{"id":78178,"date":"2026-06-23T10:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=78178"},"modified":"2026-06-23T11:32:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T18:32:47","slug":"from-smartphone-to-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/from-smartphone-to-studio\/","title":{"rendered":"From smartphone to studio"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever\u00a0looked\u00a0at a picture\u00a0and assumed it was taken with an expensive professional camera, only to discover it was captured by a smartphone?\u00a0For\u00a0National Camera Day\u00a0on June 24,\u00a0<\/span>Beth Anne Staub<\/span><\/b>, assistant teaching professor of photography, who recently won first place in the photography section of the Arizona Treasures art show, answered some questions about how you can make phone pictures look like professional photographs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When using a cell phone to take pictures, what are some tips for taking photos that look professional?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

Composition\u2014Keep it simple, less is more, rule of thirds, negative space.\u00a0Don’t\u00a0always center your photos; if a subject is looking left,\u00a0leave more room to the left, and\u00a0do the\u00a0same for the right.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is there a specific setting that you can use to improve natural light?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

On most cell phones, you can tap the sky to get better light (or tap the lighter\u00a0areas,\u00a0so they darken) in edit mode. Do not be afraid to play with the tools there. Watch oversaturation\u2014\u00a0no one likes it, but\u00a0we all do it,\u00a0so get it out of your system.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the best time of the day to take outdoor pictures?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

The\u00a0golden hour\u00a0is\u00a0early\u00a0morning\u00a0or evening when harsh shadows\u00a0aren’t\u00a0a thing, but in Arizona, you quickly learn to adjust.\u202f Bring an umbrella or a diffuser to create nice, balanced light. Avoid putting a person under a tree with a\u00a0lot\u00a0of\u00a0dappled\u00a0light created by leaves and branches. You\u00a0don’t\u00a0want your subject to be spotty\u2014you cannot fix this in editing.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is there a filter you recommend?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

I’m\u00a0not big on filters,\u00a0but I know a lot of people are.\u00a0I\u00a0say,\u00a0the only way you know is to try so\u00a0try them all and have fun!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the best position a subject can be in for the best portrait picture?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

For\u00a0bold pictures,\u00a0you want to shoot from\u00a0below up. For\u00a0weak photographs,\u00a0you want to shoot from above down. For a nice portrait, shoot just above the eyes (you should be at their forehead,\u00a0tipping\u00a0the\u00a0phone down just a bit) so you get that jawline to pop.\u202f\u00a0If you shoot from above, the subject\u2019s neck and double chins\u00a0are hidden. Play with what works and focus on the jawline.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Which apps do you recommend for editing pictures?\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

Your camera’s editing software is\u00a0really great.\u00a0When\u00a0you\u00a0outgrow\u00a0it, I\u00a0love Adobe everything.\u202f There are great free apps like\u00a0PhotoDirector,\u00a0YouCam\u00a0Director,\u00a0Pxlr\u00a0(for photo filters)\u00a0and\u00a0PixArt.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anything else you would like to add?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

Don’t\u00a0be afraid to experiment.\u202f\u00a0Don’t\u00a0be afraid to fail.\u202f A lot of my “failures” and “mistakes” are my best sellers.\u202f Do what makes your heart happy and have so much fun!\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever\u00a0looked\u00a0at a picture\u00a0and assumed it was taken with an expensive professional camera, only to discover it was captured by a smartphone?\u00a0For\u00a0National Camera Day\u00a0on June 24,\u00a0Beth Anne Staub, assistant teaching professor of photography, who recently won first place in the photography section of the Arizona Treasures art show, answered some questions about how you…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3019,"featured_media":78182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78178"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78224,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78178\/revisions\/78224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}