Smartphone photography tips to impress your clients

While you might use a professional photographer to capture your finished projects in all their glory, it’s rare to meet a designer these days who doesn’t use their smartphone to send project updates to clients. It’s quick, it’s convenient and it creates a level of client service that can mean the difference between a once-off and a returning customer.

The advent of filters and apps has certainly upped our collective photography game, but there’s still a lot you can learn about camera phone photography that will take you from slightly awkward amateur to seasoned pro. Here are our top tips for improving your photography skills.

1. Know your camera

Whether you’re team Apple or team Android, you’ve likely taken your phone’s camera capability into account when choosing your handset. Now is the time to delve into what it can do. Most phone cameras have a grid setting that you can use to match objects up objects with the straight lines on your screen. This helps you get perfectly horizontal or vertical shots without the use of a tripod.

While you’re measuring up your lines, remember to take a series of photos of one single space from the same height. This creates a balanced view of the space and is easy on the eye if you look at the series in sequence.

Filters are half the fun of Instagram, but they can do so much more than smooth out unwanted eye lines on your selfie. Filters are useful for fixing rooms that are too dark or too bright, or where colours are too muted or saturated. You can use your camera’s built-in filters or download a filter package to create brand synergy too – simply pick 2 or 3 favourites and ensure you recycle them for visual consistency in your photos.

2. Let nature be your guide

When deciding on the time to take your photos, remember nature knows best. She delivers perfect conditions for most photography circumstances, so take advantage of that and pick natural light over artificial every time. Even with the advances of camera technology in the past couple of decades, cameras cannot understand colours the way our brains can and so can’t translate light bulbs.

If you can, choose an overcast day. Although most places look better when the sun is shining, sunlight creates an acute difference between lights and darks indoors, especially if it’s coming straight through the windows.

The art of layering

Taking a photo head-on can make it seem flat and lifeless, which is why it’s best to use angles to create depth. In the same way, adding layers to your scene can prevent that drab, empty look. Use artwork, vases of flowers, plants, throws and pillows to fill empty spots that draw your eye. In that way you keep the eye travelling through the picture and create a sense of life and vibrancy.

3. Variety is the spice of client satisfaction

There’s nothing worse than receiving a single photo from a certain angle if your burning question relates to something that is only visible from elsewhere in the room. In order to show your client the full spectrum of work as well as the scale and feel of the space, take a selection of wide-angle and close-up shots that capture details in a variety of contexts.

You can communicate the intimacy of a smaller space through close-ups of patterns and textures or the airiness of a large space with long shots that capture the full extension.

4. Photoshop is your friend

Editing your photos is a must. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to use Photoshop – there are plenty of basic editing programmes online that even beginners can master. Find one you like and download the app to your phone so you can edit on the go. Practice on your own photos (hey there, professional selfie!) until you’ve got a handle on it and you know which editing tools you’re most likely to use.

Now that you’ve got the lowdown on how to take fabulous photos, you might want to check out our tips for securing new clients. Remember our designers are always around to chat and we’re ready to help you with all your project solutions.