the line smartphones - Samsung S21 Ultra, iPhone 13 Pro Max, Google Pixel 6 Pro, Sony Xperia 1 III etc. - are sold based on the photographic and video capabilities of their cameras and in particular with the S21 Ultra, Pixel 6 Pro and iPhone Pro Max, their low light capabilities, especially when taking astro/nightscape images. In the past, astro/nightscape images were the realm of the high-end full frame cameras such as Canon, Nikon and Sony, but now with the new phones mentioned above, you can capture some outstanding images in low light conditions if you know how and have the right equipment, but more on that in future columns.
Not all smartphones are made equal and the saying, "You get what you pay for", is very evident when looking at the capabilities of these smartphones. When it is time to upgrade your phone you will need to take extra consideration when deciding on what type of smartphone you want and its camera capabilities, in particular if low light capabilities are a concern. All of the phone makers have high-end and budget lines, so check out each phone's specifications before making the purchase, particularly if photography/videography is your main reason for updating. That said, it may not be necessary to go out and buy the latest and greatest new smartphone as soon as they hit the market. Instead I would strongly suggest looking at previous models and you might find that they well and truly meet your needs, in particular the capabilities of their cameras. Also these phones are usually a lot cheaper when the newer models are released, which means that you can save a lot of money, and with those savings it means you will have some money to purchase accessories such as filters, tripods or a decent editing program. I am an Android smartphone user (Samsung S21) but everything I talk about will also be the same, if not similar, for iPhone users and therefore the advice that I am providing will be very similar for both platforms albeit with some small differences. Most people tend to use ‘auto’ mode when taking photos and that is fine and in many cases will suit that person’s needs; however, if you want to be creative or to have full control on how your images turn out then you need to get out of auto and learn how to use your smartphone’s ‘manual’ mode. In many cases, using auto mode will produce very good images and if you are happy with the results you are getting, then please keep using it but keep reading this column because future articles will cover topics that will be just as pertinent to you as well as someone who is using manual mode. Most of the major brands will have a number of different modes in their camera menus. For Android smartphones they will have ‘Pro’ and ‘Pro Video’ modes which are their manual modes and allow you to manually set different parameters such as shutter speed, ISO and white balance to get the correct exposure for your image. I believe that iPhones have similar modes. Photography can be very confusing while trying to learn and hopefully through this column I will try and make it less so. In future columns I will cover topics such as using the ‘Pro’ modes, tips and techniques to get the best out of your smartphones, exposure and other settings, and 'how to' tutorials including how to create timelapse and hyperlapse videos and much more. Well, that is it for my first column and I hope you have got something out of it. The images in this article were taken with my Samsung S10 or S21. If you have any questions or suggestions please email me at karl@westralianimages.com and I will see what I can do to help you. Remember, the best camera is the one that you have with you, so get out there and take photos and have fun.
