Best way to show off low res photos?

[butterfly]

I've been taking photos in my 2 mega pixel camera phone. Is there any way to display them that shows them off, and makes them look reasonable? Is there an optimum size for them that's bigger than a fingernail? Or will they always look equally as ordinary, no matter what I do?

[KageJim]

I'm not a photography expert, but 2 megapixels is more-than-enough for showing off pictures online. A 2 megapixel camera should be able to take pictures around 1600x1200, which is large enough you'd likely want to actually shrink them before posting them on the internet.

The problem with camera phones is, well, they're junk. The chips aren't very sensitive, the lens are usually of mediocre design, lens coating I'm guessing are usually single layer (versus the much better "full multi-coated" variety).

I'd suggest making sure you're camera phone is taking pictures at its maximum resolution (I know mine doesn't do that by default), with a minimum of compression. Since they are cheap cameras, I'd suggest resizing the image to exactly 50%--resizing images by odd percents can lead to more loss of information I tend to find. Some basic photoshop work can help a good deal, too, although I'm a complete noob when it comes to such things, so I won't try to offer any specific suggestions.

Final tip: if you aren't happy with how a picture came out, perhaps it's grainy or a bit blurry, etc, consider switching the picture to B&W or some other color mode. Sometimes less can be more.

Hopefully I was some help to you. I mostly just babbled, and being this isn't a topic I'm any expert on, I'm afraid I mostly have just restated the obvious for you to waste time reading...

Jim

[nashira]

Perhaps you could show us a photo you've taken? I might be able to help, though quite honestly you would be better off with a dedicated camera because as KageJim so nicely put it "cellphone cameras are junk" (or the spirit of what was said, whatever :P).

Forever, amen.

*hugs her camera*

[KeinesV]

Depends on the subject. If it is small and detailed but still low res looking (like an insect), there isn't much to do about it.

For clearer subjects, you're probably fine.

[smartharsh]

Exactly, if you are shooting a scenary, then even 2MP photo from camera might work, but if you want to shoot, say a flower, then dedicated digital camera is required.

[Tundra]

I wouldn't want to rely on my camera phone...

[AXJ]

^ It varies. My old Sony-Ericsson phone had a pretty decent camera, at least when there was decent lighting... but the iPhone's camera is horrible.

Anyway, I'd recommend trying 'auto levels' and 'auto contrast' in photoshop to sort out the color and exposure. The 'unsharp mask' filter can help clean up minor blurriness. Then size down until it looks good. Also, add a two pixel black border if you're using it for web display.

[GabrielGadfly]

Might be worth a read:

12 Tips For Improving Camera Phone Photos (http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-use-a-camera-phone)

[butterfly]

Thanks for the replies! I'm still using the phone but I'm looking into getting a camera anyway. However I'm only looking at getting a cheap one, so I hope that it's actually an improvement!

[AXJ]

Thanks for the replies! I'm still using the phone but I'm looking into getting a camera anyway. However I'm only looking at getting a cheap one, so I hope that it's actually an improvement!

Unless you use something that came as a free prize in a cereal box, it probably will be. Cell phone cameras just use ultra-tiny CCDs and the lenses are likely to get very dirty & scratched from normal use as a cell phone. They're pretty much just useful to have in a pinch, for those "nobody's ever going to believe I actuallly saw this unless I take a pic" pics.