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Developing good photography skills isn't limited to people who invest a truckload of money in the highest-end DSLR and accessories. With most modern smartphones equipped with state-of-the-art cameras that have unlocked the latent photographer in everyone, more people want to perfect the art of photography with this powerful device. The latest iPhones, Google Pixels, and Samsung Galaxy phones have some of the most popular smartphone cameras, packed with amazing tech on both the software and hardware fronts. Taking shoddy photos that don't make the most of this cutting-edge technology is a huge waste.

Most people tend to make fairly common mistakes when taking photos, preventing photographers from using their budgets or expensive phones more efficiently. This ranges from a lack of basic camera optimizations to the technique they use to take pictures. Fixing these issues and ensuring that the photos you click are of the highest quality — which, granted, is easier said than done — will go a long way toward turning your smartphone into the perfect device for capturing beautiful memories that can even wow professional photographers!

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Most phone cameras let you adjust a bunch of options before clicking your photos — ideally, in the form of quick settings you can access from the viewfinder itself. Brightness, shadows, and white balance are controlled by adjusting their sliders, letting you alter a photo's composition and ensure that the picture you click looks amazing right out of the gate. Another setting you can adjust in settings is exposure, which has a slightly more complicated effect than the other three settings we've mentioned. These settings are three-fold, using a combination of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO to control how much light reaches the camera's sensor when taking photos.

Aperture is expressed as a focal ratio — such as f/1.4 or f/2.8 — and refers to the hole in the lens that lets light into the camera. It's also inversely proportional to the depth of field. A small aperture means less light but greater depth of field, and vice versa for wider apertures. The shutter speed setting lets you manually decide how quickly a camera takes a photo after the relevant button is pressed or tapped. Lower shutter speeds help capture images in low-light conditions, as it allows more light into the camera, while higher shutter speeds snap faster, freezing motion such as people running, making them better for action shots. Finally, ISO governs the camera's light sensitivity, which is a quick way to increase brightness at the cost of a grainy, less-detailed image.

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Phones now have so many camera modes that most people stick to the default when taking pictures. While this may be a jack-of-all-trades option that is relatively competent at clicking photos in a wide array of scenarios, you're also nuking your camera's full capabilities if you refuse to switch modes outright.

Some of these modes are pretty self-explanatory. Most phone cameras have a night mode that, as the name suggests, is better for clicking pictures at night. It combines sensitive camera sensors, wider apertures, image stacking, and — in some cases — AI image enhancement to make low-light images better than ever. Portrait mode uses your smartphone's main camera, ultrawide, and telephoto lenses to create a depth map, focusing on the subject in question and naturally blurring the background, making for more cinematic photos. Panorama mode lets you take massive, ultrawide photos of a landscape by physically moving while keeping the camera still to take a cinematic shot.

Other camera modes aren't as well-known but are very useful in the correct situation. If you want to take a photo of a moving subject, action mode keeps the subject still while blurring the background for a dynamic shot. Some phones also have a mode tailor-made for astrophotography, letting you choose this setting and place the phone face down while facing the night sky for a few minutes to capture some glorious shots of the stars, courtesy of image stacking and AI-enabled solutions.

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The importance of a photo grid when clicking pictures can't be overstated. Sure, most phones automatically show a horizon line to show the angle of your camera when you're lining up a shot, but that's far from the best way to ensure that your photo composition is on point. You should be able to enable a photo grid in your camera settings, letting you choose among multiple options to display it in your viewfinder. We recommend choosing a 3x3 grid, since it's common in photography circles and efficient for capturing amazing photos. However, there's nothing wrong with a 4x4 grid or something bigger if you want to take more complex shots.

Aside from the obvious benefit of letting you align your image properly, an image grid also makes it easier to adhere to tried-and-tested photography practices. Take the rule of thirds, for example — a 3x3 grid has four intersecting points, and a good shot places the subject in question on one of these points for a classy, professional-looking photo. If you're more into the idea of central composition, then using the grid to align a subject centrally is easier than ever. Even the idea of taking a photograph with a ton of negative space becomes easier with a grid to help you determine which portions of the picture will remain empty.

