Technologies

Your Old Phone Can Still Take Excellent Photos With These Pro Tips

Don’t count out the camera on your older phone. It can still take fantastic photos.

The iPhone 14 Pro, Google Pixel 7 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra are among the best camera phones you can buy in 2023. Packed with multiple lenses and amazing AI software, these phones can take shots that rival professional mirrorless cameras.

However, these top phones come with huge price tags that make them out of reach for many of us. Worry not. Even if you’ve got an older iPhone or Android phone or a budget-focused model without all the bells and whistles, there’s a lot you can do to still take beautiful images. After all, as any photographer will tell you, it’s not just the best camera that takes the best photos.

Still, you’ll need to put in some effort yourself to elevate your shots from simple “ho hum” snaps to “oh, wow!” pieces of art.

Here, then, are my top tips for how to get the best images from an older iPhone, Galaxy phone or any older Android phone.

In this shot, taken on the iPhone X, the road snaking its way into the frame helps to add a leading line that guides the eye up toward the cloudy mountains.

Andrew Lanxon/CNET

Nail your composition

You can take a photo using the most advanced camera system on the planet, but if you’ve messed up your framing, you’ll still get a bad photo. After all, if you’re taking a photo of a lovely church and you manage to chop off the spire, no amount of editing will bring it back.

Don’t just snap away wildly at your photo location. Instead, slow down, walk around and consider the scene in front of you and how you want it to appear in your shot. Taking a landscape shot? Look for leading lines such as pathways or old stone walls that snake their way into the scene. Or perhaps there’s some interesting rocks or flowers that could add some interest in the foreground.

20190620-161930 — Taken on the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus. I used the curving rock face as foreground interest, shooting through the gap that points toward the reservoir in the distance.

Andrew Lanxon/CNET

You can also turn on a “rule of thirds” grid overlay in the settings to help line up the different elements in your scene in a visually pleasing way — or simply to help keep your horizons straight.

If you’ve got multiple rear cameras that offer a zoomed-in or wide-angle view, experiment with these different options. Maybe zooming in can help eliminate distracting elements, or perhaps that wider view can capture more of the beautiful scene in front of you.

With no wide-angle lens on the iPhone 11 Pro, I used the panorama mode to capture a much wider scene here.

Andrew Lanxon/CNET

If you don’t have a wide-angle view, try using the panorama mode to get a wider shot than the standard camera can achieve — or use clip-on lenses, as I discuss below.

Tell a story

The most impactful, iconic images through the years aren’t simply the ones taken with the best camera, but the ones that tell a particular story or capture a moment in time. And sure, maybe you’re not trying to win a photojournalism prize on your summer vacation, but thinking like a photojournalist can help you take images that you’ll want to look back on in years to come.

Perhaps you’re heading to the beautiful Italian coast this year. Of course, you’ll get a nice snap of the ocean from your hotel terrace, but keep in mind what else has made your trip so memorable; the plates of delicious food, the old, dusty streets, the musician playing in the square or the vibrant colors of the fruits and flower stands at the local market. All these elements will make for great photos that capture the heart of the location and tell a great visual story when you look back through them.

This beautiful, shaggy Highland cow wasn’t the reason I visited Scotland, but this was a great opportunity to capture an image of an iconic animal. And the shot really adds to the story told by the images I took on that trip. Taken on the iPhone 11 Pro.

Andrew Lanxon/CNET

And it doesn’t have to be something you do only on a big family vacation. A weekend walk downtown to the street-food market will offer up great storytelling opportunities, from the graffiti art you see along the way to the plates of vibrant cuisine you choose on arrival. And none of these things require the latest camera hardware to capture beautifully.

Use the light to your advantage

Though today’s top phones can take great nighttime images, older models likely won’t have night modes. As a result, darkness won’t be your friend when you’re trying to get great images. If you’re heading to a viewpoint overlooking the city, try to get there during the day, perhaps when there’s a lovely blue sky sprinkled with fluffy clouds.

Though the middle of the day isn’t always a great time for landscape photos, you might capture moments of peace like this. Taken on the iPhone X.

Andrew Lanxon/CNET

Middle-of-the-day photography is often avoided by landscape photographers because of its harsh quality, but if you’re exploring city streets, it can offer some great opportunities to look for contrast caused by shadows, which could make for dramatic images.

No multi-camera iPhone? Use clip-on lenses

Older iPhones might lack the multiple lenses found on the most recent models, but you don’t just have to make do. Companies like Moment and Olloclip make lenses that attach to your phone, providing wide-angle, telephoto and even macro views.

img-2269-copy — Using its standard lens (left) the iPhone X can only fit so much in frame. But with the Moment wide angle adapter (right) we get a much wider view.

