Android Smartphone Photography For Dummies

Mark Hemmings is an internationally recognized professional photographer and instructor. Each year he conducts fun and informative photo workshops in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. He is the author of iPhone Photography for Dummies, published in 2020. He’s also a prolific online photography course instructor, with six courses available online and more to come.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 3Icons Used in This Book 3Beyond the Book 4Where to Go from Here 4Part 1: Using Your Camera Straight out of the Box 5Chapter 1: Introducing Android Smartphone Photography 7Becoming Familiar with Your Android Camera 8Single-lens models 8Dual-lens models 9Triple-lens models 9Models with more than three lenses 11Taking a Look Around the Camera App 12Taking a Picture 13Viewing Your Photo 15Editing Your Photo 16Sharing Your Photo 18Chapter 2: Taking an In-Depth Tour of Your Camera 19Holding Your Phone Properly for Steady Photos 20Using Different Ways to Open Your Camera 24Zooming In to Your Subject 26Using the digital zoom 27Trying optical zoom instead of digital zoom 29Capturing Selfies with and without Background Blur 31Understanding When to Use (and Not to Use) the Camera Flash 32Photographing with the Camera Timer for Sharp Photos 36Landscape photography using your timer 36Family portraits 37Selfies with a tripod or stand 38Chapter 3: Altering Your Camera’s Settings and Storing Your Photos 39Opening and Activating Google Photos 40Choosing Storage Options for Your Photos 42Deciding on photo upload quality 43Managing on-device photo storage 45Transferring photos to a PC or Mac 50Being Mindful of Cellular Data Over-Usage 52Allowing Your Camera to Track Your Location 57Chapter 4: Taking a Deep Dive into the Camera App 59Preparing to Take Selfies 59Lighting and background 60Selfie sticks and stabilizers 62Taking Selfies 64Choosing the Portrait selfie mode 65Adjusting background blur amounts 65Adding facial skin smoothening 66Choosing your favorite selfie effect 68Adding Live Filters to your selfies 71Adjusting selfie zoom to add your friends into the picture 72Considering Alternate Aspect Ratios 73Creating Panorama Photos 77Horizontal panorama photos 78Vertical panorama photos 81Part 2: Having Fun with the Fundamentals of Photographic Genres 83Chapter 5: Capturing the Perfect Landscape Photograph 85Camera Considerations: Levels and Exposure 85Levelling your camera 86Controlling exposure 87Lighting Considerations 90Photograph during the magic hours 90Timing the magic hours 90Gear Considerations 92Steadying your Android camera with a tripod 92Choosing a lens (for multi-lens Android cameras) 95Photography Tips for Your Next Outing 97Applying the Rule of Thirds for better compositions 97Framing an “L” shaped composition 98Positioning a primary and secondary subject 99Chapter 6: Shooting Sports Photography 101Camera Considerations: Using Burst Mode to Capture Motion 102Gear Considerations 105A tough smartphone protective case 105A smartphone screen protector 106Battery packs or battery cases 106Touch-sensitive gloves in cold weather 107Lighting Considerations 107Photographing into the setting sun 107Capturing team sports with the sun behind you 107Using the setting sun for portraits 110Incorporating cool and warm color tones 111Choosing high contrast lighting 111Photography Tips for Dynamic Sports Photos 112Using your Portrait mode 112Allowing the subject to enter the composition 114Choosing curved backgrounds 115Framing your athletes 116Creating negative space 117Chapter 7: Saving Memories through Family and Individual Portraiture 119Camera Considerations: Portrait Mode and Lenses 119Knowing when to use Portrait mode 120Understanding lens compression 121Gear Considerations: Editing Tools for Better Compositions 123Lighting Considerations 125Avoiding certain types of interior lighting 125Dealing with interior backlighting 126Creating silhouettes for artistic family portraits 127Using shadows to create artistic portraits 127Placing family members in the shade for even light 129Photographing from a lower position 131Photography Tips for Your Next Portrait Session 132Taking multiple photos at your location 132Avoiding objects sticking out of people’s heads 133Composing small for artistic