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As obvious as this point may sound, you'll be surprised to find out just how many people never give their camera's lens a once-over before clicking a thousand pictures. Even the smallest smudge can make your photos look a whole lot messier than they should, so do yourself a favor and wipe down your phone's camera lens from time to time to ensure your photos don't look absolutely horrid despite shelling out a huge sum of cash on the latest flagship smartphone.

For what it's worth, some phones display a dirty lens warning if they detect any grime on this component, so make sure this option is enabled in settings if it isn't already. Don't resort to your t-shirt and its rough fibers to clean the lens, since there's a chance you'll leave scratches on your phone. Instead, the trusted combination of a microfiber cloth and a lens cleaning solution will get the job done easily and guarantee that your photos look cleaner than ever.

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With software solutions becoming increasingly prominent in making smartphone photos look better than their raw prints, there are times when the overall look of your photos becomes a bit too artificial. Colors may be too pronounced and shadows too detailed, which isn't ideal for people who want authentic-looking images. Usually, a gander through your phone's camera settings should be enough to disable any aggressive post-processing, but make sure to test out how photos look before and after these options are disabled.

Most phones have different names for these settings that you can toggle to suit your preferences. On Samsung phones, Scene Optimizer chooses from one of 30 scene types to automatically apply the image processing effects it deems relevant. Turn this off to make your photos look more natural. The iPhone has a setting to add an HDR effect to photos that can be toggled as per your requirements. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel offers options to enable Ultra HDR and Display P3 color in photos, which you should experiment with to see whether they're up your alley.

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As useful as auto-focus may be in most phone cameras, it's far from perfect. Pointing your phone at a clear subject and taking a quick photo is certainly easier with this tech, but things don't always work that smoothly if the background is busy or there are multiple subjects in one shot. In this instance, it's better to tap on the subject for assisted auto-focus, but there are other, more elegant solutions to rectify this problem.

Usually, cameras let you long-press the viewfinder to lock focus and prevent automatic adjustments. For other phone cameras — or manual mode, in some cases — you can adjust the focus via a slider, which gives you greater control over the pictures you take. For full creative freedom, we suggest you adjust the focus continuously to capture the best pictures, rather than relying on automated solutions to get the job done.

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Don't assume your phone's camera is to blame every time your photos aren't coming out properly. Lighting makes a world of difference when clicking photos, which is something that most photography enthusiasts are familiar with. Take a picture in poor lighting conditions, and all the automatic adjustments and camera modes won't help you snap a picture you're proud of.

In these instances, you're better off enabling flash or figuring out an ideal shot that takes good lighting into account. The latter is recommended if you don't want a clunky flash to make up for dim lighting. A portable light source or a conveniently placed stationary one will go a long way toward adding more depth and quality to the photos you click. There's a reason so many people go gaga over the golden hour — it's perhaps the most well-known way that lighting can enhance a photograph, with the warm, orange hues of a sunset making your photos look absolutely gorgeous.

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There are two reasons you should always take multiple photos when snapping something you want to get just right. The first one is obvious: Taking numerous shots instead of a single one lets you choose the best one from the lot. You can also experiment with multiple camera modes and settings to see whether they positively impact the photo in question. It helps that most phones have a burst mode that automatically clicks multiple shots and chooses the best one. You can cycle through these pictures and select a different shot if it seems better than the one your phone chose.

The second reason is far newer and further incentivizes clicking multiple pictures at once. However, this is mostly valid for newer Pixel owners, making this a rare example of an Android phone camera doing something the iPhone can't. Google has integrated several AI solutions into its Pixel flagships, making them top-tier photography phones. Auto Best Take works on Pixel 10 and better models, combining images in group shots and selecting the best facial expression for each subject. If you're the group's photographer but don't want to be excluded from a shot, you can use the Add Me feature to take two photos: One where you take the shot, and another where you hand the camera to someone else and stand in a previously empty space. The Pixel merges these photos into the ultimate group shot, ensuring you'll never have to sit out for other pictures.

