We use our smartphones to take photographs almost every day but there are many ways to take more professional looking photos. Here are five ways to take better photographs.

1) Hold the phone horizontally

For a lot of people it is almost natural to hold your phone vertically while taking a photo. Sometimes we don’t even think about it because that is how we usually hold our cellphones. Holding your camera phone horizontally gives you a more artistic look, a better wide shot, and a more natural looking photograph. The photos will also look better when viewed on a computer screen. These days we are used to looking at things in a widescreen aspect ratio.

“What a lot of people don’t think of and it’s a hard concept, is you don’t always have to be looking straight into your screen viewfinder,” said Collin Masteller, a local photographer. “You can get some amazing pictures if you just look at your subject and then just move your phone around without looking through it in different angles. It can give you amazing pictures and sometimes you can pigeon hole your ideas. But sometimes you can end up with really cool pictures without even trying.”

2) Use the rule of thirds

The rule of thirds is what our eyes are naturally drawn to first before looking at the rest of the photo. Using the rule of thirds is really important when trying to take a photograph with professional and thoughtful composition. It is all about positioning the most important subjects in your photograph off center to create balance, so that the subject isn’t always dead center in all of your photos. Many people don’t realize they are shooting all their photos with everything dead center. In the rule of thirds the photo is split up into a grid of three by three squares with the main subjects positioned where the grids meet so that the subject is not in the middle of the photo

“Use the rule of thirds to create more depth and dimension to your photos,” said Chandler Baird, a photographer from Spokane Eats .

3) Make sure nothing is sticking out from behind a person/subject

It is important when taking photographs to always make sure that something like a weird tree branch isn’t sticking out from behind your friends head. Random objects sticking out behind your subject can really ruin a great photograph and is not aesthetically pleasing.

4) Use better lighting and be aware of the lighting

Lighting is very important when it comes to taking photographs. You don’t want it to be too dark or too bright of course, but it is surprising how much light really affects your photos. When you really take the time to look around at how the light falls on things it can be really amazing. It can be very easy to go through life and not pay attention to how the light affects the way we see things.

“Even if it’s the sun, or the lights inside, or the reflection off of a building, you just have to know what the light is doing to make better photos,” said Matt Shumate, a photography instructor. “So just paying attention to what the light is doing you are already ten steps ahead of everybody who just picks up a phone and takes a picture. Paying attention to the light makes a big difference.”

5) Find a steady support

Taking a selfie photo isn’t always going to be the best, most stable photo. You will have better photographs if you make sure your smartphone is steady, holding with both hands or finding a flat stable surface to place the camera phone on. Even holding your breath for a split second while taking a photo can help.

There is so much art you can capture and so much you can do with your cell phone. Don’t ever let the equipment you are using, like a cellphone to be a deterrent to creating art.