It's easy to take better photos with your Android smartphone, you just need to learn the tricks. Below are some simple ideas that users of any level can try out with their device. Improve your smartphone photography skills today with these top tips.
1. Clean your lens
The first place to start when trying to take a good picture is to clean your smartphone's camera lens. These frequently become dirty and the results will be a blurry image. Every time you go to take a picture, give the lens a quick wipe on your T-shirt first to sweep away any grime.
2. Use touch-to-capture or volume shutter for selfies
When shooting a classic selfie, it's all-too-easy to drop your phone when attempting to press the capture button. By enabling touch-to-capture, it's hard to miss the trigger: it becomes the whole screen.
Alternatively, depending on which is your preferred hand, it may be easier to reach the volume controls. This option isn't available on every device, but if it's on your handset you should find it in the settings menu under volume control function, or use volume control as.
3. Never miss a shot with quick-launch
Many Android smartphones have a shortcut to launch the camera, rather than entering the dedicated app. The native Android solution to this is a camera icon located at the bottom of the lockscreen which you can swipe but on some devices all you need to do is double-tap the power/lock button.
On later Samsung phones, a double-tap on the home button will do the trick.
These shortcuts are there to help you access the camera as quickly as possible. Though they won't guarantee your pictures will be better, they could help you capture a shot you would normally miss.
4. Shoot in landscape
We have become accustomed to a 16:9 media format and as a consequence, pictures shot in portrait just tend to look awkward now. Unless there is an important reason that you would need a taller shot (like, say, shooting a picture of theFernsehturm from a close distance), pictures are almost always better in landscape.
5. Avoid using the flash (most of the time)
Even on a DSLR camera, the flash function is generally best saved for emergencies. If you can use natural light to illuminate your picture, you always should, because you want your pictures to look natural, don't you?
There is a time and a place for the LED flash on smartphone cameras, but because it tends to be located very close to the lens, it can have a nasty glaring effect. If natural light isn't quite enough, increase the exposure value (EV) and ISO on your camera. Bear in mind that increasing ISO will also increase the graininess or 'noise' in your pictures.
Natural light is the best light for photos: avoid using flash (like in the picture above) when you can.
The exception to this rule, as suggested by BruinGuy, is when taking pictures in daylight when the sun is behind the subject of your picture. Of course, where you can help it, the sun should be behind your camera, but when you can't avoid this, try using the flash to illuminate the faces or details that would otherwise be in shadow.
6. Don't use digital zoom
Digital zoom is notorious for destroying smartphone photos. Unless your camera has an optical zoom, where the camera lens actually protrudes out of your device (like the actually-not-great Samsung Galaxy K Zoom), all zooming does is enlarge and crop the picture.
"Can't I just do that after I've taken the photo?" I hear you ask. Well, yes, you can – that's the point! Digital zoom merely narrows the editing options for your picture. Take fully zoomed-out photos, then crop them manually if you want to.
Digital zoom on the Moto E (2015) is disastrous, but it's not much better on high-end handsets.
7. Check details of your best, worst and Auto photos
We all have some photos that come out incredibly well and others that are pretty awful. Whenever you take either a great or terrible photo, check the 'Details' of the photo to see what ISO, exposure time and aperture it had.
This way, you'll slowly learn which settings on your smartphone work best with which light conditions. This is particularly useful for 'Auto' photos, so you can get a feel for the settings your camera resorts to by default and adjust them accordingly.
Check the details of your photos so you can find out which settings work best with which lighting conditions.
8. Use HDR mode
HDR is a great mode for taking photos of stationary objects, as long as you have steady hands. HDR (high dynamic range) mode ensures that the lighting and shadows in the photo are evenly exposed. This is particularly useful for photos with high contrast.
HDR mode takes two or more pictures of varying exposures almost simultaneously, then combines the best and brightest bits of both into one photo. You need to keep the camera super-steady, otherwise, your photo will come out blurred.
Some flowers without HDR. / The same flowers with HDR – see the difference?/
9. Use the post-processing filters
There are plenty of people out there who pour scorn onto all the lovely filters you can enhance your photos with. But for casual smartphone photographers, those retro, black-and-white, Windmere, Islandia, and other filters can really add character to a photo. Most Android smartphones come with a great selection of filters, but if you're running a bit short, try Pixlr (formerly Pixlr Express) for a great selection.
Those hipster filter names may be irritating, but they can look fantastic.
10. The 'reflective sunglasses' trick
If you have a pair of sunglasses with a reflective coating on the lens, you can use them to capture a good perspective for your shots, like in the example below. The light source should always be reflected off the lens to help you better capture the scene or action that's in your view.
