What’s hot in Mobile Photography

Above: Hide and Peek, Denise Kwong (@twistdee) 
 
As mobile phone cameras rise in pixel quality so do the number of photographers choosing to shoot from their communication devices. Since Instagram’s launch in October, 2010 150 million active users have logged in to share 16 billion photos, to say the least mobile photography is sweeping the world. Photography is no longer solely for artists but for the everyday person to convey their visual way of life. As with anything that is viewed by a mass audience, certain trends come and go. Here are a few trends that we noticed in the 2015 year of mobile photography.  
Above: Skater Babes, Denise Kwong (@twistdee) 
 
Filters are here to stay. With a the selection of pre-set edits at the tap of a screen, millions of mobile photographers are guided to the colour pallet of their choice, without the hassle of photoshop. Light leaks and over-exposure seem to be trending world wide in mobile photography editing, bringing images back to the warm yellow, orange and pink tones of the past. Photos that are less saturated in colour and brighter in light tend to gain more Instagram likes, according to a study conducted by Georgia Institute of Technology and Yahoo Labs. Check out these photos by popular Instagrammer and 2015 Head On Landscape Prize Finalist, Denise Kwong.   
 
Above: Daniella Zalcman (@dzalcman)
 
Double exposures are no longer a product of film photography. The art of compositing multiple images can be done from a number of apps and loaded straight to an Instagram feed near you. Creativity in compositing is now boundless for mobile photographers, here are some of our 2015 award winning mobile submissions that utilise this technique. 
 
Above: Melissa Novarini (@melissa_novarini)
 
When it comes to viewing an Instagram or Tumblr feed, less is more. Just as one image can tell a thousand words, a collection of minimalist photos blend together representing the space between the lines. 2015 Head On Mobile Prize Finalist, Mark Cushway (@Mark_pc) , has the negative space style down to a tee. “By removing the noise around a subject I’m able to give that moment room to breathe,” said Cushway. 
 
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Image detail: Gary Ramage