We are undoubtedly the selfie generation. The everyone-has-a-camera-and-is-now-a-photographer generation. Be it social media, personal memories, or actual photography, we’re all taking pictures and recording stuff (thanks iPhone!). But as we all know, handheld photography is no easy art. Well it’s easy in the sense of application: you just point and click these days. We’re talking about doing it right. Setting up shots you’re proud of, or recording handheld photography at a higher degree of quality takes practice. However, there’s an assortment of gadgets out there that can help simplify, stabilize, and produce high-quality shots from whatever device you’re using to shoot on. Check them out below.
Tripods:
Of course, these aren’t the most convenient to have around as you can’t just put them in your pocket and walk around. But consider this: you’re trying to set up the perfect shot, find the perfect lighting/angle, and then you’ll have to man the handheld device you’re shooting on yourself. What a tripod like this one does, is it stabilizes your shot, allows for a bit more range, and can be incredibly beneficial if you’re planning on timing some of your shots (if you want to be in them, of course). They’re not tricky to learn, generally easy to set up, and make a world of difference. They’re a bit inconvenient, but what’s that compared to the beautiful shot you otherwise wouldn’t have been able to capture?
Selfie stick:
This one is for all of you iPhone lovers out there that enjoy taking pictures on your smartphone. Although selfie sticks are a bit laughed at (they have a narcissistic connotation – but so does our entire ‘selfie’ generation), they’re still resourceful. Consider this: you’re traveling with your significant other and or friends and you want to capture pictures or videos together, and if you’re going to be in them you’ll have to constantly ask for a stranger to take the photo (one who probably won’t care about the quality of the image and will rather take the quickest picture just to get it over with –we’ve all done this). Instead, you could use a selfie stick to set up and capture the shot of your liking and as many of them as you want. They also allow for more aerial POVs, which add another dynamic to smartphone photography.
Drones:
Use a drone! It’s almost unfathomable that we can even recommend this, being that drone technology is now a consumer product, but there are camera drones on the market place that can take stunning footage (all the way up to 5.2k). Many of these hovering drones can fly nearly autonomously and you can program them to take aerial ‘selfies’ or even take selfies to a new level and have the drone track along with you autonomously, filming whatever sort of activity you’re doing. If you’re thinking ‘ehh, probably not for me, that seems for advanced photographers,’ then you’re mistaken. With a bit of research you’ll find that there are tons of mini consumer drones that can take aerial photography equivalent or better than your handheld device.
Bluetooth Flash:
How many times have you wanted to capture the perfect picture with your smartphone/handheld only to realize that your flash capabilities just simply didn’t cut it? Well products like the Nova have given an entirely new outlet for lighting. The Nova (like similar products) is a separate flash that connects via Bluetooth and pairs with the machine’s camera. Since it’s a separate device, it allows for more freedom when setting up that perfect shot (and the 40 LEDs give the picture more depth and color). The Nova eliminates darkly saturated shots and instead allows for the built-in camera to have a whole new range. Not to mention it’s simple to use.
Wireless Storage:
There’s nothing worse than taking a picture only to realize your storage is full or that it didn’t save properly. Newly developed products like the EzeeCube allow for cameras to (once paired) store photos wirelessly so you never have to worry about accidently deleting your storage/software failure.
There’s a whole bunch of gadgets out there that can help your handheld/smartphone camera game. Best part: most of them are relatively inexpensive. Hopefully these suggestions help you improve your handheld photography game.
