You don’t need a DSLR or expensive gear to capture stunning travel photos—your smartphone is more powerful than you think. With the right techniques and tools, you can shoot frame-worthy images that tell the story of your trip beautifully. Here’s how to take better travel photos using just your phone, whether you’re documenting city streets, natural landscapes, or candid moments.
Clean your lens and understand your phone’s capabilities
Start with the basics: clean your phone lens before every use. Dust, pocket lint, or fingerprints can dull image quality. Then, explore what your phone’s camera can do. Many models now include wide-angle, telephoto, and night modes. Learn how to manually adjust focus, exposure, and white balance using your phone’s built-in features or apps like Halide (iOS) or ProCam X (Android).
Use natural light to your advantage
Lighting is one of the most important elements of photography. Early morning and late afternoon—known as golden hour—provide soft, warm light perfect for landscapes and portraits. Avoid harsh midday sun, which creates unflattering shadows.
When shooting indoors or at night, use available light sources like lamps or windows. Don’t rely on your phone’s flash unless absolutely necessary—it tends to flatten subjects and create glare.
Follow the rule of thirds and focus on composition
Enable the gridlines in your phone’s camera settings to follow the rule of thirds—placing key subjects along the grid intersections creates more visually balanced shots.
Other tips to enhance composition:
- Use leading lines (roads, fences, or paths) to guide the viewer’s eye.
- Frame your subject with doorways, windows, or trees.
- Look for symmetry and patterns, especially in architecture or nature.
- Shoot from low angles or high vantage points to add depth and variety.
Stabilize your shots
Blurred photos often come from shaky hands. Hold your phone with both hands, or steady it against a surface. For even better stability, use a mini tripod like the Joby GorillaPod, or pack a compact Bluetooth shutter remote for hands-free shots.
Edit with intention, not excess
Editing is where your photo comes to life—but less is more. Apps like Lightroom Mobile, Snapseed, and VSCO offer free tools to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, and sharpness.
Avoid over-editing with extreme filters. Focus on enhancing the natural beauty of the image to match what you saw in person.
Use portrait and night modes wisely
Modern smartphones come equipped with sophisticated portrait modes that simulate a DSLR-style blurred background. Use it to highlight faces or subjects against busy backgrounds.
Night mode uses multiple exposures to brighten low-light scenes. It works best if your phone is perfectly still, so use a tripod or brace your phone against a surface for optimal results.
Back up your images automatically
Losing travel photos can be heartbreaking. Use cloud backup services like Google Photos, iCloud, or Dropbox to automatically save and organize your images as you go.
Want to upgrade your travel gear? Save with cashback apps
If you’re buying a mini tripod, lens attachment, or storage accessories before your trip, consider stacking savings. You can get rewards with a Hotels.com gift card when booking photography-friendly hotels through Fluz, and use platforms like Rakuten and Ibotta to earn cashback on travel accessories from popular retailers.
Explore more cashback opportunities at Fluz to support your travel photography habit.
Final thoughts
With a little creativity and preparation, your smartphone can rival pro-level cameras for travel photography. Focus on storytelling, good lighting, and strong composition—and let your destination do the rest.
