Seven Easy Ways to Take, Edit, and Improve a Photo Without Knowing Anything About Photography

We live in the golden age of photography. Some professionals might disagree if what is looked at is the quality of the images because it is true that when billions of photos are taken each year, it is normal that the majority do not pass a minimum quality filter. In Europe, for example, the most common way to share them is WhatsApp and this in itself can be problematic.

It makes sense that Most users don’t pay much attention to how they take pictures.because these are usually images that we appreciate almost in the moment and never see again. But sometimes we want to take photos that last over time, which we will then save either on a hard drive or in the cloud.

That’s why it’s convenient take into account certain aspects before taking the photo, and even after. These are basic things. It makes no sense to ask a regular user, who knows how to control the camera’s ISO, to change the aperture and use the Pro mode on their phone. But you can ask them to crop, frame, and take the sun into account.

Before taking the photo

Choose the camera. It may seem trivial, but currently mobile phones are equipped with cameras of different types. Sometimes the main one is the most important and other times the wide angle will be the best option. And if the mobile phone with which the photo is taken has a zoom, it must also be taken into account. These cameras are modified in the interface in the circles with numbers inside the image.

For normal photos, the main camera is the best, as it also usually offers the best quality. If we need a lot of people, it is good to use the wide angle, but try to make sure that there is no one on the edges, as they tend to distort. This is why sometimes the people on the sides of these photos seem to have larger faces.

No digital zoom. If zooming is required, it is better to use the optical zoom, which is normally predefined in the interface, than the digital one, which is the one that usually appears when you pinch the screen viewfinder with two fingers. This greatly penalizes the final result unless you have a mobile phone that uses AI to improve the final shot somewhat.

To find out if our mobile phone has an optical zoom or not, just check the manufacturer’s manual or website. It is usually present in high-end mobile phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S, the high-end Xiaomi, etc. However, sometimes mid-range models like the Xiaomi 13T also include it.

Management. When taking a picture of something or someone, it is best to be aware of the environment, if there is a trash can in the background, if there is a person looking at the camera who is not the protagonist of the image. It is better to wait or look for a better position. And if we are taking a portrait, it is best to use the option with that name that the vast majority of mobile phones on the market have.

The light. It is very important to know at what time of day we take a photo, if there is sun or not, if it is better to look for shade or if it is better to have light. This will cause a radical change in the image even if it was taken in the same place.

Here you have to highlight the backlight, something that can penalize the photo, but that can also help to achieve more convincing scenes. If your phone has HDR, it is best to activate it, since you will get photos without areas that are too dark or too light.

After taking the photo

Once the photo is taken, there are also elements that can be taken into account, both when editing and when sharing. These are simple aspects that will greatly improve the final result.

Crop. When you have taken a photo that does not have a perfect frame, it is good to crop it. To do this, simply open Google Photos and click on the image in question, select Edit and then Crop. In this interface, you can move the corners so that the image looks as good as possible.

Delete items. Google recently allowed Google Photos users to use its magic eraser. This artificial intelligence tool is able to erase certain things from a photo, such as people in the background, a trash can or a street lamp, or other objects, filling the area in such a way that it seems that what we deleted was never there. To use it, we must open the photo in the application, click on Edit and then on Tools to finally choose Magic Eraser. Then, we carefully paint what we want to erase and save the image. If we want, we can keep a copy of it, in case we regret it later.

Share. When sending an image, it is best to do so trying to maintain the best possible quality. If we only want to send it to one person, QuickShare is the best option. If we are not in the same place, we can send it via WhatsApp, either as a file so as not to lose quality, or using the new HD function.

This whole list of things may seem a bit overwhelming to someone thinking about it for the first time, but the reality is that it is something that takes very few minutes after taking photos and helps us make the images much better than before.