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Cell phone photo tutorial

KeenDogg

Slays On Fleek - For Rizz
Hey guys! How are you?


Would any of you guys who know enough about cell phone shooting be willing to make a short tutorial for members to produce better pics when shooting from their phones? I can do it with some guidance as well, if that's easier. Even things which can be done simply after taking a pic is helpful. Our idea is to create a better visual experience for everyone. I feel like the better the photos, the better a members time here will be and keep them returning and enjoying. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your consideration😊
Adam
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
I think a lot depends on what software is being used. Not all phones will have the same features, apps, etc.

As for me, my pics will always be dreadful, as my vision is impaired. As such, I can't always judge whether a picture is in focus, colour correct, or exposed correctly. I hope this picture improvement drive won't see members like me being on the receiving end of "encouragement" to do better than our physical abilities allow.
 

Eben Stone

Staff member
I'm not in the same league as some other members here. But there are two things that I've noticed that seem to help:

1) Lighting. If you don't have a fancy setup, then try to make sure the source of light is in front of the subject as much as possible. If the light source is above or behind then it's kinda hard to make it look good without some photo editing.

2) Composition, Arrangement. Find a nice place to put your stuff and do your best to clear away everything else so the background is as plain as possible without any other objects in it. After you take your photo you can crop it. You don't want stuff that is irrelevant to the subject visible in the photo. Use props if you have to. It's pretty amazing what a dark towel can do.

Cropping and applying a filter is typically all I do with my photos. And I think they are slightly better than terrible.
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
Buy a cheap lightbox and keep it set up. Use it every day. Makes a huge difference.


WR2-135.CH2-3 Band.Vitos.640.JPG

The cool thing is with this hobby you can practice your photography every day, observe your work, see how you like it compared to other similar still life shaving photographs, and try again and again.​


Other than this post I really don't know anything, but I used to take really bad photographs. Now some of mine are better. Few are terrible. (According to how I see them anyway.)

Happy shaves,

Jim
 
Disclaimer: Long post with plenty of bad photos.

I use a Samsung phone that I bought 6-7 years ago. My photos used to be terrible(some could argue that they still are) I just couldn't see it myself. As all things when you do something yourself you are really proud of it even If it turns out like ****. Well some friends started pointing out how my photos were bad. Bad lighting, bad angle, the gear being cut off the picture. I really didn't know better cause I thought they were really really good.... I have a little table at my living room where I used to take my photos. I would just place them there at night use my phone's flash and boom! Another "great" photo. Examples below. Why is Fine's cap missing? Why is the brushe's knot cut off. Why is there so much reflection? Why is there a crack on the wall? Well the crack is irrelevant in this situation but you get the gist.

proxy.php


Another one... Half of the razor is being covered by the brush.. Why is the neck of the aftershave missing again? The soap's lid is so bright and the reflection awful awful. Make it stop please.

proxy.php


I then started taking photos at times where there was natural light in my living room. I also found out that I had a built-in photo editor on my phone. Brilliant right? Who could have thought that such thing existed.
Example below. That looks significantly better ay? Yeah it's blurry I know but those were the first steps towards improvement.

proxy.php



Aaaaaaand another one. I kinda overdid it with the exposure and saturation but I think its significantly better than the examples above. And it's also not straight....

proxy.php


I then tried taking a couple pictures at my kitchen counter. There is a lamp above it so that could help with lighting and theoretically I could take pics whenever I wanted to despite the time of day. Example below. Nothing fancy, simple composition and no editing. There is plenty of light coming from the right (which you will see in more coming photos) But I think I found my spot.

proxy.php


Let's introduce some temperature play. Everything is the photo is warm but my lighting is cold. Let's fix that.

proxy.php


How about some black n white? There is still a lot of light coming from the right. After some time I used a cutting board to block off some of it.

proxy.php


No more pesky light eh? But there is plenty of dark on the left. Oh well!

proxy.php


I then experimented with different spots on the house and used a couple of "props" If you will.

French soap/aftershave? How about a piano shot.

proxy.php


There might just be enough space below this lamp at my hallway to fit my gear...

proxy.php


A friend sent me a stand for my razors and brushes? Let's use it for a SOTD picture.

proxy.php


Whatever this morning star thingy is it looks fancy. Picture taken at my living room on a table that is lit by a big *** floor lamp. A loooooot of white sadly.

proxy.php


A ceramic skull? Sure whatever use it. It's random I like it. Blurry sadly.

proxy.php


Am I tiring you? Well we are almost over. The last shot. Today's SOTN, I got lazy so I just used a couple of towels that were on top of the washing machine and took a pic there. Also slightly blurry but the editing made it look better.

proxy.php


So you posted tons of pictures without giving any advice. Well my advice is get creative! None of the pictures above are perfect, I bet a lot of people that take photography seriously will find them horrendous. But that's OK. I had fun taking those pictures, I had fun while picking a spot to take the shots and then edit them. I think I've come a long way from my initial photos. Also thanks to the editing I can hide plenty of mistakes.
 

