30-Day Photography Challenge: Get Your Samsung Galaxy Off Auto
A free 30 day photography challenge for Samsung Galaxy phones that takes one camera decision off Auto each day, with starting settings and a printable PDF.
Most Galaxy owners stick to the Photo mode for everything. Auto mode does a decent job but there are still instances when it gets things wrong. So here’s a photography challenge to get you to step it up a notch.
Every day the challenge will take away one decision from the camera and hand it over to you, starting with choosing what the phone focuses on and ending with taking the same pictures you took on the first day but in full manual mode.
So next time the sky looks too white or your kitchen too orange, take a picture again using this 30 day photography challenge. You can mark days you’ve completed here (progress is saved in your browser) or print out the PDF and cross days off with a pen.
How the challenge works
Shoots take around 20 minutes each (a handful of evening shoots take closer to 40). You’ll learn how to control Auto mode (tap-to-focus, exposure slider, etc.) in Photo mode during week 1, ISO and shutter speed in Pro mode during week 2, white balance and manual focus (and shoot your first RAW photos!) during week 3, and apply everything you’ve learned while shooting different subjects during the last nine days.
You’ll need a Galaxy phone with a Pro mode to follow along, which is found on all current Galaxy S and Z phones as well as mid-range Galaxy A-series phones. If there’s a feature we use during a shoot that your phone doesn’t have (Expert RAW, telephoto lens, etc.), we’ll include some alternate tips.
| Days | What you take over | Time per day | Hardware that matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 7, Steer Auto | Focus point, the exposure slider, AE/AF lock, lens choice, Scene optimizer and burst | 10 to 20 minutes | Any Galaxy. Day 5 has a workaround for phones without a telephoto |
| 8 to 14, Pro mode and light | ISO, shutter speed, your handheld limit, slow water, light trails and Night mode | 20 to 30 minutes | Pro mode with a shutter control, and something solid to rest the phone on for days 12 and 13 |
| 15 to 21, Color, focus and RAW | White balance in Kelvin, manual focus, metering and your first RAW files | 15 to 30 minutes | Expert RAW or Pro mode RAW for days 19 and 20, with a JPEG route for phones without RAW |
| 22 to 30, Shoot it all by hand | Street, portrait, food, blue hour, the moon and panning, then an edited set and the day 1 reshoot | 20 to 40 minutes | A telephoto helps on days 23 and 27, and Lightroom Mobile is used on day 29 |
- Before heading out to take photos for the day, review the tips and settings recommendations. It’ll only take a few minutes and will save you from making a wasted trip out at dusk!
- Save all of your photos along the way. On day 30, you’ll see the difference between your first few photos and your last few!
- Feel free to do two days’ worth in one sitting. Life happens, and there’s no rule against it! The only thing that matters is that you do them in order.
- Each day, favorite your favorite photo in the Gallery app. By the end, you’ll be able to pick your overall favorites much faster!
What to sort out before day 1
If you tap More in the camera app you should see a Pro tile (tap it once to check which options are available, as some of the older A-series Pro modes don’t include shutter speed, in which case follow the suggestions in the week 2 tips). According to Samsung’s Pro mode explainer article, when shutter speed is set manually, ISO sensitivity won’t be set to Auto; you should be prepared to set both. There are 12 quick wins you may want to do before you get started. Each will only take a minute.
If your phone is compatible with Expert RAW (check Samsung’s support page for a list by phone series, and currently it lists phones in the S20-S26 series and phones in the Z Flip/Fold series), download it from the Galaxy Store ahead of week 3. As well as a JPEG image, Expert RAW will save a 16-bit linear RAW image in DNG format. The Expert RAW guide presents a list of the models supported. RAW files are much larger than JPEGs, so you may want to free up some storage space ahead of day 19.
You don’t need a tripod, but a small one could come in handy on days 12, 13 and 25 when shutter speeds of between a quarter of a second and four seconds will be suggested. A wall or a bag of rice does the job, and our tripod guide covers what to look for if you'd rather carry one.
The 30 days, with starting settings
The exact starting settings? What does good look like? What’s the most common mistake? What to do if your phone doesn’t have the feature? You’ll find all of this and more under Settings and tips, along with a link to the tutorial for a more in-depth look at the skill being practised that day.
Your progress
0 of 30 days done
Day 1 of 30 · Shoot your Auto baseline
Ticks are saved in this browser only. No account needed.
