Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 3
Icons Used in This Book 3
Beyond the Book 4
Where to Go from Here 4
Part 1: Using Your Camera Straight out of the Box 5
Chapter 1: Introducing Android Smartphone Photography 7
Becoming Familiar with Your Android Camera 8
Single-lens models 8
Dual-lens models 9
Triple-lens models 9
Models with more than three lenses 11
Taking a Look Around the Camera App 12
Taking a Picture 13
Viewing Your Photo 15
Editing Your Photo 16
Sharing Your Photo 18
Chapter 2: Taking an In-Depth Tour of Your Camera 19
Holding Your Phone Properly for Steady Photos 20
Using Different Ways to Open Your Camera 24
Zooming In to Your Subject 26
Using the digital zoom 27
Trying optical zoom instead of digital zoom 29
Capturing Selfies with and without Background Blur 31
Understanding When to Use (and Not to Use) the Camera Flash 32
Photographing with the Camera Timer for Sharp Photos 36
Landscape photography using your timer 36
Family portraits 37
Selfies with a tripod or stand 38
Chapter 3: Altering Your Camera’s Settings and Storing Your Photos 39
Opening and Activating Google Photos 40
Choosing Storage Options for Your Photos 42
Deciding on photo upload quality 43
Managing on-device photo storage 45
Transferring photos to a PC or Mac 50
Being Mindful of Cellular Data Over-Usage 52
Allowing Your Camera to Track Your Location 57
Chapter 4: Taking a Deep Dive into the Camera App 59
Preparing to Take Selfies 59
Lighting and background 60
Selfie sticks and stabilizers 62
Taking Selfies 64
Choosing the Portrait selfie mode 65
Adjusting background blur amounts 65
Adding facial skin smoothening 66
Choosing your favorite selfie effect 68
Adding Live Filters to your selfies 71
Adjusting selfie zoom to add your friends into the picture 72
Considering Alternate Aspect Ratios 73
Creating Panorama Photos 77
Horizontal panorama photos 78
Vertical panorama photos 81
Part 2: Having Fun with the Fundamentals of Photographic Genres 83
Chapter 5: Capturing the Perfect Landscape Photograph 85
Camera Considerations: Levels and Exposure 85
Levelling your camera 86
Controlling exposure 87
Lighting Considerations 90
Photograph during the magic hours 90
Timing the magic hours 90
Gear Considerations 92
Steadying your Android camera with a tripod 92
Choosing a lens (for multi-lens Android cameras) 95
Photography Tips for Your Next Outing 97
Applying the Rule of Thirds for better compositions 97
Framing an “L” shaped composition 98
Positioning a primary and secondary subject 99
Chapter 6: Shooting Sports Photography 101
Camera Considerations: Using Burst Mode to Capture Motion 102
Gear Considerations 105
A tough smartphone protective case 105
A smartphone screen protector 106
Battery packs or battery cases 106
Touch-sensitive gloves in cold weather 107
Lighting Considerations 107
Photographing into the setting sun 107
Capturing team sports with the sun behind you 107
Using the setting sun for portraits 110
Incorporating cool and warm color tones 111
Choosing high contrast lighting 111
Photography Tips for Dynamic Sports Photos 112
Using your Portrait mode 112
Allowing the subject to enter the composition 114
Choosing curved backgrounds 115
Framing your athletes 116
Creating negative space 117
Chapter 7: Saving Memories through Family and Individual Portraiture 119
Camera Considerations: Portrait Mode and Lenses 119
Knowing when to use Portrait mode 120
Understanding lens compression 121
Gear Considerations: Editing Tools for Better Compositions 123
Lighting Considerations 125
Avoiding certain types of interior lighting 125
Dealing with interior backlighting 126
Creating silhouettes for artistic family portraits 127
Using shadows to create artistic portraits 127
Placing family members in the shade for even light 129
Photographing from a lower position 131
Photography Tips for Your Next Portrait Session 132
Taking multiple photos at your location 132
Avoiding objects sticking out of people’s heads 133
Composing small for artistic portraits 134
Including family member’s interests 135
Practicing close-up portraits 135
Including mirrors for hands-free selfies 137
Using food as bait for pet photos 138
Chapter 8: Photographing During Your Travels and Vacations 141
