21 photography projects for your camera phone

1. Join World View 2008. Got camera phone images you think are worthy of a P10,000 trip of a lifetime? Then log on to Sony Ericsson World View 2008, the global camera phone photography competition on http://www.sonyericsson/worldview. Click on China and Asia Pacific to register on the Philippine site. Global judges will pick the best of the best images taken exclusively from mobile phones. Enter your favorite shots in The Philippine STAR categories and you could win a Sony Ericsson K770i Cyber-shot phone. 

2. Get organized, back up files and edit. A rainy day is the perfect time to download photos from your Sony Ericsson mobile phone camera and organize them in your computer’s hard drive. There are lots of programs for both the Mac and PC to help you organize, categorize and rename your photos. After filing, you may want to start editing in Photoshop to prepare them for the Web or print. Just make sure that the resolution is correct for both tasks.

3. Practice food photography. Take your phone out when you grab a meal. Practice your skills as a stylist and a photographer by creating culinary photographic masterpieces and shooting them. Take every possible angle to shoot that dish before devouring it. It also helps to turn your Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot phone’s macro feature on.

4. Play around with special effects. A Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot phone has built-in special effects that allows you easily create works of art. From black and white to negative, sepia and solarize, play around with these different functions and experiment.

5. Attempt street photography. Human reaction can make for some emotive images. Activate your phone’s zoom features or better yet, move your feet to take some long-distance and wide-angle shots. It helps to have a steady hand to prevent camera shake and have the Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot’s image stabilizer on. Stay incognito while shooting, as some people don’t like their photos to be taken.

6. Discover hidden worlds. Get as close as possible to objects and have the macro feature on. Good lighting is a key to great macro shots, so be conscious of how the light falls on your subject. If your subject is portable, take it around and hunt for the best location to shoot it in. Textures, insects, and colorful objects make interesting first subjects for macro photography.

7. Embrace movement blur. Walking people or other moving objects like cars always add a special point of interest to your picture, making it stand out from the crowd. To get the movement blur right, select an appropriate slow exposure time in your camera phone (depending on the phone model) and wait until someone walks into the frame. Passersby can turn ghostlike, creating a dreamy quality to your image.

8. Infiltrate bars and clubs. Inside a club or a bar, take out your Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot and start shooting with the Xenon flash on. Shoot the place, the people, the party, the lights, and even the DJ. Flash photography can drain the battery really fast, so bring extras.

9. Travel light. Instead of bringing your DSLR on your trips, take your vacation photos with a Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot phone. It’s lighter and pocket-friendlier. The lighter the load, the better. No shoulder pains from too many camera bodies and lenses!

10. Shoot cloud formations. If you are blessed with some astounding cloud formations, lie on your back, pull out the Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot and shoot skyward. Without the ground as a point of reference, images like these can make fantastic abstract prints.

11. Take architectural photography. Straight and converging lines created by tall buildings are perfect for a bit of mobile phone fun. Maximize the distortion created by shooting wide angle. Watch your metering; a bright sky will silhouette the buildings if you are not careful. Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot phones have a choice of Normal or Spot for metering mode. 

12. Go as low as you can. Lay your camera phone on the ground and use the self-timer to fire it from the ground level. Ensure there are interesting subjects around the edges of the frame, giving a point of reference for the viewer and adding to the sense of scale.

13. Shake it up. Deliberately move your camera around while shooting to generate an abstract image. One of the best subjects for this kind of shot is neon light or other colorful light sources. Ensure the surrounding environment is relatively dark for maximum effect. Moving your camera around while the camera phone is shooting allows you to paint abstract patterns.

14. Try pet photography. If you can’t take a portrait of your friends, then take portraits of your pet. Learn its natural behavior first and then look for it while shooting. You’ll get natural-looking images. Pets are likely to get bored before you do, so don’t put them in front of your lens until you’re ready to take the shot. Always carry treats and toys to attract their attention when you are ready to shoot them (this applies mostly to dogs and cats, though).

15. Notice shapes and patterns. Elements used in art draw the eye around a picture plane. Look for patterns all around you, patterns of all kinds that occur at all scales throughout. You may want to zoom in on a specific pattern or repetition occurrence. In some instances, you can shoot it in wide angle for a bigger coverage. Spirals, curves and lines also make interesting subjects for shape photography. Stretch your imagination beyond architecture or objects. The human body serves as one of the best sources of different contours and shapes.

16. Capture bursts of action. Use the Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot’s BestPic function to capture a series of action images. It can take up nine shots in one click, allowing you to select which image or images you want saved for later. This is quite useful for wacky jumping shots and to some extent, sports photography.

17. Have you tried Photo DJ? Photo DJ is a built-in function inside the Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot line of camera phones that allows you to adjust the exposure, contrast and color balance of your photo. On top of that, you can add effects like negative, cartoon or frosting and even clipart to your photo after the shot has been taken. You can do some mobile photo editing even before downloading!

18. Expand your memory. Sooner or later, you’ll find that your camera phone’s internal memory is slowly dwindling. You may want to expand your camera phone’s memory by purchasing a 2GB memory stick from your local Sony Ericsson shop. It won’t burn a hole in your wallet, but it will allow you to shoot some more high-resolution photos in the long run. As always, it’s best to buy original Sony Ericsson accessories.

19. Get frosty. Shooting through frosted glass with your Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot is one way of obscuring your subject, while maintaining the impression of its presence. This can be especially useful in shooting portraits and colorful images. You’ll end up with a

beautiful image of a glowing subject with a sharp drop-off focus simulated by the effect of the glass.

20. Upload and blog. The Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot lets you directly send photos to your online blog and immediately publish it. This means that you can update your blog everywhere you go. Just make sure your network has properly configured your phone to enjoy this feature.

21. Print projects. Nothing feels better than seeing your photos printed. After editing them in Photo DJ or Adobe Photoshop, use your home printer or a photo lab to print photos. Some Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot phones are PictBridge compatible. Just hook up the phone to a PictBridge-capable printer and print away. Some photo labs even offer making photo books and calendars to give away to your friends. With Sony Ericsson’s image quality and resolution, printing great photos won’t be a problem at all.