How to Take Professional Looking Photos: Mobile Phone Versus DSLR
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Hint: sometimes it is the camera…
Last Sunday morning, my son Isaac was sitting at our dining room table eating breakfast with a typical seven-year-old too cool for school hairdo going on. My wife though that it would make a cute portrait, so she grabbed the camera and snapped the above portrait.
Nothing special, natural light, hey Isaac – snap, snap – done.
Except unlike the average mom she didn’t reach for her mobile phone to capture this moment, because…well the best camera is the one you have with you, unless you have a DSLR and a fast lens…which is actually better.
Let me explain.
The Professional Photography Aesthetic
Everyone is a photographer, but despite the millions of photos uploaded to social media everyday there is still an undeniable “professional photography” aesthetic.
(Note: I’m using a loose definition of professional photography here – as in photography that looks like it was captured by a photographer who really knows what they’re doing, as opposed to the literal definition of a photographer who gets paid for their work).
That professional photography aesthetic is hard to define, but you sure know it when you see it.
Maybe its the lighting, the composition, the processing (or more accurately the lack of over-processing), or like in this case: the photographer’s choice of lens and aperture (aka bokeh).
When I was just starting out with photography I was obsessed with what I was doing “wrong”. No matter what I did, my images just didn’t seem to look quite as good as those I was seeing online.
Now imagine if your only camera is a mobile phone and you’re wondering why you just can’t get your portraits to look like your favorite pro who’s using an 85mm f/1.2 (aka a really expensive camera).
If that’s you, let it go – because here’s a little secret…
Sometimes It Is The Camera
A good photographer with a mobile phone will always capture photography that is much more interesting than a bad photographer with the best DSLR money can buy.
However, it is also important to realize that the camera (and lens) you choose to use does control the aesthetic quality of your photography.
This series was taken with a Nikon D800 with a Sigma 50mm ART series lens wide open at f/1.4.
The Sigma 50mm isn’t a particularly great portrait lens (strictly speaking from a professional perspective), but it captures images that are night and day more aesthetically pleasing (or professional looking) than any mobile phone lens.
(And before you ask, yes we do have a DSLR or two laying around the house for just such an occasion.)
As a direct comparison, here is the same photo taken with a DSLR (Nikon D800 with Sigma 50mm ART) on the left and my mobile phone (Samsung Note III) on the right.
Go Buy A DSLR Right Now!
No. That’s not the point at all.
The point is that no matter what camera system you are using, there are technical limitations involved and if you want to progress as a photographer you need to understand those limitations.
If your camera of choice is a mobile phone and you are genuinely interested in the craft of photography – forget the marketing hype: a mobile phone is not a DSLR, but that doesn’t make your photography or your skill as a photographer any less relevant.
What Do You Think?
Can a mobile phone camera replace a DSLR?
Is it really the camera?
Leave a message below and let us know what you think!
JP Danko
JP Danko is a commercial photographer based in Toronto, Canada. JP can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
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11 responses to “How to Take Professional Looking Photos: Mobile Phone Versus DSLR”
Click bate!!
Bait?
great picture but pointless post
it only shows that the majority of image viewers considers bokeh / shallow depth of field a property of professional photography, which is actually nonosense.
If the so called professional acting mom would have pose the son in front of something more pleasing (e.g. directly the window or a more ‘clean’ (=less furniture) room), the phone camera image would have looked also professional. Actually I like the pose of the son of the phone camera image more than the pose of the dslr image.
please, don’t confuse a technical feature which isn’t easily accessible by the masses (yet) with the style of professional photography. its more than that.
There’s also the issue of focal length. Generally speaking, using a longer focal length like the 50mm lens here as opposed to the 24 or whatever equivalent the Note 3 has will give you a more pleasing portrait look. (Again, generally speaking. I’m well aware that you can do wide angle portraits.)
There’s way too much emphasis on technical stuff. Like you yourself say in the article, and am paraphrasing, a schmuck with the best camera will take the worst pictures. That being said, it’s been said a million times: The best photographer will take the best picture with any camera. The same as with a pencil, the best bard will compose the best poem, whereas the average John will write a lot of gibberish, at best. And then again, appreciation of art is subjective. Your taste could be my poison, and the other way around. To each his own.
The glass is the key. I always try to go with my best (and fastest) lens with my DSLR. But there are times when my Nikon is home and I’m not and a perfect landscape or portrait moment appears. I use my mobile phone. The best thing about mobiles is that you obey the rule of always having your camera with you,
I was expecting yet another article trying to placate people who want to believe their phone and Instagram can get the same results as a DSLR (or decent mirrorless) and a little knowledge. Well don on calling this what it is. Yes. It is great to easily have a camera with you all the time and get shots that you couldn’t have otherwise gotten but throwing a bunch of megapixels and oversaturated processing in a cell phone just is not going to get the same results. Of course you will get lots of “click bait” and similar comments from people who want to believe the actual click bait articles telling them they are great photographers with their cell phones but that doesn’t make them right.
I was expecting yet another article trying to placate people who want to believe their phone and Instagram can get the same results as a DSLR (or decent mirrorless) and a little knowledge.
Well done on calling this what it is. Yes, it is great to easily have a camera with you all the time and get shots that you couldn’t have otherwise gotten but throwing a bunch of megapixels and oversaturated processing into a cell phone just is not going to get the same results. To be fair, the people who believe that is true would just put the more advanced camera on program mode and wouldn’t see as much of a difference anyway.
Of course you will get lots of “click bait” and similar comments from people who want to believe the actual click bait articles telling them they are great photographers with their cell phones. Their wanting to believe doesn’t make them right.
Mobile phone for landscape photos with animals (your dog yes) where I also use a Galaxy Note3 with its very decent camera and shalow depth of field is not very functional. I like my in situ portraits less conventional so if I shoot portraits with an exhibition in mind then I use my Nikon D600 for high resolution with a superior full frame 17-35 mm light strong older lens with superior resolution and dramatic qualities you can never obtain from cell phone camera. You can find my work on Facebook under R.F. Granaada. Cheerzz. Send me a friend request mentioning your interest in portrait photography.
I get the gist of the article, but I think the title is misleading. As someone who is relatively new to photography (I just recently purchased a DSLR) I’m not sure if this article is even clear on “how” to take good photographs with a mobile phone…