So you don’t think you have what it takes to get the perfect shot. We hear it all the time. “I don’t have a fancy camera”, or “I don’t think I have the skills to get cool shots.” Fear not, we have faith in you and your abilities. Check out the tips and tricks below to capture the perfect shot with your smartphone. Keep in mind, the most important tip is to practice, practice, practice!

DON’T MISS THE SHOT

It doesn’t take much to miss your window of opportunity when a muscle car flies past you, but we’ve got you covered!

Turn on “LIVE PHOTOS” and capture the seconds prior to and after you click for a photo! This tool can turn your photos into boomerangs, allow you to select the key photo and never miss your shot!

PICK YOUR MODE

This is another cool way to change the perspective on your phone shot! Consider getting up close and personal to the vehicle, and expanding the lens to 0.5 zoom, giving your shot the “fisheye” effect, and creating an optical illusion your viewers will love.

Focused more on the foreground? 2.5 zoom has you covered. Get some space between yourself and the photo subject and snap a shot on 2.5 zoom mode giving you a deviation between the foreground and background, making your shot worth a million!

EDIT IN THE CAMERA APP

You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on new gear and editing software. The camera and photo settings have more than enough tools for you to spruce up your shots. Consider increasing the contrast and lowering the brightness for a moody photo setting or increasing the saturation or luminance to make the colors pop.

Familiarizing yourself with the different settings your camera roll has to offer can give you a whole new perspective on photos you’ve shot in the past!

RESEARCH

Phone settings might do the trick, but if you want to expand your capabilities even further, there are plenty of free editing resources on the app store.

Apps like LIGHTROOM, PICSART, even PHOTOSHOP offer free usage capabilities. You may not have access to the functions of the entirety of the system, but their free versions offer ample tools, tutorials and resources to edit like a pro.

B-ROLL

It is never a bad thing to have too many photos or videos to choose from. By taking long videos and clipping or cropping them down to the correct format, you can get ample content out of one shot! Snippets of a longer video pieced together to make a TikTok or Instagram reel is a great way to give viewers the whole view without losing viewers! 3-10 seconds is the sweet spot, so get a longer clip and pick your favorite moments to create content from!

LOOK FOR VANTAGE POINTS

Yes, you heard that right! Like scouting your location, it’s all about the lighting and angle! Finding the best viewpoint can drastically improve your shot! Backlit, dark or indoor surroundings can decrease the clarity of your photo. But, with the right amount of sunlight/lighting, and positioning of both your camera and your vehicle, you can create a professional-quality picture right on your phone!

GOOD LUCK!

Now that you have what you need, send us your million-dollar shot and the ways in which you captured it for a chance to be on DodgeGarage.