Your smartphone photos can look way better. If you're willing to put in a little extra work, use third-party apps, and spend a bit of time editing, it's possible to take photos that, under the right circumstances, can rival those from dedicated digital cameras.

Many people post smartphone photos online and wonder why they don't look like the professional images they see. The answer isn't a new phone. It's understanding how your phone's camera works and making deliberate creative decisions rather than letting the default app make them for you.

Key facts to remember

• Modern smartphone sensors are advanced enough to compete with dedicated point-and-shoot cameras.
• Default camera apps are optimized for information transfer, not artistic quality, which is why photos can look flat or washed out.
• Third-party camera apps offer less aggressive processing and RAW capture options.
• RAW files retain much more data, allowing you to adjust exposure, contrast, color, and perspective during editing.
• Editing is essential; free tools like Snapseed can transform RAW files into stunning images.

Why default smartphone photos often look mediocre

Over the last few years, smartphone camera sensors have gotten bigger, with better light-gathering capabilities and higher resolutions. But even though the hardware has improved, the straight-out-of-camera quality through default camera apps hasn't improved much, if at all. In some respects, smartphone photos have actually gotten worse aesthetically.

The reason is what most people use their phone cameras for. Smartphone cameras are primarily optimized for information transfer—sending photos of menus, signs, faces, and objects that are clear and easy to see. This means phones will usually pull down highlights and pull up shadows, creating a flatter image that makes it easier to see more information in the frame. But showing more information does not automatically make a photo better. Much of our perception of aesthetics in a photo has to do with its ability to present depth. A photo with too much information in the shadows and highlights will appear washed out.

Phones also introduce artifacts like over-sharpening and noise reduction to compensate for small sensors. This contributes to the muddy smartphone camera look that many people have become used to. Although these processes are less necessary now, many phones still apply them by default.

That doesn't mean phone cameras are bad. The sensors in modern phones have become so good that many can rival dedicated point-and-shoot cameras. The challenge is learning how to utilize those sensors, and that comes down to using third-party camera and editing apps.

Third-party camera apps

There are plenty of apps that can give you an instantly aesthetic photo. Apps like Dazzcam and Hujicam try to emulate film aesthetics, including light leaks and polaroid borders. If you want a retro film look, they do a fantastic job. There are also apps like Moment Pro Camera II and Halide that offer Natural and Process Zero modes, applying far lighter processing than the default camera app.

Those options are great if you want better-looking pictures without any additional editing. But if you want the best possible photo, you'll need to shoot RAW or DNG.

What is RAW and why it matters

RAW files are a bundle of nearly all the information your camera collects, with extremely minimal processing. In most cases, RAW photos won't necessarily look better than straight-from-the-default-camera-app photos right away, because the default app makes many creative decisions for you. If you want the highest-quality image, it's best to make those decisions yourself.

RAW capture is available in many apps. On iOS, Moment Pro Camera II and Halide are popular choices. On Android, VWFNDR and Zerocam are worth trying. You don't need to shoot RAW for every snapshot. Your phone's camera is optimized for everyday documentary photos. But RAW is ideal when you see a nice landscape, a city scene, or a portrait where you don't want automatic computational processing to interfere. Shoot RAW when you're taking photos for artistic purposes, not just informational purposes.

When shooting RAW, tap on your subject in the viewfinder to get the best possible exposure. If the rest of the frame is a little bright or dark, don't worry. RAW retains a lot of information. However, under extremely dark conditions, RAW on smartphones isn't always the best option. Physics is still physics, and computational photography often performs better in low light by stacking multiple frames to reduce noise.

RAW apps usually force you to stick to native focal lengths because RAW images are straight off the sensor, and cropping applies processing. The main sensor is usually the largest and gives the best quality, so use it when you can. The telephoto lens can still create great images, especially when you need extra reach or compression.

Editing your RAW photos

After taking RAW photos, you'll need to edit them. Many phones won't display RAW images in the camera gallery, so use the share sheet to send the file directly to an editing app. Snapseed is a great free option and has a clean interface. If you use Adobe products, Lightroom Mobile is excellent, especially if you're already familiar with Lightroom on your computer.

RAW photos don't usually look great right away. The magic is in how much you can tweak them. Once the photo is imported, hit the auto button as a starting point. Auto mode attempts to make everything a mid-tone, pulling down highlights and pulling up shadows. This often looks better than the default camera output because it avoids heavy noise reduction and sharpening. But it usually still needs further adjustments.

Then you can either edit from there or go back and adjust manually. A good photo has natural contrast, with relatively deep shadows and bright highlights. You usually don't want to go too far in either direction, but this is subjective. Occasionally, crushing highlights and shadows completely can create an ultra-high-contrast look.

For color, RAW images are flatter than most people find pleasing. You can fix this with saturation or vibrance. Vibrance is generally preferred because it increases the saturation of flatter colors more than already-saturated colors, preventing the image from looking overdone. White balance is another powerful tool; a warmer white balance is often more pleasing, especially for outdoor photos.

The color mix or selective editing tool is also useful. It lets you tap on a portion of the image and change brightness, contrast, saturation, and structure. In Lightroom Mobile, you can shift hues selectively—for example, turning yellows toward orange or greens, or making blues more cyan or purple.

Most editing apps include geometry or perspective tools. These adjust distortion, aspect, scale, and offset. The auto button in the perspective setting can be surprising, showing how distorted the phone's capture was compared to reality. If you need to straighten lines, some apps have a guided tool that lets you manually add guidance lines to define which lines should be straight.

The tools you use depend on the image's purpose. Architectural photography relies heavily on perspective correction because geometry is central to the aesthetic. Landscape photography benefits from tone and color adjustments. Not every photo needs every tool. Developing your taste takes time, so study images you admire and try to reverse-engineer their edits.

Editing apps like Snapseed and Lightroom Mobile also let you add a matte or border around the image. A white border can isolate the image and make it easier for the eye to focus. It's an optional step, but many photographers find it a nice finishing touch.

This process is a lot more work than just opening your camera app and snapping a photo, but the results are worth it. The quality you can get from a modern smartphone is remarkable, and with a bit of effort, your photos can look close to those from a dedicated camera. Whether you're shooting a landscape, a city street, or a friend's portrait, taking control of capture and editing makes all the difference.

Source: The Verge News