Get intimate with your smartphone camera (Blog #37)

Hi! Welcome to my latest blog, which this week explores how to get the most and make the most from your smartphone camera.

If you're like me, when you get a new device (whether it's a phone, PC, TV, Air fryer, or anything else you care to mention) I'm inpatient and just want to get the thing up, running, and in use. Smartphone cameras are no different. However, over the last year or so I have made a real effort to really got to know my phone camera. I recently participated in a smartphone photography workshop, where I was one of around a dozen attendees, and where the majority hadn't got to grips with their phone's camera settings beyond being able to take a basic photograph.

So, based on what I  perceive to be a knowledge gap amongst people using smartphone cameras, I am going to run through the settings and various functions on my Google Pixel 7 native camera. Although this is about the Pixel 7, I suspect that other phones (not just Pixels) are similar.

When I launch the camera, the settings cog in the bottom left of the screen is the first one I am going to open. Let's work our way through the options from top to bottom.

'More light' - I have set mine to 'None', which means the camera is working with the light available with nothing else added. You can select 'Night Sight' or 'Flash' when needed.

RAW/JPEG - I have set mine to RAW + JPEG because I do a lot of editing in post, which means I like to start out working on the RAW image. Select 'JPEG only' if you don't plan on doing a great deal of post-production editing.

On my phone, the next three, 'Top Shot', 'Timer', and 'Ratio' are set to 'Auto', 'Off' and 'Full image (4:3)' respectively.

In the bottom right is a box, 'More settings' which, if you open it, opens up a big list of setting options. I recommend you explore each of these in turn and set them up according to your own preferences. The most useful one from my point of view is the 'Grid type', which is extremely useful for framing and  composing your photographs. I always work with the 3 x 3 option (Rule of thirds), but use it for guidance, not necessarily as a rule.

Coming out of 'Settings' and back into the front of the camera, there is a selection of options for taking various sorts of photos. 'Photo' is the one I use the most, but if you are taking a portrait photo, then use the 'Portrait' function. This blurs the background by creating a shallow depth of field, and makes the subject stand out a bit more.

On the camera screen you can control where the camera actually focuses by tapping the area of the screen you want to be clear and in focus before pressing the shutter button. If you do this, give your camera time to adjust the focus before capturing the image.

Now go to and open up the three horizontal lines in the bottom right of the screen.

Along the bottom of the screen there are four options: 'Reset', 'Brightness', 'Shadow', and 'White Balance'. You can adjust each of these using the horizontal slider located within the camera screen. 'Brightness' alters the exposure. I occasionally use this, but I'm not sure what the the 'Shadow' option does exactly. The 'White Balance' can be useful for adjusting the warmth of your shot, although I prefer to do this in post, using Snapseed. Hit the 'Reset' button to clear your adjustments.

Coming out of the camera function and into the video function opens up a new menu of settings if you then hit the settings cog. I have three of these set to 4K resolution, 60 frames per second, and standard video stabilization. I have never found the need to alter any of the other settings.

Opening up the three horizontal lines whilst still in video gives you the option to alter the exposure and white balance of your video footage.

Back on the camera screen, but still in video mode, you can choose 'Pan', which produces a professional-looking cinematic effect by slowing down your phone's panning movements. Or you can opt to shoot video in slow motion or with time lapse. When in 'Time Lapse' , if you hit 'Auto' in the bottom right corner, you have the option of changing the speed of filming, the exposure, and the white balance.

The option to use the back-facing camera for taking selfies is accessed by hitting the round icon with the two semi-circular arrows in it. 

Finally, there's the option to zoom in and zoom out, which is identified in the black horizontal lozenge-shaped menu on the camera screen. Zoom isn't an option I use , preferring to get physically closer or further away from my subject.

I am not familiar with other brands of smartphones, but I suspect that in terms of settings and menus they are all pretty similar.

That's basically it. The best advice I can offer is to dive into every one of the settings and menus and discover what your smartphone camera is capable of. 

Thanks for visiting my blog. Make sure you visit my various social media feeds listed above to see my photography.

© Mike Young 2024.