Busted basketball brackets notwithstanding, it’s an absolutely beautiful time of year. In the South, the azaleas are a riot of pinks and reds. In the West, wildflower superblooms cover meadows for miles. And in the Midwest, well, there’s still snow, but all of these landscapes are photo-ready. Are you?

While you may feel nostalgic about a good old-fashioned SLR camera, the camera you hold in your hand as you text and surf is powerful, comes with its own editing features, and stores way more photos than a roll of film ever could. Here are a few tips to use your smartphone to capture people, places, and things like a pro:

• Take exposure and focus into your own hands. Tap the screen to activate manual focus and brighten and darken to get the effect you want.
• Embrace HDR. If your phone has the High Dynamic Range feature, turn it on, and see the details from shadows and over-exposed parts of your photo really pop.
• Try burst mode. Instead of snapping one shot, burst mode takes multiple pictures. This way, photos with awkward movements (like eyes closing or photobombing) can be discarded while perfect shots can be saved. Just don’t forget to delete the throwaways or they will eat up your storage.
• Cut, color, repeat. Don’t accept every shot as “final.” Use your phone’s built-in editing features (or download a killer app like Snapseed or VSCO) to cut what you hate, add filters, adjust color and focus, and even let AI do some work (if you download Adobe Photoshop Express).
• Upgrade your storage. With all these stellar pics, you’re going to need more storage. Consider upgrading to cloud storage or invest in an external backup.

Most importantly, have fun. Enjoy every moment—AND capture them beautifully.

For some downloadable cheat sheets to help you pose your subjects and get the most from magical moments like sunsets and sunrises, visit: Pro Tips