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How To Take Perfect Phone Photos With The Huawei Mate 10 Pro

Thursday 23 November 2017

In today’s world, photography and capturing life’s everyday moments is such an embedded norm. We are the first generation to capture what we are eating, what we are wearing and even how we are feeling, through the medium of photos.

Photography was once though a tricky and cumbersome process. The kit was huge, bulky and heavy, the editing part was lengthy on a separate machine and if you wanted to share the images it was another step involving more external machines.

Now though, we can take photos, edit and publish all on a device that will fit in your back pocket. But are camera phones a replacement for actually standalone cameras? Do they perform well in less than perfect conditions?


Well I’ve had the chance to road test the brand-new Huawei Mate 10 Pro, which was launched just last Friday at their launch event I attended along with an inspiring campaign entitled I am What I do, which showcases how AI technology can enrich people’s lives and help people do great and life enhancing things.

As something of a gadget girl, I’m always intrigued by the latest and greatest when it comes to phones, cameras and computers. So when one of the world’s largest phone companies, partners with camera super brand Leica, I knew it had to be good.

The phone of course has some great “phone” features too. The Mate 10 Pro has superior audio quality than *ahem* other leaders in the market, plus it has an incredible two-day battery! Two days! Say what?

But the proof is in the pudding, so let me show you what it is capable of.

Taken on the Huawei Mate 10 Pro

CO-ENGINEERED WITH PROFESSIONAL CAMERA MAKERS LEICA

The Huawei Mate 10 Pro camera lenses have been co-engineered with super camera makers Leica, meaning the lenses are standalone camera worthy. The phone comes with Leica Dual lenses of 12-megapixel RGB and 20-megapixel monochrome lenses.

Taken on the Huawei Mate 10 Pro

THE WORLD’S FIRST AI ENABLED SMARTPHONE

Yes, you heard that right. AI enabled phone. But what does this actually mean? And how does it help you take better shots?

Basically, it’s packed with intelligent photographic algorithms which actually recognise the character of different scenes and objects. For example, it can recognise that a dog is a dog, and it can recognise a bowl of food vs. a bunch of flowers. Then based on what you are trying to take a photo of the Mate 10 Pro automatically adjusts colour, contrast, brightness, exposure and sharpness of the photo. And for that classic Instagram look, the AI will detect edges of foreground objects and add a Bokeh effect automatically to your photos (blurry background in layman’s terms.) It means if you don’t have any technical photography skills, then the leg work is taken out and handled for you.

Taken on the Huawei Mate 10 Pro
Taken on the Huawei Mate 10 Pro
So with that in mind, I wanted to share my top tips for getting the best photos on your phone.

LIGHTING

Lighting is everything when it comes to photography. Even the very best cameras and lens are going to struggle in dark and oddly coloured lighting. Even with some a fantastic sensor and low f/ Stop, you’ll still get noise unless you are willing to hulk round a tripod everywhere (which when it comes to phone photography defeats the point of portability). Try to keep your lighting as natural as possible, as artificial lights usually come with a lower Kelvin (which is the temperature, the lower the number the more warmth tint to them). If you take a lot of phone photos at home it might be a good idea to buy bulbs with a neutral tone as the light produced is cool white (Kelvin value around 3000-4500K). If you are out and about, try to position yourself away from any harsh bulbs that will either cast unsightly shadows or give your photos an artificial tinge to them.

COMPOSITION

Before I start, please all turn on grid lines on your phone camera now. It makes everything so much easier to get a great framed shot. Ok now with that on, let’s talk about rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is about breaking down an image into 9 parts. Using these areas, you can identify where to align certain focus points. The theory is that if you place your subjects in the intersections or along the lines your photo is more balanced and it’s more natural to take in. Of course, this isn’t the be all and end all, but it’s a great guide for thinking about where your subject sits in your frame. If you have one stand out item, placing it in the middle third will be a great way to make it the standout item. If on the other hand you want to shoot a person but show the background too, then maybe placing them in the left two thirds and having the rest to show off the background, would be best.

CLEAN YOUR LENS

It might sound obvious, but are phones are in our pockets, in our bags, on the table, even get taken in the bathroom- the lens WILL be dirty. So just give it a quick wipe first!

The Huawei Mate 10 Pro is an incredible step up in camera phones. The way we are going, I can see it won’t be too far down the line that phones and DLSRs will rival each other in quality, and this phone certainly paves the way. The Huawei Mate 10 Pro uses AI technology to give people a smarter, faster, more intuitive user experience, empowering them to unlock their potential and achieve their ambitions. The I am What I do campaign features tech-driven entrepreneurs Samantha Payne, co-founder of Open Bionics which uses innovative engineering and 3D printing to revolutionise the prosthetic design and fitting process, and Steven Bartlett, CEO of Social Chain who is connecting the world to culture thorough AI technology. You can visit the website to learn more about the campaign

The Huawei Mate 10 Pro is available now to buy here
This post is sponsored by Huawei Mate 10 Pro

2 comments:

  1. I have a Huawei phone (the P8, it's nearly 3 years old now!) and the camera on it is excellent. By far the best phone I've owned!

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