Camera Considerations: Multiple Lenses and Exposure 141
Photographing the same scene with multiple lenses 142
Quickly using exposure control for fleeting subjects 143
Gear Considerations 144
Protecting your Android smartphone 144
Packing a tripod 146
Lighting Considerations 147
Front light 147
Back light 148
Side light 148
45-degree diagonal light 150
Blue and golden hour light 152
Lens flares from photographing into the setting sun 152
Making use of cloudy days 154
Photography Tips for Your Next Trip 156
Leaving space for text 156
Placing s-curves in your compositions 157
Composing using geometric forms 159
Reviewing newly discovered businesses 159
Searching for faces 160
Chapter 9: Creating Dynamic Still Life and Product Photography 163
Camera Considerations: Creating Background Blur 163
Gear Considerations 166
Choosing the background for your product 166
Using tabletop tripods 168
Lighting Considerations 170
Using raking light for products 170
Positioning for sunset light rays 171
Exterior architecture photography 174
Interior architecture photography 176
Creating Beautiful Still Life Photos 176
Positioning your background for equidistance 177
Photographing through a window 177
Photographing food 178
Chapter 10: Taking It to the Streets: Photographing Strangers 181
Camera Considerations: Choosing Lenses and Locations 182
Choosing your lens 182
Selecting your location 183
Gear Considerations 185
Lighting Considerations 187
Tips for Your Next Street Photography Session 191
Using arrows for conceptual street photography 192
Considering the flow of your composition 192
Converting your composition to black and white 193
Choosing design-based backgrounds 193
Appreciating the mundane 195
Maintaining anonymity using scale and shadows 195
Being sensitive to people’s privacy 196
Part 3: Editing, Organizing, and Sharing Your Photos 199
Chapter 11: Editing with the Google Photos App 201
Using the Google Photos App Editing Tools 202
Choosing a filter 202
Saving changes 202
Choosing between Save and Save as Copy 204
Applying Filters 205
Vivid 205
West 206
Palma 206
Metro 207
Eiffel 207
Blush 207
Modena 208
Reel 208
Vogue 209
Ollie 209
Bazaar 210
Alpaca 210
Vista 211
Cropping a Photo 212
Using the Auto Straightening tool 212
Adjusting the crop handles 214
Rotating your photo 216
Understanding crop aspect ratios 218
Rotating your photo 90 or 180 degrees 222
Skewing your photo 223
Editing Your Photography 228
Editing Your Portrait Photos 234
Portrait 235
B&W Portrait 235
Blur 236
Depth 237
Colour Focus 238
Portrait Light 239
Chapter 12: Organizing and Sharing Your Photos Like a Pro 241
Understanding Post-Production Workflows 241
Deleting Unwanted Photos 242
Deleting a photo 243
Restoring a deleted photo 244
Favoriting Photos with the Star icon 246
Mastering Album Organization 247
Selecting photos to create a new album 248
Removing a photo from an album 251
Naming albums logically 252
Exploring the Search Tools 253
Finding photos of a single person using People 253
Checking your location using Places 255
Using Things to locate photos by type 256
Accessing photos using Your Activity 257
Using Categories and Creations to sort by media type 257
Sharing Your Photo Albums 259
Part 4: The Part of Tens 263
Chapter 13: Ten Android Apps to Further Your Skills 265
Adobe Photoshop Express 266
Adobe Photoshop Camera 267
Photo365 268
Foodie 269
Prisma Photo Editor 269
Facetune2 270
Canva 271
VSCO 272
TouchRetouch 273
PhotoScan 274
Chapter 14: Ten Tips for Creating Stunning Videos 277
Accessing the Video Camera 277
Properly Holding Your Camera for Videos 278
Trimming the Length of Your Video Clip 279
Reducing Video Shakiness 281
Exporting a Still Frame 282
Cropping Your Video 284
Adjusting Your Video 286
Applying Filters to Your Video 287
Capturing Video Clips with Slow Motion 288
Creating Time Lapse Video Clips 288
Chapter 15: Ten Extra Google Photos Features 289
Viewing the Memories Carousel 289
Watching Creations 290
Creating Auto Panoramas 291
Adding a Partner Account 292
Marking Up Your Photo 293
Accessing Your Metadata 294
Searching with Google Lens 295
Buying Photo Books 296
Creating Screenshots 297
Clearing the Clutter 298
Index 299