A reflection in a pair of mirrored sunglasses can create some pretty cool perspective shots.
11. Make one subject appear several times in a Panorama shot
The Google Camera app has been available in the Play Store for some time now, so anyone running Android 4.4 KitKat or higher can grab it for their Android device. In the app, you can use the Panorama function to pan horizontally across a scene and capture an entire landscape.
For a spooky effect, get the subject of your panorama shot to move with the camera so that they appear more than once in the image. The key to making this work is holding the camera steady while you're also moving the subject, so it's good to have someone helping you.
12. The rule of thirds
This is one of the simplest rules for photography, yet it's invaluable for making your photo compositions look great. The idea is that our eyes are naturally attracted to images that are divided into thirds, where the subject of the photo is slightly off-centre.
To help you achieve this, most smartphone cameras let you use a grid of two horizontal and two vertical lines when taking photos. The subject of your photo should be at one of the four intersections of these lines to theoretically get the most visually pleasing photo. Give it a go!
Colorify Augmented Reality is a fairly unknown app in the Google Play Store. With it, you can change the color of a garment or object to anything you want. The more contrast in the photo, the better it works.
It's also worth noting that Colorify will replace the color on all objects in the photo from the same palette, as can be seen in our example photo below, where the app changed the color of the denim as well as the trainer.
This is one of the cooler photo-editing tricks. You can turn your panoramic photos into globes, in an effect known as Tiny Planet. We recommend two apps that you can use to accomplish this effect.
The first one, Tiny Planet FX, isn’t free, but has some spectacular options for customizing the effect. The second app, Small Planet, is free. It takes a little fiddling around in order to get used to it, but once you do, you can create some truly spectacular snaps.
There are hundreds of ways to boost your smartphone photography. Which are your favorites? If you have a tip on how to take better photos with your Android phone that you'd like to share, let us know in the comments below.
The Google Play Store is a big benefit for owning an Android device. It gives you a wide variety of apps to choose from. To get the most out of your shopping experience, we've gathered some Google Play Store tips and tricks to help you test drive apps, save money and more. Check them out below.
1. Install an app that isn't available in your country
If you're really keen to get an app that's not available in your country then you can still get your hands on it by using a VPN. 'VPN' means 'virtual private network'. It gives you a secure internet connection via private networks in locations outside of your current one.
Basically, a VPN service can make it look like you're accessing the internet from a different location. It's important that you choose a credible VPN. We regularly feature VPN deals in our AndroidPIT Store if you're looking for a good one at a low price.
Once you've downloaded a VPN, select the country whose Play Store you want to access in the VPN app, get the VPN up and running, then open the Play Store app. It should land on the Play Store homepage of the country you selected. Now you can get the app you desire.
2. Manage your apps in the Play Store
The Google Play store has an area called 'My apps & games'. From here you can look at which apps you've downloaded, which were pre-loaded and the apps that you need to update. This is an excellent place to manage your apps within the Play Store and getting to it is easy.
Open up the Google Play Store on your Android device. Open the menu (the three horizontal lines at the top left of your screen). Under the Apps & Games section you'll see the My apps and & games link, tap this. Now you should see a list of your installed apps.
From here you can hit the button Update All in the top right hand corner of your screen. You can monitor what you've downloaded and manage these apps. If you go into the All section you can see which apps were on your device and what could be removed.
3. Put a parental lock on Google Play
If you don't want your child or dependent downloading inappropriate apps on the Play Store you can set up parental controls to prevent your Android device from being misused. This could include games with copious amounts of violence or gore. Apps that could put them in danger like dating apps or chats that give out their location.
It's easy to put a parental lock on the Google Play Store. First, open the Play Store and tap the menu icon. Go into the Settings and tap Parental controls and hit the slider so it says 'On'. From there you will be asked to create a parental lock PIN code. Create one and then go through the list of things you can download on the Play Store and tap the ones you want to set restrictions for.
Once the restrictions are set, your child or dependent will need to enter your PIN code each time they try to download something that triggers the restriction. As they get older and are able to handle more content you can go back in and change their privileges.
4. Get refunds on the Google Play Store
You can get refunds for Play Store purchases with a single tap; so long as you do it within two hours of buying the app. This should be plenty of time to find out if that new weather app actually works, or whether that game is as fun as the garish pictures made it out to be.
Once you've purchased an app, on its Play Store page you'll see options to Install or Open. In addition, a Refund option should appear to the left of it. Tap the refund button within two hours of your purchaseto get your money back, no questions asked.
If you notice that a child or dependent made this purchase without permission you can always change their privileges. Just head into the Play Store, tap the menu icon and hit Settings. Toggle Require authentication for purchases then choose For all purchases through Google Play on this device.
