Smartphones have not only become an integral part of our lives, but have also made us habitual of using them for our daily photography needs. Modern camera phones have evolved a lot as compared to their decade old counterparts.
In this post, we will tell you how you can take awesome HDR photos on your Android phone.
What Is HDR?
HDR is the acronym for ‘High Dynamic Range’. So an HDR photo is composed of 3 or more photos shot at the same settings but exposure. As a result you get photographs with high contrast and punchy colours. highlighting the detail in every aspect of the scene composition.
The latest generation of smartphones are fast enough to do this and might also produce great results if you know and follow the below mentioned tips.
3 Simple Steps To Taking Great HDR Photos On A Smartphone:
- Don’t Shake The Phone While Shooting- As mentioned above, an HDR image is composed by merging three different photos shot at very short time intervals (fraction of a second). So, it would great and optimum results only when you don’t move and camera for a few seconds after clicking the capture button. In case you shake the camera, you will get an image with halos and ghosting effect.
- Take HDR Only When It Is Suitable- HDR photography lets you highlight the detail in the dark areas of the scene while not blowing out the details of the bright regions. So, it only makes sense to capture HDR images only when the subject has a dark foreground or a very bright background, or if you want to shoot a very bright object (say Sun) without compromising the details in the sky (say clouds).
It is also not advisable to shoot moving objects in HDR mode, since it will only produce images with ghosting effects.
- Use Apps- Most of the phones have in-built support for HDR mode in their camera apps. The HDR mode in the stock camera apps does a decent job for taking images with high dynamic range, but in case you want to improve on that, or if your phone’s camera app doesn’t have an HDR mode, then you should go for third party camera or HDR apps on Google Play.
Some of my favourite Android apps for shooting HDR photos are Perfectly Clear, and Pro HDR Camera. You can also try other camera apps available on the store and check them yourself.
All of the above mentioned tips will help you take better photos with your mobile phone but don’t expect a hell of an improvement. After all, your phone’s phone also has a role to play. The image quality while depending on the software processing also depends too much on what your phone’s camera can capture. So, investing in a phone having a great camera will improve the results significantly.
There is a limit to what you can achieve with apps. So, I would advise you to buy some great camera phones from popular brands. Happy shooting!
