Mobile Photography: 5 Tips for doing it the Cheap & Right way!

If you've viewed these pictures you might wonder that, these pictures were taken with very low cost 5 mega-pixel cameraphones. For better view & camera details, you can go here. A lot of people believe mobile photography has to be done with flagship phones like Iphone or Galaxy S series phones. But how come they can help you be a mobile photographer when they themselve cost around the same of an entry level DSLR. If you can't afford a DSLR, How would you buy a high end smart phone?

There are so many people who don't want to print their photos anyway. So, If you are thinking of posting photos online (i.e. facebook or Instagram) you simply don't need a phone that capture pictures at more than 5 mega pixels. I started mobile photography since i've been using android smart phones. These days even cheap phones produce quite good pictures.

After viewing and experimenting with camera phones i've found the Lumia 520 from Nokia takes the best photos at the cheapest price price point till now. To get more dynamic effects from your photos you can use few apps like Nokia Refocus, Nokia Smart Cam and Nokia Cenemagraph. For editing the Color and adding filter Fotor is the best app for windows phone 8.

If you're not into windows phone anyway, Get the Moto G from Motorola. The camera is decent and it's a mini power house for everyday multitasking. Even the new Moto E should be taking the same quality photos like the older brother. Picsart is one of the best apps for post-processing and adding filter. Apps like Google Camera are only available for Android Kit-kat 4.4 and above, so going for a cheap smart phone from Samsung or Sony will be a great mistake unless they run the stock Android Kit-kat 4.4.

Now you've chosen your best budged cameraphone; you've to know few tricks of doing it the right way. These tips are from my personal experience:

1. Know your camera: knowing every features that you're camera phone can offer is a must. Play with it for few hours taking test shots after you've your hands on it. Certainly, its not the best camera out there, so you've to know your limits and push it hard to get what you want from it.

2. Check the light: Camera phones neither can handle too much light nor too less light because of low dynamic range. So pick a time to shoot when there's not much harsh light in outdoors. Afternoons and evenings are the best time to get beautiful colours on your phone cameras. Try to use artificial lights when shooting indoors to get sharper Image.

3. Use stabilisers: As you don't have much control on the shutter speed and the lens itself is not fast; to get the best output, use any kind of stabilisers like mini tripod. It'll give you stability, reduce shake in poor lighting conditions and will enable you for a lot of creative shots.

4. Use dedicated apps: Apps are the best weapons that lets you getting the best output from your camera and create a 'stand out' shot. If you don't use a camera or editing app, it's more likely that you'll end up with a dull looking shot and won't be eye shooting.

5. Know your shot: Finally, if you're thinking of taking all type shots with this cheap equipment, you're making a mistake. Camera phones are only suitable for street shots, close-ups & portraits to some extend but they are not capable of taking zoom shots; not even for dynamic landscapes. The small sensor won't let you have the details from far away objects. Unless you can capture something interesting, people will lose the interest to look at your work at the first glance.

Ditched my DSLR: Why Did I do it?

My Cameras as of 2014

DSLRs are fun, take crisp photos and are always the best way to capture what you want to display. I am not writing for the poople who want to take photography as a profession. Even I ain't suggesting anyone or else I would give the title, ''why You should ditch your DSLR?''. I just found my way a bit cooler and easier to take photographs of the things and people I love around myself.

I've used DSLRs form Canon and Nikon before. I was carrying a bulky chunk of piece everywhere I thought I might find something interesting. There's been a lot of days, I didn't feel like shooting or didn't find anything even if I was carrying my Camera with me. Regarding the situation there were so many days, I was forced not to carry it but I actually found something interesting and I yelled on myself, why don't I have my camera with me today? When you shoot for you'r own happiness out of only passion for photographing, you can become more relaxed about what do you want to capture and when do you want to do it. As long I am not working for a client who pays me to do the job, I am free from meeting someone else's requirements. That's why I don't claim myself a photographer rather I prefer to tag myself as a photography hobbiest. But there's this thing inside me that makes me desperate to capture when I find something really capture-worthy. I needed cameras that I can always carry becuase I never know, when I'll be facing the magic moment. That's my style, being ready all the time!

Last year, I started reseraching on the output samples of compact cameras from Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic & Samsung. It's not that hard to Imagine that, there are lot of people like me around and the manufacturers are actually thinking of us deeply. Now, we've a lot of compact system cameras which can take Good quality photos like an entry lever DSLRs. First I wanted to try some Old models which was bit cheap as 2ndhand on ebay. Obviously, I didn't want to spend my hard earned money on something that I don't want to earn anyting from.

