Three photography tips for telling a story (with just your smart phone)

Gone are the days of having to carry a large bag or backpack with your multiple camera bodies, lenses and external flash. If there's one thing that the majority of us always have on hand, it's our smart phone. And, most smart phones, over the last few years, have fantastic photographic capabilities -- pro modes and background erasers and so much more.

I am personally, an Android person. But these tips transcend the make of your phone. These tips are useful with any camera that you may be using. I'm not going to go into technical terms and deeply granular options within your camera, but I will share my top three favorite tips when out and about and want to snap that memorable image.

Thinking in thirds, getting creative and editing your photos with a purpose, can bring your viewers to what you want to tell them visually. What's your story? And how can you make your audience feel like they want to know more.

Tip 1 -- Think in thirds

I think in thirds. Everywhere I look, I'm dissecting the scene into columns and rows and framing the shot. What do I want you to focus on in my photo? How can I draw your eye to it?

Center, left third, top middle -- how can you add context to your photo? Create a little story by the way you frame your snapshot. The example above uses the left third of my frame. So, let's break it down then.

I broke this photo into thirds using a grid (which can typically be found in your smart phone camera to help you align). Where the teal dots are show areas where your subject can be situated, creating negative space for more context or focus on your subject. Going beyond the dots to the white boxes, also creates visual intrigue. Framing your subject in the bottom row of white boxes creates drama or can pique someone's interest more than going center white middle block. Not that there's anything wrong with center middle. This is your story, just understand options can create endless ideas.

With the above photo, I wanted to show my audience this photogenic building at my campus while also giving context that it's spring time, having the green leaves and branches act as a natural frame for my photo. The framing also creates an intimacy with your audience, as if a story is about be told.

Tip 2: Get Creative

Easier said than done, right? Getting to know your photography style can happen when you just let yourself go outside of your normal. Look for interesting angles, lens flare, natural filters and lines within your framing to help bring the viewer's eyes to your subject.

Driving with a friend to Corning, New York, we hit a patch of rain. The way the mist was draping the mountain ahead of us, the lines of the road and the trees driving you forward, and the raindrops laying on the windshield acting like a natural filter -- I asked my friend to turn the windshield wipers off for just a second and I snapped my photo. The goal was to make this feel like a memory or a scene from a novel. Muted colors and gray skies lend themselves to that nostalgic feeling, too. Remember sunshine is great for your personal mood but perhaps not for your photo.

Using lights and shadows, even in unconventional ways, can bring a viewer deeper into your photo, creating a question or even sparking their own narrative. Even just looking up can add intrigue.

Is that a tree growing through the side of that building? Why? How? Using shadows and light, I wanted to not only bring your eye to the tree but also set the scene that this is an older, abandoned building. With natural noise like telephone lines and a streetlight shadow I hoped to set the scene for you -- a slice of central Pennsylvania life and a place that once was something.

The bad can be beautiful. The ordinary can be extraordinary.

Tip 3: Edit with a purpose

Editing can either create a mood or can break the mood. There are so many great, free editing apps on your phone that can help you tell your story. I personally love VSCO, Snapseed and A Color Story.

My style, if you haven't been able to guess yet, tends to be nostalgic for my own personal photo galleries. I tend to go light on editing, adding a little color or bringing in an old-school vibe with a preset. Thinking about how tones can set the mood or how adding a slight blur to your background can help bring the foreground to the forefront, and are all editing decisions that are completely up to you.

This is a hill near to my hometown. There's a cemetery behind me and a beautiful view of this little town and beyond. My grandmother went to that church. Farther away is where my father's family lived on a hill with a farm. This spot has memories for me. I snapped this photo, and edited in VSCO. Using a warm-toned edit, I've given the original image a little vintage feel, making it feel like perhaps this photo was found in my great aunt's writing desk or hanging on the wall of my grandfather's home. Simple tone edits can help bring your viewers along for you storytelling ride.

Don't throw away your shot

Here, employing all three tips -- thinking in thirds, getting creative with lighting and lines, and using a warm tone in my edits, helped me bring this autumnal story to life. The way the telephone lines pull your eye towards the fall glow of reds and gold, the placement of the traffic light and the warm tones makes this feel like you are on a quiet walk with me.

Now go out there with your smart phone and start telling your story.