By Rob Dunsford

I bet that for every perfect photo you took that didn’t need any editing, you took 10 that did and 100 you didn’t think were even worth bothering with. Am I right?

Even the best photographers edit their photos, but with a bit of forethought, photographers of all ability levels can reduce the amount of post-processing required to produce fantastic results “in-camera.”

Let’s look at the main problems we tend to have to fix and see what can be done to prevent these problems from happening in the first place. Doing so will increase your chances of creating an amazing photo right out of your smartphone without even having to edit them.

Underexposure or Overexposure

We’re so used to being able to brighten or darken our badly exposed photos that we almost don’t think about it. However, getting the right exposure when taking the shot will save you from having to correct this in post-production later.

Your smartphone camera is an incredibly capable piece of kit, but it can easily be tricked by the difference in brightness of your subject, its surroundings and even the subject size.

Example of an over exposed photo

Example of a correctly exposed photo

Example of an under exposed photo

The first step to exposure success is to ensure the camera is focused on your intended subject. It will make a good guess at the exposure settings. If the distance between you and your subject isn’t changing, then you should lock the focus. On my iPhone’s native camera app, it’s just a case of tapping on the screen where the subject is and holding until the “AE/AF LOCK” message appears. Your camera will then lock both focus and exposure.