Can you do art photography with a smartphone? Samsung's "My World" exhibition says yes!

"Mobile photography" and "camera phone" are catchphrases so overused nowadays that people have stopped paying attention to the essence of the matter. And that essence is the fact that our smartphones are perfectly capable of capturing stunning photos worthy of an art exhibition.

Samsung decided to show just that with its "My World" photo exhibition, shot solely with the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Now, that may or may not be a PR stunt, that's irrelevant. The important thing is that some of the pictures I saw at the art hall were amazing. And what's even more important is that most of you could achieve similar results with your S23 Ultra, or any other modern phone, for that matter, with just a little effort.

I know what you're thinking right now: "Art exhibitions are booooring." And you're right to some extent. I'm not going to bore you with a sophisticated breakdown of every photo and try to find words in the dictionary that are super hard to pronounce and understand just for the sake of it. I'm going to do something completely different here. Try to share tips and tricks from the kitchen and help you snap the same amazing photos I saw at the exhibition.

The beauty of it is that I'm not a photographer—not even close. I suck at taking good photos, even with a DSLR. My source and guru is Boni Bonev, one of the most famous modern Bulgarian photographers. You'll be excused if you haven't heard of him, but his work speaks for itself. And unlike many other famous artists, he doesn't mind sharing all his little secrets when it comes to mobile photography. So, let's get to it, shall we?

How to make stunning landscape shots with your smartphone

Landscape photography is one of the most popular among amateurs and professionals (we'll leave pet photos out of these statistics). So, how do you snap a perfect landscape photo with your phone?

Composition: This is the most important thing in landscape photography. Most of the time, the objects you photograph are static, so you have some freedom to arrange the shot as you like. Don't fill your shot with too many objects, use negative space—large open areas of sky, sea, or something plain with not a lot of details. Using negative space emphasizes the other (and more important) objects in your shot.

Rule of Thirds: This is a very important aspect, so it deserves a separate bullet point (even though it's technically part of composition). When you have land and sky (or sea and sky) in your shot, you need to balance the part that you want to emphasize. If there are birds in the sky as your main element, the horizon should, in general, be placed in the lower part of the shot. If you're focusing on a range of mountains or some majestic trees, the horizon should be drawn higher, leaving roughly two thirds of land and one third of sky in the shot.

The Golden Hour: Lighting is super important when it comes to photography, and even more important when your sensor is as tiny as your fingernail. Smartphones can snap some amazing photos if there's enough light at the scene, but it's important to know that there's a specific time of the day called the "golden hour", which is just after sunrise and before sunset. Shadows are soft, and light falls at an angle, creating distinct shadows and emphasizing objects you photograph.

Reflections: A very powerful tool in every photographer's arsenal. When shooting landscapes, you can make use of water or other reflective surfaces to add spice to your shot. Reflections create symmetry, which our brain automatically finds pleasing. You can also use reflections to show something that's not in your original frame.

How to make stunning portrait shots with your smartphone

Easy! Just turn "portrait mode" on, and you're all set. I'm joking, of course, it's not that simple. Even though the "bokeh" effect (blurring the background) is a powerful portrait tool, it's not the only one. You can make your portraits stand out even if your phone doesn't support bokeh or the aforementioned portrait mode is not very good. Here's how.

Use the light: The sole purpose of bokeh is to emphasize the object you're shooting. This can be done using light alone. Make sure the face of the person you're photographing is well lit while the background is darker.

Background colors: Sometimes you can't play with light, that's where background colors come into play. You can use solid and soft colors for the background, or do it vice versa—use something extremely bright. The goal is to create the necessary contrast to emphasize the face you're photographing.

Mind the distance: The best portrait shots (the ones you see at art exhibitions) are shot from a pretty close distance. Don't be afraid to move in closer, this will allow you to leave distractions off your shot and focus on the face of the person you're shooting.