Follow these top tips for taking great camera phone photos

Most of us have mobile phones these days with a camera feature. And, most of us don't know how to use them to take the best possible photos despite their limitations.

People either take lots of really bad photos that are often blurry and the subjects indistinct, or, never take the opportunity to use them.

We always have our phones with us but seldom carry a camera all the time. We lose many opportunities for shooting and the camera phone allows us to redeem the situation. That old adage "a Kodak moment" happens all the time but where's the Kodak camera?

Let's take a look at a few tips that will encourage you to shoot more often with your camera phone.

Follow these top composition rules and tips in photography to achieve great results

It is all about composition in photography. If you can't compose an image you can't take photos.

That's the bottom line. This is where your photography journey starts as a beginner. Learning to place the elements in the photo is natural for some but for the rest of us we have to learn.

So what is composition in photography?

The dictionary definition defines it as "the act of combining parts or elements to form a whole". What you are looking to do in composing an image is to take the important parts of the scene and combine them in such a way, so as to create a photo very pleasing to the eye.

Those of us who admire the work of great artists and the award winning images of outstanding photographers, marvel at the creativity of these artists.

A little envious of their amazing abilities and natural talent. We look at our own photographs and wonder how we'll ever get anywhere near the masters. All is not lost or as bleak as it appears.

I know that in my photography experience I would look at these photographers, look at my work, try to copy theirs, fail and then give up. It became a cycle of failure and discouragement until I realised that I could actually take good photos.

It wasn't an instant change but a process. What I realised was that the masters never painted a perfect picture the first time they held a brush nor the great photographers the first time they held a camera. They began their creative journey somewhere. The important part of the process was on the journey and how they developed along this road of learning. So, equating this to you and me we have to start somewhere.

A few steps to help encourage your creativity in photography 

The world has gone digital crazy. With many homes having multiple digital camera owners you can't move without seeing someone taking a digital snap. And the operative word here is a snapshot. Not much thought, creativity or photographic composition. Just lots and lots of digital pollution cramming the millions of hard drives, DVDs and memory cards. Digital has enabled people to take more low quality, thoughtless snapshots.

Digital photography could see the death of creativity in photography in general.

Why such a harsh statement? Here's why:

1. Lack of thought

As a film photographer the consumable costs of photography were much higher. This forced us to think and carefully consider each shot. There was a greater thought process. Using a motor drive for taking multiple shots was for the press photographers who could afford take thirty six images in a few seconds. For the rest of us we had to think more before pressing the button.