Eben Stone

Staff member
Disclaimer: Long post with plenty of bad photos.

I use a Samsung phone that I bought 6-7 years ago. My photos used to be terrible(some could argue that they still are) I just couldn't see it myself. As all things when you do something yourself you are really proud of it even If it turns out like ****. Well some friends started pointing out how my photos were bad. Bad lighting, bad angle, the gear being cut off the picture. I really didn't know better cause I thought they were really really good.... I have a little table at my living room where I used to take my photos. I would just place them there at night use my phone's flash and boom! Another "great" photo. Examples below. Why is Fine's cap missing? Why is the brushe's knot cut off. Why is there so much reflection? Why is there a crack on the wall? Well the crack is irrelevant in this situation but you get the gist.

proxy.php


Another one... Half of the razor is being covered by the brush.. Why is the neck of the aftershave missing again? The soap's lid is so bright and the reflection awful awful. Make it stop please.

proxy.php


I then started taking photos at times where there was natural light in my living room. I also found out that I had a built-in photo editor on my phone. Brilliant right? Who could have thought that such thing existed.
Example below. That looks significantly better ay? Yeah it's blurry I know but those were the first steps towards improvement.

proxy.php



Aaaaaaand another one. I kinda overdid it with the exposure and saturation but I think its significantly better than the examples above. And it's also not straight....

proxy.php


I then tried taking a couple pictures at my kitchen counter. There is a lamp above it so that could help with lighting and theoretically I could take pics whenever I wanted to despite the time of day. Example below. Nothing fancy, simple composition and no editing. There is plenty of light coming from the right (which you will see in more coming photos) But I think I found my spot.

proxy.php


Let's introduce some temperature play. Everything is the photo is warm but my lighting is cold. Let's fix that.

proxy.php


How about some black n white? There is still a lot of light coming from the right. After some time I used a cutting board to block off some of it.

proxy.php


No more pesky light eh? But there is plenty of dark on the left. Oh well!

proxy.php


I then experimented with different spots on the house and used a couple of "props" If you will.

French soap/aftershave? How about a piano shot.

proxy.php


There might just be enough space below this lamp at my hallway to fit my gear...

proxy.php


A friend sent me a stand for my razors and brushes? Let's use it for a SOTD picture.

proxy.php


Whatever this morning star thingy is it looks fancy. Picture taken at my living room on a table that is lit by a big *** floor lamp. A loooooot of white sadly.

proxy.php


A ceramic skull? Sure whatever use it. It's random I like it. Blurry sadly.

proxy.php


Am I tiring you? Well we are almost over. The last shot. Today's SOTN, I got lazy so I just used a couple of towels that were on top of the washing machine and took a pic there. Also slightly blurry but the editing made it look better.

proxy.php


So you posted tons of pictures without giving any advice. Well my advice is get creative! None of the pictures above are perfect, I bet a lot of people that take photography seriously will find them horrendous. But that's OK. I had fun taking those pictures, I had fun while picking a spot to take the shots and then edit them. I think I've come a long way from my initial photos. Also thanks to the editing I can hide plenty of mistakes.
^^ Lots of great ideas :thumbup:

A good prop for reflecting some light is to use an old car sun shade.
 

KeenDogg

Slays On Fleek - For Rizz
I think a lot depends on what software is being used. Not all phones will have the same features, apps, etc.

As for me, my pics will always be dreadful, as my vision is impaired. As such, I can't always judge whether a picture is in focus, colour correct, or exposed correctly. I hope this picture improvement drive won't see members like me being on the receiving end of "encouragement" to do better than our physical abilities allow.
Not at all my brother. I just want people to have fun. No pressures or anything like that. If you want to post a pic, you can do whatever you are capable of and we will love you for it! There's all kinds of people here with varying degrees of ability and that is awesome. 🥰 It's not really a drive as more as a let's have fun together, be positive, and let's see where it takes us. Am I making sense? I apologize if I came off pushy, was definitely not my intent.
 

KeenDogg

Slays On Fleek - For Rizz
I'm not where in the same league as some other members where. But there are two things that I've noticed that seem to help:

1) Lighting. If you don't have a fancy setup, then try to make sure the source of light is in front of the subject as much as possible. If the light source is above or behind then it's kinda hard to make it look good without some photo editing.

