iwali is the festival of lights. That is, once the sun goes down. Before that, in the day, it is also a festival of colours. There are puja moments, there is feasting, there are gifts and, of course, there are brilliant lights along with lit up smiles. How do you capture all these moments? Well, you capture them using a versatile phone like the OnePlus 7T Pro or the iPhone 11 Pro, or something like the Pixel 3 that is a master at capturing details and a dynamic range.
And you can use some of the tips that we are about to share here, tips and tricks that will help you click the photos of Diwali celebrations that you will love sharing on your Instagram and Facebook accounts.
The photos in this article are all shot on the OnePlus 7T Pro because that is what we grabbed from our desk when India Today celebrated this festive season. To click photos of the celebrations, we used all three rear cameras — standard, zoom and wide-angle — of the OnePlus 7T Pro and got results that captured the colours of Diwali in their full brilliance.
Here’s what you can do to get brilliant pictures:
— This is most important: you will get the best results with a phone that has good camera hardware. The Pixel 3 arguably has the best image sensor and that will give you great results when you are shooting photos this Diwali. The OnePlus 7T Pro, the iPhone 11 Pro or even the OnePlus 7T, will also give you great results because of their good hardware. Varied cameras, with their zoom and wide-angle lenses, give users the ability to shoot photos in a different perspective.
— Once you have a good camera in hand, try to hold it steady for a while. The reason is that Diwali is a festival of light and because it is possible that you may end up shooting images in low light, you should hold the camera for an extra second or two after you have tapped on the shutter button. This results in photos that are sharper and have more details.
— Use the various modes that are available, and various cameras that phones like the OnePlus 7 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro have. Play with the wide-angle lens to get a good wider perspective, or use the zoom lens to get up close as we got with Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi using OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition.
— Similarly, use the “Night Mode” in most of the phones nowadays to get better photos of the sparkling lights and vibrant colours in the dark. For the best effect, you should tap on the phone screen to set exposure according to highlights. Sounds technical? There are two ways to expose a photo: for highlights and for shadows. Usually, in phones like the Pixel 3, OnePlus 7T Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro, exposure is handled automatically and works well. But if you want, and if a scene has too many dark areas and extremely bright portions, you can tap on the bright portions to get better contrast and colours in your photos.
— Use the colourful lights to get a good effect in your photos by framing the image in a way that the light is only highlighting subjects and yet is not harsh or bleeding. See the portrait photo that we have put here. The OnePlus 7T Pro does a great job here of capturing the glowing light and illuminating the subject, even though in this instance, we are not using the “portrait mode” in the phone.
— Get up-close with lights, as we did with the diya pictures. If your phone supports macro mode, like the way the OnePlus 7T Pro does, use that. Or with a phone like a Pixel 3 and the iPhone 11 Pro, you can get really close, click the photo and then crop it a bit to get the desired results. In the same way, you can also get real close while clicking savoury sweets, and capture their sweet texture.
— Get the framing right. Photos in festive season could be a bit busy, too many people, too many sweats, too many colours in a single scene. Ideally, try to compose a photo in a way where the subject you are shooting stands out.
— And finally, do have fun while clicking photos. This ends up reflecting in the photos you are clicking. If you are not having fun, whether you use the OnePlus 7T Pro or the iPhone 11 Pro, your photos will not have that special effect. They will somehow turn out to be on the duller side.
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