How To Take Pictures Of The Water With Your Cell Phone? Capture Incredible Moments!

Want to know how to take pictures of the water with your cell phone without the image being a white and blurred spot? You have reached the right article! It has happened to all of us, at some time, that we tried to take a picture of the beauty of the water and the result was not what we imagined.

And to change this situation, without having to buy expensive photography equipment, we will give here the best photography hacks in our complete guide, so you can get the most out of your smartphone and know how to take pictures of the beauty of the water with your cell phone.

So… eyes on the water! Get ready to learn how to take pictures of the water with your cell phone and what equipment you need to make your smartphone your best adventure companion!

What equipment do I need to learn how to take pictures of the water with my cell phone?

Thanks to the advancement of technology and improvements in the development of products for everyone to enjoy, you can learn how to take professional photos with your Android or iPhone cell phone without investing in expensive photography equipment. And remember: “the best camera is the one you have”.

As the Blog do Fotógrafo points out, mobile photography is “spontaneity, bold framing, new points of view, imediatism and composition”. And mobile photography can be professional, as long as it maintains characteristics such as creativity and the use of photographic technique. that is why you need to know what equipment to use.

In relation to the equipment you need to know how to take pictures of water with your cell phone, let’s make a list of the elements you should gather before a long-awaited session.

1. Smartphone

In order to know how to take a mural photo with your cell phone, you must have a smartphone that has a camera with OIS to create photos with good resolution and image.

In addition, among the aspects to consider to know how to take professional photos with your cell phone is that the camera of your smartphone has at least 12 MP and has manual settings.

If you want to know how to take pictures with your cell phone, you can do it with the variety of smartphones available in the market. Some that we can recommend are the following:

Google Pixel 3.
Iphone XS.
Huawei P30 Lite.
Samsung Galaxy S20.
Iphone 12.
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro.

Similarly, our professor Mario Arévalo, in his free online course on smartphone photography, notes that “the power and scope of a smartphone is increasingly impressive and that, far from competing with the professional camera, it has begun to open its own path”.

Just make sure that any model you choose to take pictures of the water (whether these or any other) has a good optical image stabilizer. Also consider the 2021 photography trends to take better photos and share them on social networks.

2. Tripé

If you want to learn how to take pictures of water with your cell phone, you should not forget to have a tripod, because it will give you stability when capturing the image with your cell phone.

Due to the long exposure for taking pictures of water with your cell phone, a tripod ensures the stability of the camera, in addition to preventing the photo from being blurred. You can buy a smartphone tripod or adapt your photo tripod with an adapter to secure it.

3. Telescopic lens for smartphone

How to take photos of the water with your cell phone without missing? Use a telescopic lens and add it to your smartphone to get perfect close-ups, instead of zooming in with your phone’s camera, which ends up creating a shapeless light spot.

If you don’t have a telescopic lens to take good photos of water with your cell phone, don’t worry. You can use applications that help improve image quality:

To change the camera setting

Manual (iPhone available)
Hydra (iPhone available)
FV-5 Camera (Android available)

To take better pictures

Night Camera Lite (iPhone available)
MX Camera (Android available)

Source: Pexels

What settings should I use to take pictures of the water with my cell phone?

Do you already have the basic equipment to take pictures of the water with your cell phone? great, now we’ll tell you what settings your smartphone should have to take the best pictures of the water.

Don’t forget the following elements to take the best photos of the sea with your cell phone:

Aperture: if your smartphone allows you to control the manual settings or download the apps we recommend, you can use an f16 aperture.
ISO: use a low ISO, because the shutter speed will be quite fast. For example: ISO 200
Brightness: reduce the brightness levels as well as the exposure level to -1 or -2 EV.
Shutter speed: try to keep the shutter speed as fast as possible so that it does not affect the image. For example: 1/200
Focus: use the focus of your cell phone and make sure it is well supported on the tripod to avoid blurred images.
Self-timer: excellent ally to avoid the movement of the phone and the tripod. We will avoid unnecessary complications.

Steps to know how to take pictures of the water with the cell phone

Coming soon! Now that you know the equipment and the settings to know how to take a good picture with your cell phone, here are the steps you need to follow.

Remember that these instructions are optional. You can always innovate and keep on practicing to take better photos with your smartphone:

Find a suitable place before you start shooting photos of the water with your cell phone. Keep a distance from direct light from street lamps to avoid unnecessary reflections and, preferably, look for a bright and high place.
Look for objects in the foreground or turn on your smartphone if you are in doubt about how to take a photo of water with your cell phone with a nice composition. Don’t make it a difficult task, but a pleasant one.
Connect your tripod to your smartphone and make the manual settings we suggest (ISO, exposure, focus, etc.). If your camera does not have the manual settings, you have the applications to make the steps of how to take a picture of the water with your cell phone go smoothly.
Patience and constant practice. If you make mistakes in your first session, write them down and try again. The light will always be present in your room or wherever you are. it is just a matter of organizing yourself to portray its cosmic beauty.