2) Composition, Arrangement. Find a nice place to put your stuff and do your best to clear away everything else so the background is as plain as possible without any other objects in it. After you take your photo you can crop it. The does here is you don't want a much of stuff that is irrelevant to the subject visible in the photo. Use props if you have to. It's pretty amazing what a dark towel can do.

Cropping and applying a filter is typically all I do with my photos. And I think they are slightly better than terrible.

I gave some very general tips for getting better shots HERE but doing a full-blown tutorial would be beyond me.

Buy a cheap lightbox and keep it set up. Use it every day. Makes a huge difference.


View attachment 1350349
The cool thing is with this hobby you can practice your photography every day, observe your work, see how you like it compared to other similar still life shaving photographs, and try again and again.​


Other than this post I really don't know anything, but I used to take really bad photographs. Now some of mine are better. Few are terrible. (According to how I see them anyway.)

Happy shaves,

Jim

Disclaimer: Long post with plenty of bad photos.

I use a Samsung phone that I bought 6-7 years ago. My photos used to be terrible(some could argue that they still are) I just couldn't see it myself. As all things when you do something yourself you are really proud of it even If it turns out like ****. Well some friends started pointing out how my photos were bad. Bad lighting, bad angle, the gear being cut off the picture. I really didn't know better cause I thought they were really really good.... I have a little table at my living room where I used to take my photos. I would just place them there at night use my phone's flash and boom! Another "great" photo. Examples below. Why is Fine's cap missing? Why is the brushe's knot cut off. Why is there so much reflection? Why is there a crack on the wall? Well the crack is irrelevant in this situation but you get the gist.

proxy.php


Another one... Half of the razor is being covered by the brush.. Why is the neck of the aftershave missing again? The soap's lid is so bright and the reflection awful awful. Make it stop please.

proxy.php


I then started taking photos at times where there was natural light in my living room. I also found out that I had a built-in photo editor on my phone. Brilliant right? Who could have thought that such thing existed.
Example below. That looks significantly better ay? Yeah it's blurry I know but those were the first steps towards improvement.

proxy.php



Aaaaaaand another one. I kinda overdid it with the exposure and saturation but I think its significantly better than the examples above. And it's also not straight....

proxy.php


I then tried taking a couple pictures at my kitchen counter. There is a lamp above it so that could help with lighting and theoretically I could take pics whenever I wanted to despite the time of day. Example below. Nothing fancy, simple composition and no editing. There is plenty of light coming from the right (which you will see in more coming photos) But I think I found my spot.

proxy.php


Let's introduce some temperature play. Everything is the photo is warm but my lighting is cold. Let's fix that.

proxy.php


How about some black n white? There is still a lot of light coming from the right. After some time I used a cutting board to block off some of it.

proxy.php


No more pesky light eh? But there is plenty of dark on the left. Oh well!

proxy.php


I then experimented with different spots on the house and used a couple of "props" If you will.

French soap/aftershave? How about a piano shot.

proxy.php


There might just be enough space below this lamp at my hallway to fit my gear...

proxy.php


A friend sent me a stand for my razors and brushes? Let's use it for a SOTD picture.

proxy.php


Whatever this morning star thingy is it looks fancy. Picture taken at my living room on a table that is lit by a big *** floor lamp. A loooooot of white sadly.

proxy.php


A ceramic skull? Sure whatever use it. It's random I like it. Blurry sadly.

proxy.php


Am I tiring you? Well we are almost over. The last shot. Today's SOTN, I got lazy so I just used a couple of towels that were on top of the washing machine and took a pic there. Also slightly blurry but the editing made it look better.

proxy.php


So you posted tons of pictures without giving any advice. Well my advice is get creative! None of the pictures above are perfect, I bet a lot of people that take photography seriously will find them horrendous. But that's OK. I had fun taking those pictures, I had fun while picking a spot to take the shots and then edit them. I think I've come a long way from my initial photos. Also thanks to the editing I can hide plenty of mistakes.

^^ Lots of great ideas :thumbup:

A good prop for reflecting some light is to use an old car sun shade.
This is all great stuff. Thank you guys. Even this could be enough to help someone. I guess we wouldn't need a full blown tutorial. I was just kind of lost on the subject. I appreciate you guys very much.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Not at all my brother. I just want people to have fun. No pressures or anything like that. If you want to post a pic, you can do whatever you are capable of and we will love you for it! There's all kinds of people here with varying degrees of ability and that is awesome. 🥰 It's not really a drive as more as a let's have fun together, be positive, and let's see where it takes us. Am I making sense? I apologize if I came off pushy, was definitely not my intent.

