The Paddington Bear float makes its way down 6th Ave during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
The Paddington Bear float makes its way down 6th Ave during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York November 27, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Modes of capturing the moment have changed over the years. A camera which only an expert could handle in the past is now accessible to millions. With the advent of smartphones, the method of taking photos has been revolutionised. Thanksgiving is often an occasion when the family comes together. Special dishes are prepared, tables are designed in a particular way and the members of the family get together for at least one day in the year.

You can use you smartphone camera to make the moments immortal. At the same time, you should learn a few tricks to make the photographs appear to be of high quality. Here are some tricks.

Hold Smartphone, Think DSLR

Smartphone cameras these days give quite high standards in terms of image quality. Now you should think of the composition. People who take photographs with their smartphones are generally too busy to capture the moment. They often do not care about how things look. You should plan how you'll keep the subject in the frame. Think of a foreground object and a background to show the depth of field just like a DSLR.

Use Landscape Mode

You should use the landscape mode of the camera instead of opting for the portrait mode. This means that you need to hold the phone/camera wide. This helps you have a better way to fill up the frame and have more subjects in the background. Photos taken in landscape mode look more profession on computer as well because they do not have the additional baggage of black space on the sides.

Get Closer

When you want to shoot a smaller object or may be the face of a person, you should get close until you get what you have been planning to. Instead of zooming into the subject, you should get closer to the subject, and shoot. Using zoom may seem like an easy trick but it has the risk of producing shaky & blurry images.

Get Enough Light

Photography is all about light. The more light you get, the brighter the photo is going to be. Try to shoot where lights are brighter. You can use the flash light if you're taking photos outside at night. Otherwise, flash lights tend to give an unrealistic look to the photo. Shoot where there are lots of candles burning. The warm tone will add softness to the skin.

Get innovative with angles

Since smartphones are easy to manoeuvre, you can experiment by creating a unique angle for your photograph. Shoot from other people's point of view. Kneel down to shoot children and pets. Get innovative in food photography.

Source 1 & 2

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au