Introduction
If you have been following my profile for a longer period of time, you will definitely have already heard me saying that one of the things I enjoy most about this platform is the fact, that I constantly improve in different areas of my life through my activity on here. One of those areas is photography. I already have gotten way better regarding this matter since my start on here - but I want to take it a step (or hopefully a few) further. And since improvements work best when you write them down in order to keep track of your process, a series of posts about this topic. Of course this will also enable others to follow my way to a better smartphone photograph and maybe help them to become a better one as well. I will write about one area of improvment in every post, this first post will of course also have a short introduction plus background information. So let's get started!
Why "only" smartphone photography?
The reasons why I chose to improve my smartphone photography, rather than getting a "normal" camera to learn with, mainly come down to:
- money
- availability
- size
Money is quite an obvious point I guess. While I would have to spend hundreds or more likely thousand on great camera equipment, I already own a smartphone with a great camera (iPhone X), so not many extra costs apply. However, money is not the biggest reason. That would be availability. I ususally don't do trips for the sole purpose of doing pictures and I definitely would not want to carry around my camera equipment all the time, which includes both the third point (size) and also kinda the first one (money), since I would not feel comfortable having to look after expensice stuff all the time. Almost all of my trips into nature are done with just a backpack on my shoulders - and when you walk for hours with a bag on your body, every single kilogram counts. My smartphone however is with me most of the times anyways, and therefore, according to the famous quote by Chase Jarvis;
The Best Camera Is the One That's with You
is my best camera!
Area of improvement #1 - Editing!
The most obvious area of possible improvment is the editing process of the photos taken. Especially for my smartphone photography, where I tend to do quick and spontaneus shots, rather than trying out different settings for minutes to get the perfect angle, this part is crucial. When I am back home at my laptop, I have the time to correct the "errors" I have made with my spontaneus shots. Additionaly, editing can get so much more out of your pictures, it is amazing. Of course it comes down to the right editing software. For me personally, 
Snapseed is a photo editing application for mobile devices and it is free both on Apple's iOS and on Google's Android! I have tried out a few other iOS apps before, however I always got back to the implemented editor, since the other apps just were not comfortabel for me. With Snapseed, it's different. The app looks nice, it works well and the functions are logic and intuitive. Plus, which obviously is the most important part, the results are amazing - sometimes even mindblowing. Especially in settings, where the iPhoneX camera has weaknesses (bad light conditions), Snapseed does wonders. Just look at this little comparison and you will see what I mean:
While the original just doesn't look good at all, the edited version looks stunning in my eyes. Maybe the contrast is a little bit high - however still 100x better than the original. I think it is amazing how much detail a little play with the lights and contrasts cand add to the bricks. Let me give you one more example from that bunker:
Snapseed also comes in handy for photos taken in misty conditions, like early in the morning or close to waterfalls, etc. And since I enjoy both getting out in the nature early and exploring waterfalls, this is great. Just look at the next comparison and pay special attention to the amount of detail the editing adds to the wooden walls for example.
But the software is also useful for pictures taken under other circumstances. Even though the iPhone X already does great landscape pictures during daytime, adding a little bit more colour to the photos makes them more like the things look in real life.
Of course those settings are probably far away from perfect - but I still think the edited version looks way better than the original one. Same goes for this tree.
Besides playing around with colour-, light- and contrast-settings, I also enjoy the possibility of adding a focus to your photos after taking them. Even though I am a big fan of the iPhone X's built in "Panorama-mode", the one by Snapseed is by far superior. On the one hand, it is more precise than the built-in one, on the other hand, it can be applied afterwards. Therefore I don't have to switch modes while taking the picturs but can comfortabely choose afterwards what I like more. Here is a quick example I took a few moments ago, before eating the Twinni:
Another huge bonus point is the availability to save and share custom filters. Let's say you edited a waterfall picture taken in the woods to a point where you are perfectly happy with it. Instead of having to do the same editing again for similar pictures, you can just save your editing and apply it to other pictures as well. Plus you can also share the filters with your friends or the whole internet. I have to admit that I haven't used that feature as much as I should have - but I definitely will. So if you should happen to have nice filters to share - I will definitely reward uploaded ones helping me out :)
Summed up I can just say that this app alone took my skills to the next level and I can't even imagine going back to the regular editor again. Thank you
Closing words
I hope you enjoyed this first part of my new series and I hope both you guys and me will be able to learn some more things about smartphone photography along the way. If you happen to have great tipps, good tutorials, great links or just constructive criticism, please don't hestitate to share it with me. Of course I will not forget to upvote and reward stuff helping me out!
See you in part #2, at the latest,
Martin