More and more manufacturers are opting for «macro» photography modes in their devices. In many cases they also include dedicated cameras to this type of photography, which stands out for allowing you to capture foreground subjects or objects at very short distances.
Of course, unless you are a more or less experienced photographer, you may not be entirely clear on how to get the most out of this type of sensors and photographic modes. Therefore, today we want to give you some tips and tricks to take better macro photos with your mobile phone.
OnePlus Nord is one of many phones with a dedicated macro camera.
Choose well what you want to capture
It's not always a good time to use your mobile's macro camera. In fact, there are rare occasions in which the use of this type of camera should prevail over the rest.
But there are situations in which a macro camera can help you get the near perfect shot. If you are looking for ideas for taking macro photos, here are some of them:
- Plants or animals: Thanks to the macro lens or the dedicated camera mode of your mobile phone, you can get very close to the fauna and flora around you. Try to photograph the petals of a flower very closely, or that butterfly perched on a plant in the park near your home.
- Water drops: Similarly, you can discover the natural beauty of a drop of water much more closely if you use your mobile phone's macro camera. You don't even have to wait for it to rain - use a spray bottle to sprinkle a few drops on a glass, plant or wooden table, then zoom in with your phone's camera to capture impressive images.
- Portraits of another level: No one in their right mind would use a mobile macro camera to take a portrait. However, getting closer to the subject and capturing small details or facial features like the iris or lips can be a good idea if you want to put your smartphone's macro sensor to the test.
- Textures of all kinds: the world around you is full of textures. Aged wood, leather, fabric, your pet's hair… Thanks to macro cameras, you can get very close and capture even the smallest detail of the textures of different objects.
- Create your wallpapersHere is an idea to create your own mobile wallpapers using the macro camera. Fill a clear container with water and place it in front of a white or black surface, then pour in drops of liquid ink or dye of different colors. Bring the camera of your mobile closer to said container and you will be able to capture images like the one we leave under these lines.
Macro ink photo.
These are just a few ideas to take advantage of your mobile's macro camera. Now, we'll give you some suggestions with which you will avoid that your images are blurry or out of focus, which is very common when using this type of sensors.
Focus!
While focus is important in "normal" photography, it is even more important when you want to photograph a subject located very close to the lens. So don't hesitate to touch the screen to focus the point you want to keep in focus.
Light is your ally
The vast majority of sensors macro included in current phones are 2 or 5 megapixels. This lower resolution means that, in general, the camera will need more light than normal to be able to capture well-detailed and sufficiently bright images.
To avoid problems, it is best to take the your macro photos outdoors or in places with enough natural light, or use bulbs a LED to light up your scenes. Most importantly, don't use the flash to try and take better photos.
Keep your cell phone stable
You don't need a very expensive mobile phone to take good photos.
Since these types of sensors don't usually incorporate any kind of image stabilization, that's important keep the cell phone stable enough when taking pictures. You can use a movable tripod or make sure you have a good wrist to avoid blurry photos.
Feel free to use the accessories
Companies like Moment offer mobile accessories that take advantage of the capabilities of our mobile cameras even more. Its macro lenses, for example, add the ability to capture very close subjects or objects even though our cellphone doesn't have a macro camera.
With this type of clip-on lenses for your mobile, you can too take advantage of the quality and resolution of your mobile's main camera - normally, much higher than the rest of the sensors in that sense - to take better macro photos. You must only connect the lens to your mobile and start shooting.
You can use an extra accessory to take better macro photos.