My first Pick was a 90£ Samsung NX100 released in 2010. It has a decen't crop sensor which is exactly the size of a crop sensor DSLR. But since its arrival, I still don't think its pockatable anyway even if its half thin than the smallest DSLR. Few Days later, I got my hands on a 70£ Lumix DMC-LX3. Even though its from 2008, for the first time In my life I was happy to carry a camera with me. The output was better than any of the bridge cameras I've had from fuji and Canon. The latest Lumix DMC-LX7 should provide much better quality photos than this for sure. If I was ready to Spend more, I would definitely go for a Fujifilm X100s or Sony RX100 ii. These seems to be few of the best cameras as of today that you can use for day-to-day shoots and take anywhre in your pocket.

There's a new trend of Using Gopro for a variety of wide angle, underwater, sports photography/videography and Timelapse these days. I needed this for experiemts and after a bit of reseach I went for SJ4000 Novatek worth 70£ which is kind of a copy of Gopro Hero 3 but with a Display on the back. Though I was able to save 60% of the cost not buying the Gopro but the outputs aren't much good as I would have from a gopro. Even though, I now have the power to take pictures of the same angle as if I had a 11-12mm lens on a crop sensor DSLR.

You'd probably think if I am so lazy to carry a DSLR, why don't I stick to a Mobile phone instead! You're actually right, the camera I always carry is my cameraphone. I don't have a Lumia 1020/ Xperia Z2/ Iphone 5s/ Galaxy s5; not even the Nexus 5! I simply use the 130£ Moto G for most of my photos these days. I love it and it serves my purpose for Instagram. Though I've been planning for a Lumia 1020, but I am still not ready for going to windows platform on my phone.

I've mentioned the price so that you can calculate now. Below 400£ I've managed to make my gears able to shoot almost anything I like to (Sorry I don't like wildlife photography)! As the Picture qualities are not that professional quality or I don't have much options available while shooting, I've to spend a lot of time editing them on Photoshop lightroom or on Picsart to get the output I wanted. But I don't mind doing it as I've always edited my photos even if they were taken with a DSLR.

DeshiTube: Aiming to be the hub of Youtubing from Bangladesh

দেশিTube or DeshiTube is a concept Youtube Channel run by Me as of now. After being in UK for more than a year, I realised Youtube is the place where I spend of my time while I'm online. In the near future, this is going to be the same with a lot of Bangladeshis living in Bangladesh. Soon they will have access to super fast Internet connection which is quite essential for running Youtube without Buffering at 720p or 1080p.

But I also realised there are still not much good content available made by Bangladeshis on youtube so far. Except for some of the Drama and movies produced for TV, there's no such regular show based youtube channel run by any Bangladeshi. I loved the videos of salmonthebrownfish, he might actually be the pioneer of Bangladeshi Youtubing. But still, this is not enough! We need a lot of regular show uploading channels and people who are interested in this business.

DeshiTube, which aims to be the 1st full featured Bangladeshi Youtube channel can work as a hub for the show makers, who can't yet earn through Youtube Monetization because of regional policy of Youtube. Now, I am working to increase the subscribers by creating quality content. The Project What Do you Miss about Bangladesh?? was a part of this initiative. People form 6 countries participated for this documentary and it got over a 1000 view on the 1st day of uploading. The production quality might not have been the best, but it showed the world that we can actually be united online and work together even being in different countries.

I am looking for people who want to contribute any kind of quality content (This may be short-films, Documentaries, Vlog, Discussions, comedy shows) for this channel and gain more view than uploading from separate channels. Working under a brand name might bring success faster once we have a lot of subscribers. Paid local ads inside the videos can also be included later when we've enough view records. DeshiTube plans to upload at least one show everyday and run a lot of regular shows like you see in traditional TV channels. So if you are Interested, gim'me a buzz. Lets work for this!

The Channel link is here. Please, Do like the Facebook page as well.

Mobile Photography: Google camera takes it one step further!

This photo was taken with Google camera app on
a Motorola Moto G and was edited with Picsart.

Mobile photography has been the new trend of this modern era. With the advancement of camera and editing apps, It's getting more view worthy and professional looking everyday. Camera phones are easy to carry, pocketable and it lets you to be ready all the time on the go. All you need is, your eye of detail and fast response to the moment taking place before your eyes.

Google camera app is the new standard app for mobile photography on android phones which run on Kit-Kat 4.4 and later. The most interesting feature to this is the New lens blur option. It lets you take DSLR like shallow depth of field or bokhe effect photos enabling you to separate the background more from your foreground. Obviously, it doesn't work like the DSLR lens, Rather its a calculative distance rendered imagery which is still not perfect.

It takes time to get used to take photos with more time while tilting for the calculation but sometimes the result is outstanding. You can download the app from Google Playstore for free. Some Phones might not have the Panorama, Photo sphere option due to low processing power.