Andrew Lanxon/CNET

Sure, you have to carry an extra little item in your bag or pocket as you explore, but adding a clip-on lens is a great way to get a superwide view for those sweeping cityscapes without having to splash the cash in upgrading your phone.

Shoot in DNG raw, even on old phones

Apple’s ProRaw image format, introduced on the iPhone 12 Pro Max, uses computational imaging techniques like HDR but still provides you with a DNG raw file that’s much easier to edit in apps like Adobe Lightroom. It isn’t a function found on older iPhones, but those of you on older phones can still shoot in regular raw if you’re keen to do your own edits.

You can’t shoot in DNG raw in the standard camera mode, so you’ll need to use a third-party camera app that offers raw shooting. I usually use Lightroom itself, as its camera shoots in raw and automatically imports the images into your library. But I’ve also had good results with the Moment app.

img-2026-2-copy — By shooting in DNG raw, I had even more flexibility in Adobe Lightroom to make this portrait of my sweet bundle of beautiful wonder look even more heartacheingly gorgeous.

Andrew Lanxon/CNET

Shooting in raw allows you more flexibility to adjust white balance and color tones while generally making it easier to tone down bright highlights or lighten up shadowy areas. Those of you looking to squeeze every ounce of quality from your phone camera should consider using raw — as long as you’re willing to spend the time editing.

Keep in mind, though, that raw files are larger than their JPEG counterparts, so you’ll quickly fill up your phone’s storage if you shoot everything you see in raw.

Get creative with editing apps

Taking your photo is only part of the process, and a keen eye in the editing stage can make all the difference in creating beautiful photographic art. If you want to maintain a more natural looking photograph, look toward apps like Lightroom or Google’s Snapseed. These raw image editors give you control over colors, exposure and contrast and let you fine-tune your images to suit your taste.

prisma-edit-app — Edited in Prisma, the abstract art style means it doesn’t matter if the original image isn’t amazing quality.

Andrew Lanxon/CNET

Or you can take your creativity to a whole other level with apps like Prisma, which transforms your shots into often psychedelic-looking scenes, or Bazaart, which lets you easily create wild photo collages that can look really cool. You can check out my roundup of my favorite image editing apps for more inspiration.

The great thing with editing is that there’s no right or wrong way to do things, and you can always go back to your original image if you don’t like the changes you made. But using some of these techniques can turn an otherwise forgettable shot into something that really stands out. My advice is to make a cup of tea, settle into a comfy chair and play around with the sliders in your app of choice and see what you can come up with.

Technologies

Trump Maintains US‑Iran Negotiations Continue Amid Tehran’s Denials of Duplicity

President Trump insists that US‑Iran talks are ongoing despite Tehran’s denial of any negotiation plans, while warning that only a deal or total surrender will allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Conflicting statements from both sides have heightened uncertainty as the conflict enters its sixth month.

On Monday, President Donald Trump asserted that negotiations between the United States and Iran are still taking place, even after Tehran stated it has no intention of engaging in direct talks with Washington.

In a fiery Truth Social post, Trump labeled Iran’s leaders “unbelievably duplicitous,” claiming they are lying about ongoing peace talks “whether Iran wants to admit it or not.” He repeated his assertion that the United States completely controls the Strait of Hormuz, despite maritime traffic through the crucial route lingering at only a small fraction of pre‑conflict levels.

He wrote, “Nothing reaches Iran unless we allow it, and nothing will pass unless a deal—or total surrender—is achieved.”

Earlier that day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters there is no imminent plan for U.S.–Iran negotiations, contradicting Trump’s earlier comment that talks would resume Monday afternoon. Baghaei added that Iran’s only current discussions are with Oman concerning the Strait of Hormuz.

The conflicting statements have heightened uncertainty over the peace‑talk process and the broader conflict, now in its sixth month.

Trump’s assertion about new negotiations came a day after he said on Truth Social that he had agreed to cancel a massive strike against Iran “subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.” He said in the same post that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked him to hold off on that attack because “the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

Trump has claimed dozens of times throughout the more‑than‑five‑month‑long war that a deal is at hand. No permanent deal has been signed, and a temporary ceasefire reached in June has fallen apart.

Trump has also repeatedly threatened to launch devastating strikes against Iran before backing off. After the latest example, oil prices on Monday fell and stocks surged.