5. Check out the 'Indie Corner'
Both big and small developers are important for a vibrant Android app ecosystem. The big developers are not struggling, it's the small developers who have difficulties. Part of the problem is that it can be tricky to find independent apps. But now there is the Indie Corner in the Google Play Store.
Indie Corner can't be found from within the Play Store itself. Instead, open a web-browser on your Android device and search for 'Indie Corner'. The first result should be 'Discover Indie Corner' from Google Play. Head in and you should see the list which is refreshed with new apps every month or so.
On Monday, LinkedIn Corporation and Microsoft Corp announced about entering into an agreement under which LinkedIn would be acquired by Microsoft at a cost of $196 per share in an all-cash transaction, the value of which was $26.2 billion, inclusive of the net cash of LinkedIn. LinkedIn would be retaining its independence, culture and distinct brand. Jeff Weiner would maintain his CEO position in LinkedIn and would report to Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella. This transaction is completely supported by Weiner and Reid Hoffman, the controlling shareholder, co-founder and chairman of the board of LinkedIn. It is expected that the transaction would be closing this calendar year.
LinkedIn is the largest professional network all across the globe and last year, it had launched a mobile application, which increased member engagement. Then it acquired Lynda.com, an online learning platform. All this had led to increased membership.
Nadella stated that,
“The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world’s professionals. Together we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics as we seek to empower every person and organization on the planet.”
The Board of Directors of Microsoft and LinkedIn have approved this transaction. However, the deal is subject to approvals by the shareholders of LinkedIn and other regulatory approvals.
Hoffman says,
“Today is a re-founding moment for LinkedIn. I see incredible opportunity for our members and customers and look forward to supporting this new and combined business. I fully support this transaction and the Board’s decision to pursue it, and will vote my shares in accordance with their recommendation on it.”
LinkedIn and Microsoft would be hosting a joint conference call with investors on the 13th of June 2016 at 8.45 a.m. Pacific Time/ 11.45 a.m. Easter Time for having discussions about the transaction. This call would be hosted by the Chief Legal Officer and President of Microsoft, Brad Smith, Amy Hood, the Chief Financial Officer of Microsoft, Weiner and Nadella.
There is absolutely no denying the fact that photoshop can do wonders or in other words, we should say that it has the power to show impossible or unbelievable things which seem to be unreal at first but you just can’t resist looking at them again and again when it’s flawlessly done!
Here we present the work of a brilliant photoshopper named James Fridman who’s so popular among his fans who send him their pics to do something creative or fulfill their wishes by means of his photoshop skills. But you need to be very cautious to send him the pic as well as your requirement, as he literally takes them and you never know what he does with your pic!!
WhatsApp, the most famous instant messaging app, would permit users for adding animated GIFs while chatting shortly.
As per News18.com, after its rival Viber introduced this feature, WhatsApp is also making plans for integrating GIF support. Pastebin, a popular coding website, made a list of more than 30 improvements as well as modifications for accompanying the beta release.
According to the report, it will enable users to reply straight to GIFs, save GIFs to camera roll along with peek and pop support feature and encryption support to share GIFs.
Besides these, the new feature incorporates auto play GIFs support when shared as a link in conjunction with option of saving GIF as a normal pic.
Beta release (v2.16.7.1) for iOS will comprise much advancement together with many bug fixes. There’s not any fixed date for the release of this new GIF feature. However, one thing is certain, it will make communication more interesting and not only this, couples will have a chance to get more romantic by sending romantic GIFs!!
Can’t wait for the new feature? It will be interesting to see what excitement it adds among WhatsApp users!! Do you think it will attract more people to use WhatsApp? Let us know your views in this connection in the comments section below.
There are many problems which are faced by a lady who wants to make her career in Bollywood as an actress and body shaming is one of them. Undoubtedly, the producers and directors demand a certain type of body structure or color for their actresses depending on the liking of the audiences and a number of actresses try to change themselves in order to get work.
There have been instances where some actresses such as Sonakshi Sinha, Richa Chadda and Kalki Koechlin have spoken against body shaming but the harsh reality is that body shaming still persists and its latest target is actress & dancer Lauren Gottlieb.
GQ wrongly showed Lauren in their post Best Dressed Man 2016 with Arjun Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor and Lauren was just using this chance as an opportunity to laugh a little when she posted:
However, some social media followers of Lauren started criticizing and condemning her for ‘her attempt to look like an Indian.’
At this moment when Lauren was getting slammed by these haters, actress Ileana D’Cruz came to the rescue of her friend Lauren!
And here’s her mouthful reply to the hater:
Lauren also appreciated and thanked Ileana for her support as she posted:
and you never know what he does with your pic!!