Days 1–70/7 done
Week 1. Steer Auto
Stay in Photo mode and take over the choices the phone usually makes for you.
Choose eight scenes you can come back to on day 30, including at least one dim room and one moving subject, and shoot each once in Auto.
about 20 min
Settings and tips for day 1
- Start with
- Photo mode, 1x, everything at default, no filters or edits
- Looks right when
- Eight untouched frames in a Gallery album called Day 1, each taken from a spot you can stand in again.
- Common mistake
- Only picking bright, easy scenes. Auto handles those well, so day 30 would have nothing to show you.
Tutorial: Samsung Galaxy Photography Guide: Lenses, Modes and Editing
Switch on grid lines and set a volume key as the shutter. Then check which resolution you're shooting at, because it matters at night.
about 10 min
Settings and tips for day 2
- Start with
- Camera settings → General → Grid lines; Shooting methods → Press Volume buttons to → Take picture
- Looks right when
- A 3×3 grid in the viewfinder, a volume key that takes pictures, and the default 12MP mode selected for everyday shooting.
- Common mistake
- Keeping 50MP or 200MP on indoors. Those modes give up pixel binning, so dim rooms come out noisier than they would at 12MP.
Tutorial: Best Samsung Camera Settings for Better Photos (2026)
Find a bright window or sky behind a darker subject. Tap the subject, then drag the exposure slider down until the bright part keeps its detail.
about 15 min
Settings and tips for day 3
- Start with
- Photo mode, tap the subject, exposure slider −0.5 to −1.0
- Looks right when
- The window or sky shows color and texture, and the subject is darker but still easy to read.
- Common mistake
- Tapping the window itself. The phone darkens the whole frame to suit it and your subject becomes a silhouette you didn't plan.
Tap and hold your subject until AE/AF lock appears, then move the phone so the subject sits on a grid line. Shoot the same framing without the lock as well.
about 15 min
Settings and tips for day 4
- Start with
- Photo mode, tap and hold until AE/AF lock shows, recompose, shoot
- Looks right when
- Two frames where only the locked one keeps the brightness and focus you set before moving the phone.
- Common mistake
- Stepping closer after locking. Focus stays at the old distance, so the subject goes soft.
Tutorial: Samsung AE/AF Lock: How to Lock Focus and Exposure
Shoot a subject with a distant background at each of your lenses, walking backward as you zoom in so the subject stays the same size.
about 20 min
Settings and tips for day 5
- Start with
- Photo mode; tap 0.6x, 1x and each telephoto button, and don't pinch between them
- Looks right when
- A set where the subject stays the same size while the background grows larger with each longer lens.
- Common mistake
- Zooming from one spot. That's only a crop, and it won't show you how focal length changes a background.
- If your phone can't
- No telephoto (most A-series phones and the Z Flip)? Compare the ultrawide from close up with 1x from further back.
Tutorial: Samsung Telephoto Lenses: 3x, 5x and 10x on Every Galaxy
Shoot food, a plant and some blue sky with Scene optimizer on, then switch it off and repeat. Compare the pairs side by side.
about 15 min
Settings and tips for day 6
- Start with
- Camera settings → Intelligent features → Scene optimizer, on, then off
- Looks right when
- You can point to what it changes on your phone, usually saturation and brightness, and you've decided when you want it.
- Common mistake
- Deciding from a single pair. It treats each kind of scene differently, so compare all of them before you choose.
Tutorial: Samsung AI Camera: Every Galaxy AI Photo Feature Explained (2026)
Set the shutter swipe to burst and photograph something that moves unpredictably, like a dog, a ball or splashing water.
about 15 min
Settings and tips for day 7
- Start with
- Camera settings → Swipe Shutter button to → Take burst shot; drag the shutter down and hold
- Looks right when
- One frame where the moment is clearly better than the rest of the burst, with the others deleted the same day.
- Common mistake
- Bursting at things that hold still. Save it for moments whose timing you can't control.
Tutorial: Samsung Burst Mode: How to Capture Fast Action with Galaxy Phones
Days 8–140/7 done
Week 2. Pro mode and light
Set ISO and shutter speed yourself and learn what each one costs you.
Open Pro mode, set ISO to the lowest number and leave the shutter on Auto. Shoot three daylight scenes and write down the shutter speed each one gets.
about 20 min
Settings and tips for day 8
- Start with
- More → Pro, ISO 50 (or your lowest), shutter Auto, WB Auto, 1x
- Looks right when
- Three shutter speeds in your notes, which show how much light you have on a sunny day compared with a cloudy one.
