Spending your days at home wondering what you can do to keep yourself occupied? Why not pick up a new skill like smartphone photography! All you need is your mobile phone and you are all set. With over 20 years of experience as a professional photographer, Bryan van der Beek (@bryanvanderbeek) shares 5 tips and tricks for budding photographers on how you can achieve beautiful and stunning photos.

 

If you’re looking for a device that’s perfect for photography, Bryan’s smartphone camera of choice is the HUAWEI P40 Pro – a versatile camera system packed with impressive features such as night mode, ultra-wide and superzoom which helps to support one’s journey in smartphone photography.

 

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Snap some photos and hone your new-found skill with these tips while staying home. Time will fly by in the blink of an eye and before you know it, the circuit breaker will be over and you’ll be able to go out and about to try your hand at taking some awe-inspiring photos!

 

 

 

 

1.Patience is key

Credits: Bryan van der Beek

 

Sometimes, we see an opportunity for a unique photograph. For instance, a nice scene or background in your home with the perfect moment and lighting. As a photographer, you could wait it out to take a shot naturally or you could get your family member to walk into frame to get your envisioned photograph. Bryan’s word of advice, “Moment and emotion before composition. Anyone can make a visually interesting image, but it takes a special sort of photographer to capture a great moment with emotions within a visually arresting image.” Remember, patience is essential to producing an image that is real and not set up – good photographs come to those who wait!

 

 

 

 

 

2.Light really matters in night photography

Credits: Bryan van der Beek

 

For the night owls out there, a tip to taking good shots in the night is to note that after a certain time, the illumination from your photos will move from being lit by the sun to being lit by artificial lighting. When it comes to capturing night landscapes, timing doesn’t matter. All you need is a good device like the HUAWEI P40 Series which is absolutely capable of taking low light photos in their standard mode. Bryan’s recommendation for night photography is using the Night Mode on the HUAWEI P40 Pro because “when things get really dark, the night mode is an amazing tool to suck in as much light and detail as possible!”

 

3.Shoot landscapes with a low ISO and at a high vantage point

Credits: Bryan van der Beek

 

When it comes to shooting an urban landscape, the golden hour revolves around the early morning or late afternoon into the evening as this is the period where the lighting is best and the longest shadows are cast. This provides the perfect opportunity to shoot silhouettes in your photographs. Bryan’s tip to shooting good landscape photographs is to go for a higher vantage point – if where you’re staying isn’t high up enough compared to the subject, take a breather and head up to the highest floor at your block to get that awe-struck feeling in your pictures! Additionally, his preference is to “use the lowest ISO as possible to get the cleanest digital file because while higher ISOs give you faster shutter speeds, the trade-off is increased digital noise”.

 

4.Keep your camera level when shooting in wide angle

Credits: Bryan van der Beek

 

When you want to capture as much area within a photo, Bryan recommends using a wide-angle lens in helping you out with your desired shot. Built with a 40MP Ultra-Wide Angle Camera, the HUAWEI P40 Pro allows you to easily capture your world from unique angles. However, take caution that the further away you get from the centre, the more distortion you get. A pro tip from him on how to control the distortion of an Ultra-Wide Angle lens is to “keep the camera as straight and level as possible”. In addition, while you’re shooting from home, remember not to have your family members at the side of your frames as it would stretch them out and make them look distorted in the photograph.

 

 

 

5.Getting up close for portrait shots

 

   

Credits: Bryan van der Beek

 

Extension of circuit breaker means more time at home with our loved ones. For Bryan, this means getting more opportunities to shoot portraits of his favourite subjects – his wife and kids! When it comes to taking portraits of people, going up close to them is a great way to capture more textures from their faces which enhances the visual of the photo. To give your photograph more context, Bryan’s advice is to utilise the rule of thirds to frame your subject and capture some of the surrounding environment. Moreover, you don’t really need to think when you shoot with the HUAWEI P40 Pro thanks to its AI capabilities. For instance, when someone in your family decides to walk into frame accidentally, let the Huawei Golden Snap feature do its job with just a tap of your finger and watch how photobombers can be removed instantly!

 

Newly launched in April, the versatility of the HUAWEI P40 Series’ camera system will provide a range of lenses at your disposal to take a diverse range of photographs. From a 12MP Telephoto lens to a 50MP Ultra Vision lens for clarity and sharp shots, it comes packed with many different camera features for you to play with.

 

Ready to embark on your personal photography journey? Find out more here!