Nelson, a fine art photographer and lecturer, grew up shooting on film. She still works with medium- and large-format film cameras, which can require as long as 30 minutes to prep, load, and shoot a single photo. But when it comes to capturing everyday life, Nelson is no film purist: “I shoot with my phone all the time. It’s such an awesome tool—everybody should use it,” she says. Contrary to popular opinion, she adds, “a camera phone can be a really good tool for being present and paying attention.” Here are Nelson’s top tips for taking better shots and being more mindful when using a smartphone.

Wait
“Don’t approach the scene with your camera out in front of you to try to find the picture. Be in the moment. Pay attention to your surroundings and to what the light is doing. Pay attention to who—or what—you’re looking at and what you’re finding beautiful. Then pull out the camera. If you walk into a scene with your phone in front of you, you’re going to take the same picture as everyone else. If you wait, you’ll use it in a more purposeful way and will be much more likely to take an interesting photo.”

Move
“Pay attention to where the light is coming from. Be mindful of the light source—play with that. You don’t always have to be straight in front of your subject to take the best picture. Be a little more dynamic with the scene. Pay attention to what’s around you—the No. 1 mistake people make is when they have trees or light posts growing out of a subject’s head. Moving around to make a person’s silhouette clear helps. If you’re doing a portrait, always take at least three different shots.”

Fill Shadows
“If you hold the phone low and take a picture facing up, your subject will be all chin. The most flattering angle is a little bit higher up or straight on. In bright sunlight, everyone gets shadows under their noses and chins. If you’re taking a selfie with more than one person, have someone use the flashlight on their phone. Hold it next to the phone that’s taking the selfie. That’s the one case when I would hold it a little lower to let light fill in the shadows on the face.”

Make it Glow
“A lot of people like backlighting. It gives that beautiful halo and light flare on a scene and makes your portrait really glow, but it’s hard to do. If your subject is almost completely dark with a blue sky behind it, there’s an easy fix: If your phone allows touch focus, use it. This will make your subject brighter and your background really bright and glowing. If you don’t have touch focus, fill most of the frame with your subject, and the camera will give you that beautiful glowing halo.”