Tips, apps and tricks to get most out of your camera phone

Barring a few exceptions, photographs taken by camera phones are usually blurry, noisy, offcentre, too dark or too bright. ET offers some recommendations, tips and apps that will instantly deliver better results

Tips

Instead of letting your phone choose the focus point, tap and select the point that you want to be in focus when shooting

If available, use HDR mode in difficult lighting situations to get good colour across the frame

When taking a photo, hold the phone with both hands to reduce blur caused by shaky hands

Clean the phone's lens before shooting — it usually has a lot of dust, smudges or fingerprints on it that affect the final image

Use the size & weight of the phone to your advantage — try different shooting angles for interesting-looking photographs

Do not use zoom on your phone — it is digital zoom that affects overall image quality & adds visible noise

Touch up photos with editing apps for additional effects or to enhance colours

In camera settings, choose an ISO of 200 or lower and image quality at highest level

Move closer to your subject — this compensates for the lack of zoom and fills the frame with the subject

Use the built in timer function to reduce image blur — you can hold the phone steady during the countdown

Accessories

Olloclip for iPhone, Rs 3,850 If the basic built in lens in your iPhone 4/4S doesn't cut it anymore, get the Olloclip — it includes wideangle, fisheye and macro lenses in a neat design that just clips on to the side of the phone (no case needed). It's available in red or black.

Lens Filter Case for iPhone, Rs 1,650 You may be able to apply effects to your photos using several apps like Instagram or pixlr-o-matic, but there's no substitute for the real thing. Holga's Lens Filter case adds a rotary turret of filters — each one adds a unique effect to your photos.

GorillaPod ClampStand, Rs 1,650 This handy tripod works with any phone — use it to stabilise your phone before taking a photograph. The best feature is the fleible legs which can wrap around anything to position your phone in impossible places.

12x Telephoto lens, Rs 2,000 Camera phones are equipped with wide-angle lenses so that they can capture as much of the scene as possible. Zoom enthusiasts can get an add-on lens, available for popular devices like iPhone and Galaxy SIII.

Apps

Camera 360

Available for Android and iOS, this free app adds a number of interesting features compared to the stock interface, including effects, timer, burst mode as well as grid lines.

PowerCam

Another free app for iOS and Android that add tilt shift, panorama, selective color modes and a large variety of effects that can be previewed before taking a photo with the phone.

Camera Pro

For just Rs 15, this Symbian app works with both touch and non touch phones. It adds features like manual ISO setting, continuous autofocus, HDR, time lapse and various real-time effects.

Pictures Lab

This free app for Windows Phone devices has over 30 effects including HDR, Lomo and tilt shift. Different effects can also be combined and photos can be instantly shared to you social networks.