Given that camera phones are limited, people still want to get the most out of them. Here are some tips that I've gathered from long experience taking many successful, and many more unsuccessful, camera phone photos.

• Use the handset's highest quality setting. Some camera phones let you choose a lower resolution mode that results in photos with fewer pixels. The advantages are that these smaller images take up less space in the handset's memory and are faster to send over the network. But the picture quality really suffers, so you should avoid using the low resolution setting.

• Move in close. When you are using your 8 megapixel stand-alone camera, you always have the option of later cropping the image to zero in on the subject while still maintaining excellent image quality. This option just isn't there with a camera phone -- there are no pixels to spare for cropping!

You'll have to "crop" in the camera by moving in close to focus on the subject and exclude extraneous distractions. Given that camera phones all have fixed wide-angle lenses, this often means "really close!"

• Avoid backlighting. A backlit subject can be challenging for any photographer but there are tools and techniques, such as spot-metering and fill-flash, that you can use to prevent your subject from being under exposed.

Camera phone users don't have these techniques at their disposal, so unless you are intentionally seeking a silhouette effect it is best to avoid backlighting when possible. You may think you can use software to adjust the photo later, but this too is a limited option.

The fact is, the sensors used in most camera phones are not of the highest quality and do a pretty poor job of capturing shadow detail. There's no harm in trying but don't expect great results.

• Avoid dim light. With small aperture lenses and low-sensitivity sensors, camera phones are not well suited for low light photography. Sometimes you have to deal with whatever illumination is available, and you'll have to make the best of it. But for best results, stay away from low light situations when you can. You can experiment with your handset to see what its capabilities are in low light situations.

• Hold the camera steady. I know this is good advice for photography with any kind of camera, but it is particularly relevant to camera phones. Their small aperture lenses and low sensitivity sensors mean that exposure time is often longer than you might expect, with the attendant possibility of motion blur.

Blur in a photo is almost sure to be due to camera movement. Focus won't be the culprit because of the fixed focus lenses and large depth of field in camera phones.

From a technical perspective, camera phones are almost a bad joke compared with today's stand-alone digital cameras. Their wireless capability and the fact that you almost always have it with you are the driving forces behind their popularity. You shouldn't let their technical limitations get in the way of creative fun.

Peter Aitken has been writing about technology for over 15 years. He has 40+ books to his credit including Digital Camera Design Guide, XML the Microsoft Way, and Excel Programming Weekend Crash Course. He is proprietor of PGA Consulting, providing application development, web design, and technical writing services. http://www.pgacon.com/pga_consulting.htm.