Twelve countries, one phone, and people keep asking what I shot with. The phone matters less than these habits.
- Clean the lens. Every time. Pocket grease is the number one cause of "why is it hazy".
- Tap to focus, then slide to darken. Phones expose for the average and blow out skies; pulling the exposure down a touch keeps the clouds.
- Turn on the grid, put the horizon on a line, and walk closer instead of zooming. Digital zoom throws away pixels; your feet do not.
- Shoot RAW (or the "Pro" mode) for anything you might print. Edit later in the free apps; a RAW file forgives mistakes a JPEG does not.
- Night mode needs stillness: lean on something, breathe out, hold for the full capture.
- Golden hour is not a cliché, it is physics. Bad light at noon is the reason most holiday photos look flat.
- Portrait mode for people, off for everything else. The fake blur eats hair and railings.
- Back up every evening. The photo you lose is always the one you liked.
Questions welcome; I would rather answer "how" than "which phone".