Are you tired of taking blurry, poorly composed photos with your cell phone? Do you want to up your photography game and start taking better quality pictures? Look no further!
In this article, I’ll provide you with five simple yet effective steps you can take to improve the quality of your cell phone photos.
From making sure your lens is clean to experimenting with different focus modes, these tips will help you capture stunning, high-quality images that you’ll be proud to share with the world. Let’s dive in!
Clean Your Lens
Why?
Smudges and fingerprints on your lens can severely degrade the quality of your photos. Smudges cause what would be a sharp, clear image to turn out fuzzy and blurry. Simply cleaning your lens before snapping a photo will almost always result in better quality pictures.
How?
Here are a couple of ways you can clean a camera lens:
Use a microfiber cloth. If you don’t have a lens cleaning cloth handy, you can use a microfiber cloth to gently clean your lens. Just be sure to use a gentle, circular motion and avoid applying too much pressure, as this could potentially scratch the lens.
Use a lens cleaning cloth. These are specially-designed cloths that are made to gently clean camera lenses without scratching or damaging them. Simply wipe the cloth across the surface of the lens in a circular motion to remove any dirt, smudges, or fingerprints.
Use a lens cleaning solution. If your lens is particularly dirty or has stubborn smudges, you can use a lens cleaning solution to help break up and remove the dirt. Simply apply a small amount of the solution to a lens cleaning cloth and wipe the lens in a circular motion. Be sure to use a solution that is specifically designed for camera lenses, as other types of cleaning agents could damage the lens coating. If you find yourself using your phone for photography a lot, consider investing in a quality solution and lens cloth to keep with you.

Gridlines & The Rule of Thirds
What?
The rule of thirds is a basic principle of photography that suggests that an image can be divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines.
Why?
According to the rule of thirds, you should position the subject of your photo along one of these lines, or at the intersection of them, to create a more balanced and visually appealing composition.
How?
Here’s how to turn on the gridlines on an iPhone:
- Open the “Settings” app.
- Tap “Camera.”
- Toggle the switch next to “Grid” to the “On” position.
And here’s how to turn on the gridlines on an Android:
- Open the “Camera” app.
- Tap the “Settings” icon (usually represented by a gear or three dots).
- Tap “Grid lines.”
- Tap “On.”
Note that the specific steps may vary slightly depending on the make and model of your Android device.
Here’s how you can use the rule of thirds in practice:
- Turn on the gridlines in your camera app (refer to the instructions above on how to do this).
- When composing your shot, try to align the subject of your photo with one of the gridlines or their intersection points. For example, if you’re taking a photo of a person, try to position their eyes along one of the horizontal gridlines.
- Take the photo.



Use The Highest Resolution
By default, many phone cameras are set to take photos at a lower resolution to save space on your device. However, you can usually adjust the settings to take photos at a higher resolution, which will result in better quality images.
Why?
Resolution is an important factor in photography because it determines the level of detail that is captured in an image. The higher the resolution, the more detail is captured and the sharper the image will appear. Conversely, the lower the resolution, the less detail is captured and the blurrier the image will appear.
Resolution is typically measured in pixels. A pixel is a single point in a digital image, and the more pixels an image has, the higher its resolution will be. For example, an image that is 2000 pixels wide by 1000 pixels tall has a resolution of 2000 x 1000, or 2 megapixels (MP).
In general, higher resolution images are preferred because they can be printed at larger sizes or cropped more tightly without losing too much detail. Higher resolution images take up more space on your device and may require more processing power to edit, but you will end up with much better quality pictures.
How?
Here’s how to adjust the photo resolution settings on an iPhone:
- Open the “Settings” app.
- Tap “Camera.”
- Tap “Formats.”
- Select “Most Compatible” to take photos at the highest resolution your device is capable of. Alternatively, you can select “High Efficiency” to take photos at a lower resolution but with a smaller file size.
And here’s how to adjust the photo resolution settings on an Android:
- Open the “Camera” app.
- Tap the “Settings” icon (usually represented by a gear or three dots).
- Tap “Resolution & Quality.”
- Select the desired resolution and aspect ratio for your photos.
Note that the specific steps and options may vary slightly depending on the make and model of your Android device.



Add More Light
Good lighting is important in cell phone photography because it can significantly impact the quality of your photos.
Why?
Proper lighting can help to eliminate shadows, reduce harsh highlights, and bring out the colors and details in your photos. On the other hand, poor lighting can result in dull, flat, or poorly exposed photos.
How?
Turn on more lights! Get the scene as bright as you can with what you have.
If you are in a situation that does not allow you to turn more lights on, use flash. While not particularly visually appealing, a photo taken with flash looks much better than a dark blurry photo taken without.



Edit Your Photos
After you take a photo, you can use a photo editing app to make adjustments such as adjusting the brightness, contrast, and color balance.
Why?
Editing your photos and making minor adjustments can help you improve the overall quality of your photos and make them look more professional.
How?
Here are a few ways you can edit your cell phone photos to improve their overall quality:
- Adjust the brightness and contrast. You can use the brightness and contrast sliders in a photo editing app to adjust the overall tonality of your photo. Increasing the brightness can help to make a photo appear more vibrant and well-lit, while increasing the contrast can help to make the colors in the photo appear more pronounced.
- Adjust the color balance. The color balance of a photo refers to the relative warmth or coolness of the colors. You can use the color balance sliders in a photo editing app to adjust the overall color balance of your photo. For example, you can warm up a photo by increasing the amount of red and yellow tones, or cool it down by increasing the amount of blue tones.
- Sharpen the image. Sharpening can help to make the details in your photo appear more defined and crisp. Most photo editing apps have a sharpen tool that you can use to adjust the amount of sharpening applied to your photo.
- Remove blemishes or distractions. If there are blemishes, distractions, or other unwanted elements in your photo, you can use the clone tool in a photo editing app to remove them. The clone tool allows you to sample a part of the photo and “paint” it over the unwanted element.
- Apply filters. Filters are pre-set adjustments to the colors, contrast, and other properties of a photo. You can use filters in a photo editing app to give your photo a specific look or feel. For example, you can use a black and white filter to give your photo a vintage look, or a warm filter to give it a cozy, romantic feel.
By using these and other editing techniques, you can instantly get better quality pictures from your iPhone or Android camera.



Go Take Better Quality Pictures
We hope that these tips have helped you to take better quality pictures with your cell phone.
By following these simple steps, you can improve the overall look and feel of your photos and start taking professional-quality images that you’ll be proud to share with the world.
Remember to clean your lens, use the gridlines and the rule of thirds, use the highest resolution setting, keep your scene bright, and edit your photos to fine-tune the final result. With a little bit of practice and experimentation, you’ll be taking stunning photos with your cell phone in no time!