This photo was taken with my fancy Nikon camera, high quality lens and with a pro lighting set up:

The result gives me sharp texture, a gorgeous soft background and lighting that perfectly highlights the best features of my main subject.

Getting to this point with professional gear is not quick or easy. It takes time, money and expertise. However, it gives me the best results. It's a combination of artistry, technical skill and focused intention.

I had been teaching photography to other beginner professionals for years before I stumbled upon a new request by a client: help with phone photography skills.

At first it surprised me - why would people want to spend time, money and energy on learning photography with a mobile phone camera, and not a professional camera??

As I started prepping lesson plans and workshops, I quickly realized the appeal.

For those who don't have extra resources, time or interest in going too deep into photography, phone photography was the perfect outlet.

The phone is always on us, it's easy to start, and the same fundamentals of learning can be applied.

There are limitations to phone photography, though. If you're not careful, even with intention to take a "good photo", the result can come out a little off:

That's because phone cameras have what we call a "point-and-shoot" camera built into them.

They're designed to quickly pick up, point at a scene, click the shutter, and BOOM, you're done.

Point and shoot. Giving you a decent, average photo.

Apple knows that 99% of people will use their iPhone camera to take photos this way, so they designed it to be as successful as possible for us in those situations.

Their idea of success consists of 3 things:

1) making everything in the frame pretty much in full focus

This means that everything will be sharp, in focus, and easily visible. Which is great! Who wants to constantly miss focus! The downside, however, is a boring photo where blurry depth and soft backgrounds hardly exist. It can create a busy photo that is hard for the eye to find the point of focus.

2) making the lens wide angle

This means most of everything in the scene will fit into the frame. Which is great! You won't accidentally cut off important parts and it'll be hard to miss your shot. The downside, however, is a busy scene with lots included. This can potentially include cluttered backgrounds or unwanted elements littering your scene.

Not only that, but the wide angle lens stretches and distorts, creating unnatural shapes. See the muffin at the bottom of the iPhone photo? It looks more oval than the rest of them!

3) making the camera capture average texture and detail

This means whether your photo has soft texture or crunchy detailed texture, the phone camera will capture an average view of it. Which is great! You don't have to worry about choosing the right lens from your gear bag.

The iPhone is built with a camera sensor that adapts to any situation. Whether it's fine texture or big blocky lines, the phone camera is ready to capture an average rendition of the image.

The downside, however, is that intricate texture and detail may not be captured as purely. This causes your photo to look a little basic, lacking depth and subtle detail. You may not notice it, but your brain will register a phone photo as more basic and low-quality than if it was captured through high quality glass onto a large, high-resolution camera sensor.

What to do about these phone camera limitations?

Don't give up on using your phone camera! Even though it has limitations and loses out on quality when compared to a professional camera, it still has high value.

Keep in mind: phone cameras have made photography so much more accessible to the masses.

What was once a hard hobby to get into due to the high cost and time commitment, is now an easier skill to pick up.

Just because the phone camera is limiting in photo quality, it does not limit the quality of your photography skills development.

If anything, it promotes even greater skill development!

Here are the upsides to learning photography with a phone camera:

Frequency of practicing - The camera is always on you which makes practicing so much more frequent. There's no substitution for practice, and when the tool is easy to practice on, your skills advance much faster.

Greater creative development - It's well documented that limitations boost creativity. When things are tough, our brain's ability to find creative solutions goes into overdrive. It's actually a good thing to have a limiting tool, as it develops creativity in a way that nothing else does.

Less intimidating, more empowering - Experiencing small wins when practicing a new skill is paramount to growth. When a skill is tough to master due to complex tools, it can be tempting to quit early.

The phone camera is so user-friendly that it actually encourages persistence in learning. When you remove the friction from a complicated tool, you remove doubt and frustration. Photography becomes easier to learn and that is incredibly empowering.

Thanks to phone cameras, getting a basic education in photography becomes a lot more accessible.

A strong base in photography leads to more opportunities.

All the more why I encourage everyone to continue enjoying photography with a phone camera.

This is what I love about phone photography so much. It gives more opportunities where there once were so many road blocks!

What type of photographer are you?

A) Someone fully enjoying photography with your phone

or

B) Someone using their phone skills as a stepping stone into professional photography?

Either way, it's a great time to be getting into photography.

When I started on film, it took so much money and so much time to practice photography skills. I had to take photos in different settings, record those settings on a piece of paper, then wait days for the lab to develop the photos so I could look at the results of my tweaks and experimentations.

There was no trial and error on the spot! No instant review of images. No quick corrections and adjustments.

It was a long and tedious process!

That's why it's such an exciting time to be learning photography. You're in a great spot with your phone camera!

______________________

This week I celebrated 18 years of business and also launched a new give-back initiative to my community. Celebrating 18 years has flooded me with feelings of gratitude. To mark the occasion, I shared 7 key things that shaped my journey followed by the new initiative I launched.

Check it out on Instagram here:

what defined 18 years in business

•••

Hi I'm Gabrielle. I run a full time photography business in Winnipeg, specializing in portrait and commercial photography. This newsletter started with my passion for helping everyday people realize their full photography potential. With a bit of technical and creative help, you too can take better photos with the phone camera you already have.

Find more of my resources here:

​Instagram • My Blog • Patreon • P​hoto Courses​

Gabrielle Touchette Photography

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