- Common mistake
- Leaving ISO on Auto as well. Pro mode then behaves much like Photo mode and the lesson disappears.
- If your phone can't
- Some older A-series Pro modes have no shutter control. Set ISO, watch the preview, and follow the ISO parts of this week.
Tutorial: Samsung Pro Mode Guide: Manual Camera Control Explained
In a dim room, shoot one still scene at ISO 50, 400 and 3200, changing the shutter each time so the brightness stays the same.
about 20 min
Settings and tips for day 9
- Start with
- Pro mode, ISO 50, 400, then 3200, shutter adjusted until the preview matches, phone braced
- Looks right when
- Three frames of equal brightness where, zoomed to 100%, you can see the ISO at which grain starts to bother you.
- Common mistake
- Comparing at screen size. Noise only shows when you zoom into a dark, flat area such as a wall.
- If your phone can't
- Without shutter control the phone picks the speed for you. Change only the ISO and compare the grain.
Tutorial: The Exposure Triangle: Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO Explained
Outdoors, photograph something fast, such as a cyclist, a fountain or a kid on a swing, at 1/1000s.
about 25 min
Settings and tips for day 10
- Start with
- Pro mode, 1/1000s, ISO 100–400 (raise it until the preview looks right)
- Looks right when
- A frame where something that was moving is completely sharp, down to individual drops or spokes.
- Common mistake
- Waiting for ISO to adjust itself. Samsung's Pro mode won't keep ISO on Auto once you set the shutter by hand, so raise it yourself.
Tutorial: Samsung Sports Photography: Settings and Common Fixes
Holding the phone normally, shoot a still, detailed subject at 1/60s, 1/15s, 1/4s and 1/2s. Zoom into each to see where blur starts.
about 20 min
Settings and tips for day 11
- Start with
- Pro mode, 1x, ISO 50, shutter 1/60s → 1/15s → 1/4s → 1/2s, elbows tucked in
- Looks right when
- The slowest speed you can hold sharp on the 1x lens, written down for the night days later on.
- Common mistake
- Applying the 1x result to the telephoto. Longer lenses magnify shake and need faster speeds.
Tutorial: How to Make Samsung Photos Sharper: Settings and Technique
At dusk, rest the phone on a wall or railing and shoot moving water at 1/4s and at 1s.
about 25 min
Settings and tips for day 12
- Start with
- Pro mode, ISO 50, 1/4s then 1s, 2s timer, phone on a solid surface
- Looks right when
- Water with a smooth, misty texture while the rocks and edges around it stay sharp.
- Common mistake
- Saving this for a bright afternoon. With no adjustable aperture and no ND filter, slow shutters in daylight give you a white frame.
- If your phone can't
- On S23 and newer flagships, Expert RAW's digital ND filter makes this possible in daylight too.
Tutorial: Samsung Shutter Speed: Freeze Action, Shoot Light Trails
After dark, find a road you can shoot from safely and record passing cars at 2 seconds, then 4 seconds.
about 30 min
Settings and tips for day 13
- Start with
- Pro mode, ISO 50, 2s then 4s, focus on a streetlight, 2s timer, phone braced
- Looks right when
- Unbroken streaks of headlights and taillights, with streetlights that still show some shape.
- Common mistake
- Copying DSLR advice of 10–30 seconds. At ISO 50 with a lens as bright as a phone's, a lit street needs far less time.
- If your phone can't
- If your Pro mode won't go past 1 second, use the longest speed it has and find a darker road.
Tutorial: Samsung Shutter Speed: Freeze Action, Shoot Light Trails
Shoot one dim street scene twice, first in Night mode handheld, then in Pro mode with the phone braced at ISO 400 and 1/4s.
about 30 min
Settings and tips for day 14
- Start with
- Night mode (S26: moon icon in Photo mode, set to Max), then Pro mode, ISO 400, 1/4s, braced
- Looks right when
- You can say which version handled the lights better and which handled the shadows, and when you'd pick each.
- Common mistake
- Moving during the Night mode capture. Hold still until the countdown on screen finishes.
Days 15–210/7 done
Week 3. Color, focus and RAW
Choose your own white balance and focus point, then start shooting RAW.
