Why are your Tatra photos boring? 5 simple smartphone photo tricks

You step onto Giewont. Sweat runs down your back. In front of you there’s space that takes your breath away. You pull out your smartphone (no matter if it’s an old Android or a brand-new iPhone worth a fortune) and snap.

You look at the screen. The sky is white, the mountains are dark, and the majestic cross looks like a toothpick.

“It looked way better in real life” — familiar?

You don’t need a camera with a bucket-sized lens to bring impressive photos out of the Tatras. Just a few simple changes in how you hold and position your phone.

1. Golden hour isn’t a myth (Run from “The Lamp”)

Most people take photos in the worst possible light — right at noon, when the sun “burns” straight down into their head. That’s when the mountains lose depth, turn flat and lose their character. Shadows become pitch black and the sun blows out the screen.

• When to take photos? Right after sunrise or one hour before sunset (the so-called golden hour). The light hits at an angle, “drawing” the edges of the rocks.
• That’s why a sunset on Nosal or Sarnia Skała looks 100 times better in photos than at noon.

2. Show the scale! (Add a person)

You took a photo of a huge, empty mountain? On your phone screen it’ll look like a tiny pebble. A phone camera flattens perspective. To show how powerful the Tatras are, you need a reference point.

• Trick: Put a person in the frame (a friend, or even a random tourist), a small building (like a mountain hut), or a tree.
• When the photo shows a tiny hiker silhouette against the giant wall of Kazalnica, the viewer’s brain instantly says: “Wow, but that’s huge!“

3. Wipe the lens (Seriously!)

Sounds funny? Yet it’s the reason for 80% of ugly photos. Your phone sits in your pocket, and you touch it with sweaty hands (especially after chain sections). The lens is covered with a greasy film. Result? Photos are blurry, with an ugly glow (flares), and the sun turns “hazy”.

• Before you take an epic shot from Kasprowy Wierch, wipe the glass with a microfiber shirt or a tissue. You’ll see the effect immediately.

4. Lower your phone (Different perspective)

Everyone takes photos the same way: standing still, lifting the phone to eye level, and clicking. It’s the most boring perspective in the world.

• Crouch. Put your phone almost on the ground (for example on stones above Morskie Oko).
• Let something colorful be in the foreground (close to the lens) — a leaf, an interesting rock, or a water surface — and keep the mountains as the background. This adds real depth and a 3D feel.
• Try the wide-angle lens too (0.5x on your phone), but keep it close to the ground — then the mountains will look truly monumental.

5. Turn away from the sun

You see a beautiful Wołowiec, but the sun is shining right behind it. You take a photo and you get a blown-out white sky and a black, flat mountain. Even your phone (with the best HDR) won’t cope.

• If the sun is shining straight into the lens, try blocking it with something — for example a branch of dwarf pine in the frame, or simply your friend’s outstretched hand out of frame (so the lens sits in shadow).
• The best photos happen when the sun is behind you or when it lights the mountains slightly from the side.

Got great photos from your trips? Don’t keep them only on disk. Use your next outing, for example to Rusinowa Polana, to test these tricks in practice!