portraits 134Including family member’s interests 135Practicing close-up portraits 135Including mirrors for hands-free selfies 137Using food as bait for pet photos 138Chapter 8: Photographing During Your Travels and Vacations 141Camera Considerations: Multiple Lenses and Exposure 141Photographing the same scene with multiple lenses 142Quickly using exposure control for fleeting subjects 143Gear Considerations 144Protecting your Android smartphone 144Packing a tripod 146Lighting Considerations 147Front light 147Back light 148Side light 14845-degree diagonal light 150Blue and golden hour light 152Lens flares from photographing into the setting sun 152Making use of cloudy days 154Photography Tips for Your Next Trip 156Leaving space for text 156Placing s-curves in your compositions 157Composing using geometric forms 159Reviewing newly discovered businesses 159Searching for faces 160Chapter 9: Creating Dynamic Still Life and Product Photography 163Camera Considerations: Creating Background Blur 163Gear Considerations 166Choosing the background for your product 166Using tabletop tripods 168Lighting Considerations 170Using raking light for products 170Positioning for sunset light rays 171Exterior architecture photography 174Interior architecture photography 176Creating Beautiful Still Life Photos 176Positioning your background for equidistance 177Photographing through a window 177Photographing food 178Chapter 10: Taking It to the Streets: Photographing Strangers 181Camera Considerations: Choosing Lenses and Locations 182Choosing your lens 182Selecting your location 183Gear Considerations 185Lighting Considerations 187Tips for Your Next Street Photography Session 191Using arrows for conceptual street photography 192Considering the flow of your composition 192Converting your composition to black and white 193Choosing design-based backgrounds 193Appreciating the mundane 195Maintaining anonymity using scale and shadows 195Being sensitive to people’s privacy 196Part 3: Editing, Organizing, and Sharing Your Photos 199Chapter 11: Editing with the Google Photos App 201Using the Google Photos App Editing Tools 202Choosing a filter 202Saving changes 202Choosing between Save and Save as Copy 204Applying Filters 205Vivid 205West 206Palma 206Metro 207Eiffel 207Blush 207Modena 208Reel 208Vogue 209Ollie 209Bazaar 210Alpaca 210Vista 211Cropping a Photo 212Using the Auto Straightening tool 212Adjusting the crop handles 214Rotating your photo 216Understanding crop aspect ratios 218Rotating your photo 90 or 180 degrees 222Skewing your photo 223Editing Your Photography 228Editing Your Portrait Photos 234Portrait 235B&W Portrait 235Blur 236Depth 237Colour Focus 238Portrait Light 239Chapter 12: Organizing and Sharing Your Photos Like a Pro 241Understanding Post-Production Workflows 241Deleting Unwanted Photos 242Deleting a photo 243Restoring a deleted photo 244Favoriting Photos with the Star icon 246Mastering Album Organization 247Selecting photos to create a new album 248Removing a photo from an album 251Naming albums logically 252Exploring the Search Tools 253Finding photos of a single person using People 253Checking your location using Places 255Using Things to locate photos by type 256Accessing photos using Your Activity 257Using Categories and Creations to sort by media type 257Sharing Your Photo Albums 259Part 4: The Part of Tens 263Chapter 13: Ten Android Apps to Further Your Skills 265Adobe Photoshop Express 266Adobe Photoshop Camera 267Photo365 268Foodie 269Prisma Photo Editor 269Facetune2 270Canva 271VSCO 272TouchRetouch 273PhotoScan 274Chapter 14: Ten Tips for Creating Stunning Videos 277Accessing the Video Camera 277Properly Holding Your Camera for Videos 278Trimming the Length of Your Video Clip 279Reducing Video Shakiness 281Exporting a Still Frame 282Cropping Your Video 284Adjusting Your Video 286Applying Filters to Your Video 287Capturing Video Clips with Slow Motion 288Creating Time Lapse Video Clips 288Chapter 15: Ten Extra Google Photos Features 289Viewing the Memories Carousel 289Watching Creations 290Creating Auto Panoramas 291Adding a Partner Account 292Marking Up Your Photo 293Accessing Your Metadata 294Searching with Google Lens 295Buying Photo Books 296Creating Screenshots 297Clearing the Clutter 298Index 299

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