Quick Tips for Taking Better Photos with Your Phone

Today’s post is an extra special treat! We’ve asked the talented Chari Pack, founder & CEO of Persnickety Prints, to share with you some tips for taking better photos on our phones. Whether we’re promoting our businesses, taking photos for our scrapbooks, or just posting to social media, these tips are sure to take our phone photography to the next level!

Whether you’re digitizing photos with your phone or snapping pictures of your latest project, these tips will make a big difference for taking lay-flat photos.

1. Find Natural Light (no flash)

Lighting is everything! Find natural light next to a window. Avoid direct light, and use curtains to soften the photo when necessary.

2. Avoid Distracting Backgrounds

Avoid wood tables with grain, do not use the carpet or a distracting counter top. Use a clean background to focus on the subject and make it pop! Use a plain white poster board or colorful paper as the background.

3. Take Advantage of Grid Mode

Use the grid tool on your smart phone to level a lay-flat photo! Align the cross hairs to level the phone, and snap!

For iPhone: settings > camera > grid > on

For Android: settings > varies by phone

A few more….

4. Remove Unwanted Glare
Scrapbook pages in page protectors may result in a distracting glare. Remove the layout from the page protectors and set them on top to take the photo.

5. Do a Quick Edit!
After taking a photo, take 30 seconds to edit it! A quick auto enhance makes all the difference.

6. Try Different Angles

Capture fine details by changing your angle. In this photo I focused on the butterfly to show the dimension of the page. Tap the screen to focus and slide up and down to adjust exposure.

Now, get your projects off the shelf and take photos of them to share and inspire others. You’re creating art, we want to see it!

XO, Chari

Thanks, Chari, for the great tips!

Close To My Heart is proud to recommend Persnickety Prints as a trusted photo lab for quality photo prints. Our commitment to memory keeping means we strive to provide products of the highest quality that will last. Persnickety Prints shares that same mission with all their photo processing and with their new Persnickety Box app. Every order is assessed, optimized, hand-printed, and quality checked. You already use the best products to tell your story—be sure that you have the best quality photos, too!

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15 Photos You MUST Take This Holiday Season

It’s officially the holiday season! This magical time of year always has us pulling out our cameras and taking photos, but there are some special holiday moments you might not normally think to photograph! Here is a list of 15 things to be sure to capture with your camera this winter:15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas

1. Picking out the perfect tree

15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas2. Opening your daily advent calendar15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas3. Little ones eating sticky candy canes

15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas

4. Kiddos writing letters to Santa

15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas5. Decorating the Christmas tree (and putting on the star!)

15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas6. Each kid’s favorite Christmas ornament (after all, your photo can last forever, though the ornament may not!)

15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas7. Family story or Bible time

15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas8. Fur babies in their Christmas gear

15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas9. Christmas shopping

15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas10. Little hands helping with holiday baking

15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas11. Kids wrapping presents all by themselves

15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas12. Setting out Santa’s cookies

15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas

13. Blowing or throwing snow in the air

15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas

14. Warming up by the fire

15 Photos you MUST Take This Holiday Season #closetomyheart #ctmh #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #photos #Christmas

15. Hot chocolate mustaches

Also, be sure to check out our video on how to take high-quality photos with renowned photographer, Wendy Whitacre, of Blue Lily Photography.

What unique Christmas photos do YOU like to take? Tell us in the comments below!

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