No, you didn't come across as pushy, Adam. I just read it as an enthusiastic "let's all do better", when I know that I can't. Possibly some over-sensitivity on my part. :redface: For those that can, and want to, it's great. I'm sure many will enjoy the process as well as the outcome. I used to enjoy photography many years ago myself. It only becomes problematic, when higher standards become an expectation. 🍻
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
No, you didn't come across as pushy, Adam. I just read it as an enthusiastic "let's all do better", when I know that I can't. Possibly some over-sensitivity on my part. :redface: For those that can, and want to, it's great. I'm sure many will enjoy the process as well as the outcome. I used to enjoy photography many years ago myself. It only becomes problematic, when higher standards become an expectation. 🍻
I can relate. Most definitely my better days are behind me, both in front of AND behind the camera!

My eyes choose how well they will work all by themselves!


BUT! I know that I am guilty of not staging my shots of my shaves as well as I could.
I commend you, @Billy T. for an EXCELLENT little tutorial. Lots of nuggets of information in there. Thank you my friend.
 

KeenDogg

Slays On Fleek - For Rizz
No, you didn't come across as pushy, Adam. I just read it as an enthusiastic "let's all do better", when I know that I can't. Possibly some over-sensitivity on my part. :redface: For those that can, and want to, it's great. I'm sure many will enjoy the process as well as the outcome. I used to enjoy photography many years ago myself. It only becomes problematic, when higher standards become an expectation. 🍻
I will keep that in heart and mind. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. I have limitations in other areas of my life and I can commiserate. 🥂
 

KeenDogg

Slays On Fleek - For Rizz
No, you didn't come across as pushy, Adam. I just read it as an enthusiastic "let's all do better", when I know that I can't. Possibly some over-sensitivity on my part. :redface: For those that can, and want to, it's great. I'm sure many will enjoy the process as well as the outcome. I used to enjoy photography many years ago myself. It only becomes problematic, when higher standards become an expectation. 🍻
I will keep that in heart and mind. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. I have limitations in other areas of my life and I can commiserate. 🥂
I can relate. Most definitely my better days are behind me, both in front of AND behind the camera!

My eyes choose how well they will work all by themselves!


BUT! I know that I am guilty of not staging my shots of my shaves as well as I could.
I commend you, @Billy T. for an EXCELLENT little tutorial. Lots of nuggets of information in there. Thank you my friend.
You did the best you could on those shots and that's fine by me.😘
 
An inexpensive small flexible tripod is really helpful. $10 on Amazon. It keeps shots steady and free of blurring. I think mine came with a small remote that controls the shutter, but my watch does the same thing. The less your hands are in contact with the camera the better.
 
I should also add that editing plays a major part of getting a really nice shot. I just use the standard editing tools that are with my iPhone photo album. Just play around with all the tools …contrast, brightness, tint etc. until is looks right to you. This can turn a so so photo into something professional looking.
If you can take your photos with your phone and then edit them on an iPad or desktop that would be even easier. Bigger is easier to actually see what you’re doing.
 
My initial reaction from the first message was, “well ewk, you don’t post many pics, and it’s a good thing; they are not good enough.” I was relieved to see further explanation, and that it is in the general spirit of improving photo technique, just like the shaving part of this site.
 

KeenDogg

Slays On Fleek - For Rizz
My initial reaction from the first message was, “well ewk, you don’t post many pics, and it’s a good thing; they are not good enough.” I was relieved to see further explanation, and that it is in the general spirit of improving photo technique, just like the shaving part of this site.
I have such a way with words sometimes. My apologies. My buddy @FarmerTan will back me up on that.

We just want to help members not only improve technique, but also feel good about it. We feel it will improve the time we spend here. This place is like our home and maybe we switch out our old fruit bowl painting on wall for a freshly painted bridge scene. Just spruce up a little, ya know?

I think of it as "wow, ewk, I like what you did on this one" from a fellow member as opposed to "These pictures aren't good enough" kind of thing.

At the end of the day, We just want people to enjoy there time here. The tutorial can be there in case anybody wants to try to improve their shots. There's already one for regular cameras, I believe, So why not this, too?!?

All smiles here and I appreciate your feedback 😊

Adam
 
I'm going to bump this thread. My shaving shots from my new cell phone are GARBAGE in my opinion, no matter what I try. I was shooting in 3:4 and switch to FULL today to see if that'll make a difference. I would love to hear from other members, pre-editing, what their preferred ratio is and why.
 
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