1. Mobile camera flash is different: The average person uses a camera phone the same way he uses a point-and-shoot camera: Whip it out, power it up, and take the picture. But the flash may wash out the shot's color; and the ISO may be set at an absurdly high level, making for blocky, noisy images. The flash from a mobile phone is not the same as the flash in your digital camera or, your traditional film camera. Mobile camera flash can wash out the shot’s color. If it is a really important shot and the lighting is suspect, get two shots in, one with flash and the other without. 2. Experiment before hand to avoid surprises: Most new camera phones have a number of settings that you can play with to get a better shot, so try experimenting with them. Most mobile cameras do not offer a lot of settings and options. It is good to experiment before hand with mobile camera photos rather than miss out on an important moment. 3. Lighting dramatically improves camera phone results. When the lighting is right, a mobile camera picture gets closer to photo prints quality. Too much of lighting is not something your mobile camera is designed to handle. If lighting is not adequate, the mobile camera produces an image that is like a low-resolution image. The quality of your phone's 1- or 2-megapixel camera can be improved tremendously by great lighting. Even if your phone has ISO settings (which should be kept at the lowest possible setting), shooting in low, or little light is not recommended. Leave the camera's exposure (or brightness) settings on the standard mode. Making the shot brighter without proper lighting just throws off the color balance of the entire shot. Also, remember to keep your white balance on Auto and the metering exposure on Center-Weighted. 4. Forget the zoom. Don't use it--it's a digital zoom. Digital zooms just make your shots look pixilated. For mobile camera phones with a working zoom, look at an overview of the latest phones listed in the useful links section of the Photo Prints and Gifts Help Center. 5. Go for multi shots. If you phone can take multi shots, go for it. Typical phones can take 6, 9, and 15 shots in a row on medium- and high-quality settings. This is great for being right up in the action and catching it at high speed. This also works as a great risk mitigation method. 6. Use the framing system to get the object right at the center. If your camera phone has a framing system try to keep your subject right in the middle--the framing system will help you do so. That way when you're showing off a pic of your new puppy at work, people will know exactly where to look in the shot. 7. Get a grip. The slightest movement can make your pictures look grainy or blurry, so you need to hold your phone correctly, as optical image stabilization has not been implemented in phones yet. The phone may be very lightweight, and your hands are probably steady, but you still want to get the best quality possible. So flip your phone around and hold it the way you hold your point-and-shoot. Otherwise, try to hold your phone with two hands. 8. Tweak your settings. Want something that looks really different? Try using your phone's color/effects settings, such as sepia, black and white, emboss, negative, or anything else it may have. 9. Use the timer. One of the reasons a pro will use a timer is so that the camera won't move when they press the shutter button--therefore getting rid of excess camera shake. The same concept applies with phone cameras. 10. Shoot in the highest resolution possible. On my 1.3-megapixel camera, it's SXGA (1,280 by 1,024). Also use the least compression possible: Choose Fine or Super Fine. Photo Prints and Gifts offers unique mobile photo uploaders. Custom designed to work with the limited resources of mobile phones, PPG uploaders are fast and easy to use. At Photo Prints and Gifts, photo uploading and sharing is made easy. You now need to resort to clumsy email attachments to share photos. Mobile photo uploaders at PPG work in GPRS and WAP and are tested per Opera mobile browser standards. PPG uploaders are designed to be secure for use on a mobile phone and does not need installation of any software on the phone. PPG is loaded with over 1000 creative digital assets: borders, themes, and layouts that are made for India, paying attention to multi cultural and diversified tastes that we have as a billion+ nation. These are now available for free online use. Coming soon from PPG: prints, posters, photo cards, personalized calendars, photo albums and books, business solutions, store my pics – photo archival solutions, and specialty photo gifts. Online – offline partnership being expanded now – inquiries are welcome. Contact: PPG Care Photo Prints and Gifts 1 650 265 2090 Help@PhotoPrintsandGifts.com 346/243-2, TTK Road, Alwarpet, Chennai, 600018 TN, India http://www.PhotoPrintsandGifts.com