In this day and age, a phone without an additional camera built in is almost unheard of, yet it is usually the case that almost all of these camera phones are (to tell the truth) less than ideal for making any pictures of quality. This is not to be said that some quality pictures are impossible to make, and by using a few every day photographer's tricks and taking full advantage of the features and options that the phone offers, you will be able to get a lot more out of the sparse camera technology available.

So when it comes time to taking pictures from your camera phone, it essentially filters into 2 different things; What can the phone’s camera do? What can you do with the phone’s camera?

1. What can the phone’s camera do?

A recommended place to start is to find out what the phone’s camera tech is capable of doing, the limitations, and if the camera phone is capable of taking the photo that you are wanting. Fortunately, the answer to the question only needs learning the specs for the camera phone (and having an idea of their meaning naturally). Make sure to look after and have some understanding of these specifications.

-The Megapixels- What are the amount of megapixels Find out the amount of megapixels there are.

-The Zoom- Check out the kind of zoom that is used (maybe optical or digital).

-The Lights- See whether the camera phone can make any additional lights (such as a flash).

-The Adjustables- Make a note of which options (including EV, white balance, and a night mode) that the phone has.

Learning what these specs are is a big key for taking decent pictures with your phone.

2. What can you do with the phone’s camera?

Before you are able to make decent pictures with the phone, it is good idea you know how to mix some normal photography techniques with a few particular skills needed for photography on a phone's camera. A successful mix of these two can produce some surprisingly high quality pictures when conditions are ideal, but don’t be too surprised if the pics still remain poorer that you thought it should. It remains only a camera on a phone and is limited in how good they can be.

-Increase the megapixels- For most of the phones with a built in camera, 2 to 3 megapixles (MP) are the max that will be seen. Take advantage of it! It may take up more space on your memory, yet you will be getting a greater possibility for taking pictures that are worthy of moving from your phone and perhaps getting printed out. A point to make is that higher MPs don’t necessarily give you better photos, however, if your phone's camera can't at bare minimum take pics at 1MP, you honestly won't be able to think of using it for more than a few small memory photos which stay in the phone's memory (since they won’t look good made into a still photo or shown on your computer).

-Movement ruins your pictures- With a normal consumer camera, a little bit of moving is not ideal but still not a big deal for beginning photographers. When a camera phone is in use however, any moving is exaggerated a whole lot more and will give you some truly ugly looking shots with just a small shake. attempt to stand as still as possible to have a better chance of a nice photo.

-Get closer to the subject that you wish to photograph- Camera phones, for the most part, are bad with multiple subjects at different distances. To take more decent quality photos, move nearer to your subject in order that all of the camera's focus can stay on it, in turn helping the picture to be as in focus as is possible.

-Pictures will be better off when not using a camera phone's digital zoom- Yup, don't do it. Digital zoom will make your photo come out looking pixilated, actually lower a photo's resolution, and will most likely , in my opinion, give you substandard photo every time. Optical zoom (if present) is not bad when you want to use a zoom, but better remains getting closer to the subject.

-Lighting can make or break a decent picture- To get good pictures from a typical camera, lighting is one of the most vital variables to keep in mind. With a phone's camera this will have an even greater effect. Having too little light or too much light ends up giving you a ruined picture. Your best bet is if you are located in an area that is well lighted. If not, then figure out the phone's adjustable lighting settings (below).

-Adjustables might be useful- In situations where you can’t get good lighting setup, it is the perfect time to know how to use a phone's adjustable settings so you can compensate for this. The two ones that are the most helpful are EV and white balance, both of which will help you deal with low light and overly bright situations. Also be, alert for a "night mode" setting included as well as being sure to use the any flash.