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Basic photography 101 makes one thing infinitely clear: The angle of your photo goes a long way in helping the overall composition look that much more professional. Food photography is a great way to illustrate this point. Since you can't exactly change the lens of your phone outright — unless you're using external lenses — a 45-degree angle while clicking pictures of your food will lead to perspective distortion and make your subject's shape look weird. Instead, taking a picture straight-on or settling for an overhead shot is a great way to make your food look very palatable in photos.

If you're taking photos of people, try not to hold your phone below the subject's head. Most people try to be artistic with this angle, but it just makes a person's body look wider than it should. If you're stubborn about this angle, then tell the person to lean toward the camera for the shot you desire. That being said, keeping the phone level with the person's head is the best angle. To make the subject look slimmer, tilt the top of your phone towards them, although this is totally optional.

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True, lossless images can take up a lot of space on your phone. Some phones give you an option to mitigate this by lowering image resolution and defaulting to a simple JPEG format for photos. If you don't want your phone's storage space to vanish in a flash during a long trip, then you may have to make your peace with these space-saving optimizations. However, if you've gotten one of the best phone cameras you can buy because image quality is your foremost priority, then it's time to dive into your device's settings.

Firstly, scroll down to the resolution settings and double-check that the highest possible resolution is chosen for your photos. Anything less, and you're holding your camera's tech back from clicking the highest-quality photos possible. Along with this, you can also change the image format to RAW. Unlike JPEGs' space-saving practices, photos in RAW format preserve their original quality and are usually free of unwanted post-processing. The downside is a lack of compatibility with backup programs and larger image sizes, but these are compromises that serious photographers make in the hopes of making their photos look better than ever before.

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Most people scoff at the idea of editing their photos in post. Sure, micromanaging your camera settings, using the appropriate photo mode, and avoiding the other mistakes we've listed above will go a long way toward making your photography look professional, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of editing magic to bring out the best in your photos. Most image viewers that come with your phone, such as Google Photos for Pixels or the Photos app for iPhones, come with built-in editing tools to let you add filters, crop images, and even carry out basic functions that eliminate background noise and blurred backgrounds.

You can also adjust numerous aspects of your picture to make it look better, including, but not limited to, brightness, contrast, color temperature, saturation, shadows, tint, and, in some cases, HDR strength. In case you want to use third-party software that has an ever greater wealth of editing tools that you can mess around with, then you should be using these essential Android apps to level up your photography. These can appear a bit complex at first glance, but it'll only take you a few hours before navigating apps like Adobe Lightroom Mobile, Afterlight, Photoroom, and Picsart become second nature.

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Who said camera photography can only be improved via your phone? If you're serious about optimizing the images you click on your smartphone but don't purchase any camera accessories to help facilitate the same, then you're making a huge mistake. The most obvious mention here is a tripod, which eliminates handshake and lets you capture perfect still pictures — especially helpful in slow shutter speed and low-light conditions. It's also a great way to take group pictures without being excluded, as long as you set up a timer and mount the phone on a tripod after checking that the photo composition is near-perfect. A ring light can also be a great way to improve the lighting conditions of the image you're taking without looking too out of place.

However, a cheap and easy way to instantly upgrade your phone's camera is by purchasing an external camera lens. A telephoto lens is perfect for bird-watching or capturing stellar images of the night sky. A good wide-angle lens is perfect for unlocking the vlogger in you and making videos easily. With an external anamorphic lens, you can capture wider FOVs for cinematic shots. Use either a microscopic or fisheye lens to enable the eponymous effect from the comfort of your smartphone camera. While it may seem expensive to buy all these lenses for a variety of use cases, you can opt for a multi-lens solution that lets you switch between these lenses on the fly, giving you a ton of freedom over the pictures you take without having to burn a sizeable hole in your wallet.