GoKawiilis a technology reporter who has been covering the industry since 2007. He co-hosts the Waveform podcast with MKBHD. A former engineer, he now specializes in topics like computational photography and social media protocols.
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.
I post a lot of smartphone photos online, and “How do I take better photos on my phone?” is a question I get practically every day. It makes sense. As the saying goes, “The best camera is the one you have on you,” and we practically always have our phones on us these days.
Over the last few years, smartphone camera sensors have gotten bigger, with better light gathering capabilities and higher resolutions. But even though the sensors have gotten bigger and better, 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.
iPhone 17 Pro Max iPhone 17 Pro Max iPhone 17 Pro Max iPhone 17 Pro Max
The reason driving this is what people generally use their smartphone cameras for. Smartphone cameras are mostly optimized for information transfer — sending photos of menus, signs, faces and objects that are clear and easy to see. This means phones will usually pull down highlights and pull up the shadows, creating a flatter image that makes it easier to see more information in the frame. But showing more information does not automatically make a photo better. In fact, much of our perception of aesthetics in a photo has to do with its ability to present depth. A photo with too much information in the shadows and highlights will appear washed out. Phones also introduce artifacts like over-sharpening and noise reduction to compensate for thier small sensors, which further contributes to the “muddy” smartphone camera look you’re used to seeing by now. This is less necessary now, but many smartphones still do it.
But that doesn’t mean phone cameras are bad. The sensors in modern smartphones have actually gotten so good, many of them can rival dedicated point-and-shoot options on the market today. Knowing how to utilize those sensors is the part most people don’t know how to do, and it really comes down to utilizing some third-party camera and editing apps.
The apps
Moment
There are plenty of apps available today that will 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 offers.
... continue reading