More information on the workshop

What Can You Expect?

In this workshop, you’ll learn how to take better photos with your smartphone. To understand what makes a good photo, we’ll start by looking at and analyzing photos. Analysis and evaluation are key aspects of photography, so this will be our first focus. We’ll use your own photos to examine why a picture works or doesn’t and what you can improve in terms of perspective, composition, and lighting.

You can specify which type of photography you want to improve. If you have a general interest in photography, we’ll cover various genres, such as food, landscapes, portraits, architecture, and street photography.

During the workshop, you’ll learn how to enhance the quality and mood of your photos with the right focus and lighting. You’ll also gain insight into creating depth by skillfully using the macro mode, foregrounds and backgrounds, lines, lights, and compositions. With a smartphone, you can achieve unique perspectives that are not possible with a traditional camera, such as shooting from low angles, against a wall, from above, or even underwater.

After the introduction, we’ll head outside to practice photography in real-life situations. For food or product photography, we’ll likely stay indoors. The workshop is very hands-on, so you’ll learn by doing, which is particularly effective in photography.

After our photo walk, we’ll teach you how to edit your photos using the Snapseed app for Android and iOS. We’ll give you a brief introduction to this powerful app, so you can quickly get familiar with it and learn how to make the most of your photos in terms of color, sharpness, and contrast.

We’ll also show you how to safely back up your valuable photos and provide tips on how to best post them on Instagram.

Which function should I use now?

When you buy a new smartphone, the new features and camera settings can often be impressive but overwhelming. Sometimes it seems like you can’t see the forest for the trees with all these options. Here are two useful features that are explained:

Panorama

For landscapes, you can use the Panorama mode (see examples on the right). So, if you don’t have a huge wide-angle lens on your device, you can still create a broader view. Additionally, the advantage is that your final photo will have a very high megapixel count, so you can have it printed in large format, for example, to hang on your wall.

• When taking a panorama, hold the camera vertically so you don’t get an overly wide and thereby elongated image.

• Use the stop button when you are finished making the panorama.

Pro-modus

A specific example for Samsung users is leveraging the Pro Mode during sunsets, when capturing the day’s colors can be challenging due to the camera’s automatic settings. In manual mode, you can adjust the white balance (WB) yourself, allowing you to capture the intense colors of the sunset more accurately, just as you see them. Your have two options:

• In your camera settings, select the option for RAW/dng format (known as ProRAW on iPhones) to gain more flexibility when adjusting the white balance and to minimize artifacts. 

• While it’s possible to adjust the colors of JPEG images in post-processing, this offers fewer options and can lead to color shifts and banding, which can degrade your images.

HDR, night, burst...

Other useful features include HDR, which provides an unparalleled dynamic range, as well as smart auto mode, focus tracking, extreme slow-motion for videos, portrait mode, time-lapse, a special mode for night photography, and burst mode. The workshop will cover these options depending on their relevance and utility for the attendees.

By using these settings and features, you’ll be equipped to not just capture but create moments that truly reflect your vision, utilizing the full potential of your smartphone’s camera technology. This approach ensures a comprehensive understanding of photographic techniques tailored to modern digital tools.