How to Take Better Smartphone Photos This Thanksgiving

Gone are the days of carrying a point-and-shoot camera. As it turns out, the best camera most of us have is on our smartphone.

Whether you're snapping family photos or drool-worthy shots of your feast, here are seven quick tips to up your photo game this Thanksgiving.

Hold your phone sideways to better fill up the frame and capture more in the background, too. Your photos will also look better if you download them to your computer because there will be no black space on the sides.

Zoom may seem like an easy photo cheat, but the result can be blurry. Forgo zoom and instead get closer to your subjects. You'll capture more detail and have crisper images.

Unless you're outside at night, it's probably best to turn off your flash. Instead, make use of natural light filtering through windows if you’re inside, or enjoying Thanksgiving outdoors.

Natural lighting is always best, whether its through a window or being outdoors. When shooting outside, its best if you shoot with the sun behind you and shining on the object of your photo.

A smudged camera lens can ruin your photos. Make sure it's wiped clean.

Variety is the spice of life, right? Having more photos will help you find one where everyone looks their best. (Or at least leave you with some hilarious outtakes you can keep as memories.)

There are a slew of photo-editing apps out there, but perhaps the one everyone knows best is Instagram. The photo sharing tool is a great way to fix a photo fail or add any artistic touches. Other great photo editing apps include Pixlr Express, Adobe Photoshop Touch and Aviary.