BMI, a research unit of Fitch Solutions, said in a note Monday that a broader diplomatic understanding on reopening the Strait of Hormuz is still achievable this quarter, while raising the probability of its escalation scenario to 35% from 25%, citing mounting military, diplomatic and economic signs of rising U.S.-Iran tensions.

“Diplomatic progress is likely to be punctuated by periodic military flare-ups, while miscalculation by either side could trigger a renewed escalation,” BMI analysts wrote in a note. The firm said the key issue to watch is the future governance of the strait, as the Iran-Oman talks — potentially backed by Gulf states, China and the U.S. — point to efforts to build a post-conflict shipping framework.

Shipping risks persist even as diplomacy appears to be advancing. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said it received a report of an incident 20 nautical miles (23 miles) northeast of Khasab, Oman — at the mouth of the strait — with a tanker’s master reporting an explosion in close proximity to the vessel at about 20:37 UTC Sunday (4:37 pm ET). The vessel and crew were safe and authorities are investigating, UKMTO said, advising ships to transit with caution.

The proposal Trump announced over the weekend calls for the U.S. and Iran to return to negotiations and continue ironing out some of the thorny issues that had derailed diplomatic efforts, according to The Associated Press, citing a regional official involved in the mediation efforts.

The official said the proposal also includes a reopening of the Hormuz Strait and halting attacks across the region, including by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on the Arab Gulf countries and Jordan.

The U.S., for its part, will end its naval blockade on Iran and allow Tehran to export its oil, the official said, adding that no deal has been reached, although the mediation efforts remained underway.

Trump’s weekend reversal has lowered the temperature after days of escalating attacks across the Gulf. Kuwait said Saturday that Iranian forces launched a wave of drones within its airspace, with its military destroying multiple aircraft after Iran targeted critical infrastructure in the country’s north.

A parallel track with Muscat is also advancing. Iranian diplomats said Tehran was close to reaching a new arrangement with Oman to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a deal critical to preventing the war from escalating further, according to the Financial Times.

Iranian officials said negotiations over future management of the Hormuz Strait with Oman, which sits on the opposite shore of the waterway, are in their final stages. The agreed shipping route would be different from those used before, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Baghaei, adding that the new route was separate from the issue of the strait’s reopening or continued closure.

Technologies

Oil Prices Slide as Trump Halts Planned Iran Strike

Oil prices dropped after Trump cancelled a planned strike on Iran, with WTI down about 5% and Brent near 5% lower. He said the move followed requests from Tehran and regional allies for a pause while a deal shaping the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program is negotiated.

Oil prices fell on Monday after President Donald Trump announced he had cancelled a planned strike on Iran. WTI futures dropped roughly 5% to $80.34 a barrel, while Brent slipped about 4.7% to $83.77 a barrel.

Trump said early Sunday he called off the strike after Iran and several Middle Eastern nations asked him to hold off, noting that the outlines of a deal had been agreed upon. He added that the prospective accord would entail the immediate, full opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to his Truth Social post.

The president had been considering another round of strikes as diplomatic hopes waned since the conflict began on February 28. He said the U.S. and Iran would meet for talks on Monday, but Iran denied any scheduled negotiations with Washington, citing PressTV. Iran’s foreign‑ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei clarified that Tehran was only discussing shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz with Oman. In a follow‑up Truth Social message, Trump insisted that, regardless of Iran’s acknowledgment, the United States is indeed discussing a solution to a long‑standing problem created by Iran.

Technologies

Oil Prices Drop as Trump Cancels Planned Attack on Iran

Oil prices fell sharply after President Trump announced the cancellation of a planned strike on Iran, citing a new deal that would open the Hormuz Strait and end Iran’s nuclear threat.

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday after President Donald Trump announced that he had called off a planned strike on Iran.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, slipped roughly 5% to close at $80.34 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, declined 4.7% to settle at $83.77 a barrel.

Trump made the announcement early Sunday, saying he had canceled the strike following requests from Tehran and other Middle Eastern countries.

In a Truth Social post, he wrote: “We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

The president indicated that the proposed agreement would include the immediate, complete, and total opening of the Hormuz Strait, as well as an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.

Trump had been weighing additional strikes amid diminishing prospects for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict that began on Feb. 28. He stated that the U.S. and Iran would hold negotiations on Monday.

Tehran denied that talks were planned with Washington, according to state news outlet PressTV.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was only holding talks with Oman regarding the routes ships can use through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a subsequent Truth Social post, Trump added that whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused for decades.”