Source: Pexels

Tips and recommendations for taking pictures of the beach with a cell phone

Learning how to take pictures of water with a cell phone is not an improvised practice. If you are a professional in the art, you will have to take all the measures to capture the satellite at the right moment and get the best image of all.

And because we want you to take the best picture of the sky with your cell phone, consider these useful tips on how to take pictures of the sky with your cell phone:

1. Afaste-se da cidade

The first step that you need to take to know how to take pictures of the beach with your cell phone is, literally, to look for the “right” place. But where would that be? The answer is: outside the city.

Yes, it is clear that you can take pictures of the beach from the window of your house or at the exit of the subway. However, there is the detail that light pollution in cities is very high.

Therefore, it is very likely to be difficult to capture the full essence of the image, so we recommend that you stay in an open space, preferably dark, in order to capture the full essence of the image.we recommend that you stay in an open space, preferably dark, in order to capture the essence of the photo with your cell phone in its maximum splendor; and so that the lights of the roads or streets do not bother you.

What would the ideal space be like? it is necessary to have elements such as the following:

Dark night.
Without clouds (i.e., clean sky).
In an open space and as far away as possible.

This is not a lie about light pollution. It damages your images and prevents you from getting the quality you expect when taking a picture of the water with your cell phone.

Want an additional tip? it is better to go during the day to inspect the place, so you will know the possibilities that the space offers. Not only for safety and prevention reasons, but also for the composition of the images: a valley in the mountains, an abandoned and half-destroyed castle, etc.

2. Review of the Lunar Calendar

If you are starting the path to know how to take pictures of the moon with your cell phone, you should take note of the phases of the lunar calendar to be able to organize your photographic session with this wonderful celestial body.

To know how to take pictures of the moon with a cell phone, we recommend that you do not leave home without knowing what phase the moon is in and, of course, what phase it will be in on the day you need it. Fortunately, there are excellent applications to determine not only in which phase the line is, but also how long it will last.

Options and applications!

Phases of the moon by M2Catalyst, LLC: available for Android that, despite not being paid, is an excellent tool for accurate lunar information. This application has elements such as the lunar calendar, the luminosity of the moon, what orography of the moon would be visible (craters, for example).
Moon Phase Calendar by provado Soft: another application that you can find in the Android store. As a disadvantage for those who have very little command of the language, you should know two fundamental things: it is not free and it is in English. Its functions include, of course, the lunar calendar or the position of the sun and the moon.
Moon Page: in Moon Page you can find a notice with the date when the moon will be in each of its phases. But it also has more useful tricks up its sleeve, because it is able to tell at what times the moon rises and sets. What’s wrong? it is in English, but if you are interested, you will be able to understand everything you need to know, to be able to take incredible and spectacular pictures of the moon with your cell phone.
Deluxe Luna Pro: this app, which you can find on iOS, indicates the phases – and signs! – in which it is currently passing. It can also show if there are eclipses and any other phenomena associated with the moon that may be of interest to you to put into practice the process of taking pictures of the moon with a cell phone.
Photo Ephemeris: an application that will make your photos flawless with your cell phone. As the application itself mentions, it can be used to plan your photo sessions outdoors and with natural light, so it will allow you to perfectly define the composition you want: you have the possibility to request that it shows you a map coordinate of latitude and longitude, time and elevation of the location. A bargain!

No matter which option you decide to choose. We ask that you check if it is the lunar calendar of your geographical area to avoid that everything you have planned on how to take pictures of the moon with a cell phone goes wrong.

Source: Unsplash

3. Take care of your smartphone’s optics

If you are looking for how to take pictures of the water with your cell phone, take care of the optics to preserve the sharpness of your images. Clean the smartphone’s camera before taking any picture.

Therefore, in order to take better pictures of water with your cell phone, avoid using your fingers or fingerstrips on the lens, because you could damage your lens instead of cleaning it. You can use a microfiber cloth or cotton cloth to keep your lens free of scratches.

4. Avoid using flash

Although you don’t need a flash to take a picture of water with a cell phone, consider that the use of flash on your smartphone is not the component you need, but to learn about lighting techniques.

Consider using this camera tool to take photos of landscapes, people or other objects with which you have less problems.