Where do you take and store most of your photos?
If it’s on your smartphone then you’re not alone! With their impressive and ever-improving camera quality and the portability and convenience, they’re often the first things to hand when you see something snap-worthy. In fact how often do you go anywhere without your phone? It will almost definitely go with you when you go on holiday or travel.
One group of holidaymakers who are obvious fans of smartphone-snaps are winter holiday goers and particularly anyone doing anything active up on the mountain. You can forget about bulky camera equipment as you zoom down the pistes, with your phone tucked neatly into your pocket, but as soon as you see a beautiful view, or one of your friends wants to show off their gnarly ski moves (or they’ve landed themselves in a hilarious wipe-out situation) its there and ready. And let’s face it…almost every view is beautiful and photo-worthy when you’re in a mountainous Winter wonderland!
So to make the most of those precious Winter memories and to ensure you capture the best shot, we thought it would be useful to share a few top tips. These are based on using an iPhone but most will be transferable to other smart phones too!
Exposure:
If you haven’t tried adjusting this on your phone then you must give it a go. Its quick & it works especially well in the snow when large areas of white can cause your camera to think the scene is too bright. In this case your camera will automatically under-expose the image, which will make the snow look grey.
To do this, tap on the main subject in your photo to set the focus and then swipe your finger up on the screen to increase the brightness (you can take it too far though so find a good balance!)
Contrast:
Where else will you find a beautiful, clean white backdrop for your photos? A snow-white piste can act as the perfect blank canvas. To make the most of your image pick a focal point or subject which really contrasts with the white. With mountain fashion these days it will probably be your ski buddies in colourful, clashing ski outfits but it could also be dark green from the trees or a bobble hat in the snow.
Burst Mode for Action Shots:
For those gnarly ski tricks your friends might show you (or a hilarious Bridget Jones style fail) use the burst mode to catch the very best snap. To do this hold down the shutter button throughout the sequence of events and then release to stop taking photos. Once taken, you need to go into albums > bursts and press select to see and choose your favourite snap.
Close-Up Of Frost or Ice:
You can capture incredible detail of snowflakes and frost with a close-up photo from your smartphone. A great tip is to get down low with a frosty surface and to tap your focus on the immediate surface/frost in front of the lens. The view in the distance will end up being soft whilst you capture sharp, amazing detail with the frost in the foreground. It can help to turn your phone upside down for this so that the lens is closer to the ground.
You Can Still Edit Afterwards:
It’s not too late for improvements once you’ve taken the photo! A common problem with snow is specks and patches of mud or grass, which distract from your main subject. To “clean up” the snow you can usually achieve good results by just upping the highlights and exposure and you can do that to any past photo saved on your camera roll.
And Finally...
In addition to the above there are a few apps that can help you with editing and perfecting your images but the biggest tip we can offer you is to save your photos once you get home. Far too many of us lose images saved on old phones and taking time to store them in your cloud or a hard drive can save a lot of disappointment in the future. Happy Snapping!
