Every month I team up with U.S. Cellular and share a little about my Samsung Galaxy S6 Smart Phone. This is one of those posts. If you have a kid or grand kid with a smart phone you might want to check out this parent child agreement on cell phone use. You can find that here.
You read that right…My camera is becoming obsolete. I really don’t use it much anymore. I’ve pretty much converted to using my smart phone for all of my picture taking..and I take a lot of pictures. There are so many reasons why I made the switch. For one, the quality of pictures that I can take with phone is now about as good as my digital camera…another reason, I always have my phone with me or close by so I don’t have to go looking for my camera…another reason photo transfer is so easy…but one of the biggest reasons…I never have to deal with strangely discolored dog eyes.
If you’re a regular blog reader you know I am taking pictures with the pets all the time. This is an old picture of Ruby back in puppy days. I would work so hard with the camera to get the right lighting and the right angle of the photo to eliminate discolored eyes.
Now, in this latest photo of Ruby…I don’t even think of getting discolored eyes, lighting or photos angles. It all just works.
U.S. Cellular’s recent survey revealed that four out of five smartphone owners are taking advantage of the quality and convenience of cell phone cameras and two out of three say they’re sharing those photos through email and social media.
This would be me…I am one of those people.
I am always snapping pictures of the childcare kids.
I message them to the parents. I know all of my parents appreciate the little “pick me up” of seeing pictures of their kids playing and learning during the day. I think it’s a great reminder for them to see that good things are happening with their children while they are at work.
I also send Kalissa pictures of Betsy…Here she is sunning herself.
To be honest, for me, childcare is a lonely job. It’s just me with a houseful of kids who can’t speak the best. I don’t know how often I say to Roger or one of my own kids…”Ah, someone taller than 3′ high to talk to!!”
My smart phone and the ability to send pictures often makes me feel a bit less “adult deprived”. I appreciate it for that!
According to the survey of U.S. Cellular customers, nine out of 10 cell phone owners say they have taken photos and videos with their phones. More than 60 percent of cell phone owners polled say they take photos or video at least daily or once a week, and 81 percent at least once a week…and 65 percent of smartphone owners use their phones for social media…and that number continues to increase. The findings really underscore just how mainstream smartphone cameras have become. Users love their convenience as well as the ability to instantly share what goes on in their daily lives.
Tips to keep in mind when using their camera phone:
With so many people relying on their smartphone cameras, U.S. Cellular has several tips to help make sure that all those photos are quality images that will look great.
Check the Lens: A dirty lens will cause parts of the picture to be out of focus. Use a clean, soft cloth to wipe away any dirt or lint from the lens on the back of the camera as well as on the front (for selfies).
Light Your Subject Well: The better lit your subject is the clearer your image is likely to be: this is just as true with a mobile device as with an expensive camera. Shoot in the sun if you can and move around to get the best light on your subject.
Hold Steady: The steadier your camera phone is when taking your shot, the clearer your image will be.
Use a small tripod or lean your device against a solid object when taking shots, especially taking into account that in low light situations ‘shutter lag’ (the time between when you press the shutter and when the camera takes the shot) can be noticeably increased.
Manual Mode on the LG G5 has an on-screen Level Gauge setting that ensures you get squared and level pictures every time.
Consider Your Composition & Framing: Follow the Rule of Thirds – avoid placing your subject squarely in the middle of your frame but a third of the way in; Frame your shots through windows, mirrors, other objects that provide some depth and interest to the photo; Watch your backgrounds so that poles or wires don’t appear to be going through people’s heads; Look for different angles; and Look for color differences, patterns and shapes to add compositional interest to your shot. Try your photo both vertically and horizontally to choose which orientation best portrays your subject.
Take Plenty of Pictures & Learn: The advantage of digital photography (including that of camera phones) is the ability to shoot off many shots quickly, we have unlimited film, instant feedback and all at no cost.
Photography apps to explore:
Camera+ (for Apple) and Camera for Android are apps that are great for photo sharing and editing. Both feature a full photo editor that is very user friendly, along with the ability to connect and share your photos with others.
Adobe Photoshop Express is an app that helps edit photos just like the desktop program – one-touch adjustment for contrast, exposure, white balance along with blemish and red eye removal and 20 one-touch eye-catching effects to give your photos special “looks.”
Snapseed is an app that helps you tune an image to create depth and vibrancy with color saturation, brightness and contrast and also helps you crop and adjust perspective across the vertical and horizontal axes.
Magnifier & Microscope is an app that allows you to get great close ups of small items or subjects.
All of these are available for free in the Google Play store or the Apple store. With U.S. Cellular’s 4G LTE network, the apps can quickly and easily be downloaded to smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy 7 and 7 Edge, the Apple iPhone 6s and SE, and the LG G5.
I never thought that my phone would take the place of my camera…but it has. It’s a rare day when I grab and look for my camera anymore. It just always amazes me all the things my smart phone can do.
I’ve heard this from a lot of people, including a couple of photographers – that everyday shots are often with their phone, but not their work shots. I also read from one of them that there are now some good quality lenses you can get for your phone that give special effects. That tells me phones really have replaced the camera for a lot of people.