Put a sheet of white paper in a room lit by warm bulbs and change the kelvin value until the paper looks white on screen.
about 15 min
Settings and tips for day 15
- Start with
- Pro mode, WB starting at 4000K and dropping 200–300K at a time until the paper looks neutral
- Looks right when
- A kelvin number for the lights in your home, often between 2700K and 3500K, that you can reuse every evening.
- Common mistake
- Doing this with daylight also coming in. No single number neutralizes both kinds of light at once.
Tutorial: Samsung White Balance: How to Get Accurate Colors Every Time
In the hour before sunset, shoot the same scene with white balance on Auto and with it fixed at 5500K.
about 30 min
Settings and tips for day 16
- Start with
- Pro mode, ISO 50, shutter Auto, WB Auto, then 5500K
- Looks right when
- The 5500K frame keeps the gold light that Auto partly corrects away.
- Common mistake
- Going to 8000K or higher for extra warmth. Skin turns orange, so stay near daylight and warm it slightly in the edit.
Tutorial: Samsung Sunset Photography: Settings for Bright Skies
Shoot a flower or a small object close up with manual focus, and put the sharpest point exactly where you want it.
about 20 min
Settings and tips for day 17
- Start with
- Pro mode, MF, drag the focus slider until the green focus peaking outlines your chosen spot
- Looks right when
- A close-up where the sharp area sits on the part you picked, like the front petal, even though autofocus kept choosing something else.
- Common mistake
- Leaning in after focusing. At close range a centimeter of movement is enough to lose it.
- If your phone can't
- No manual focus in your Pro mode? Use tap-and-hold AE/AF lock on the exact spot instead.
Tutorial: Samsung Flower Photography: Settings, Lenses and Light
Find a lit subject against a dark background, like a lamp-lit face or a shop window at night, and compare the metering modes.
about 20 min
Settings and tips for day 18
- Start with
- Pro mode, ISO and shutter Auto; metering Center-weighted, Matrix, then Spot on the subject
- Looks right when
- The spot-metered frame gets the lit subject right, while the other modes brighten the dark background and burn out the subject.
- Common mistake
- Spot metering a white shirt or a black coat. The meter aims for mid-grey, so put the spot on skin, wood or something similar.
- If your phone can't
- If your Pro mode has no metering options, tap the subject in Photo mode and pull the exposure slider down.
Tutorial: Samsung Pro Mode Guide: Manual Camera Control Explained
Shoot a high-contrast scene, such as a bright sky over shaded buildings, as RAW and JPEG at the same time.
about 25 min
Settings and tips for day 19
- Start with
- Expert RAW (free in the Galaxy Store), or Pro mode with RAW copies on; ISO 50, exposure −0.7
- Looks right when
- A DNG and a JPEG of the same moment, both in your Gallery.
- Common mistake
- Deleting the DNG because it looks dull on the phone. RAW files look flat until you edit them.
- If your phone can't
- A-series phones can't save RAW. Shoot two JPEGs instead, one at 0 EV and one at −1 EV, and edit both tomorrow.
Open yesterday's DNG and JPEG in Lightroom Mobile and pull the highlights down and the shadows up by the same amount on each.
about 30 min
Settings and tips for day 20
- Start with
- Lightroom Mobile, Highlights −80 and Shadows +60 on both files
- Looks right when
- The DNG keeps clean sky color and shadow detail where the JPEG shows banding or grey patches.
- Common mistake
- Editing the two toward different looks. Use identical slider values, or you're comparing your edits.
- If your phone can't
- No RAW? Edit the 0 EV and −1 EV JPEGs the same way and see which one rescues the sky.
Tutorial: Samsung RAW vs JPEG: Which Format to Shoot and When
Use spot metering on the bright sky beside the sun so anything in front of it turns black, and pick a subject whose outline reads on its own.
about 20 min
Settings and tips for day 21
- Start with
- Pro mode, ISO 50, metering Spot on the sky, exposure −0.7
- Looks right when
- A black shape with an edge you'd recognize, like a profile or a bicycle, against a sky that holds its color.
- Common mistake
- Putting the spot right on the sun. The meter overreacts, so aim it at the sky just to one side.
Tutorial: Samsung Silhouette Photography: Settings and Steps
Days 22–300/9 done
Days 22–30. Shoot it all by hand
Manual settings on real subjects, ending with a reshoot of your day 1 scenes.
Set ISO, shutter and white balance once for the light outside, then take a 30-minute walk and change only ISO as the light changes.
about 40 min
Settings and tips for day 22
- Start with
- Pro mode, 1/500s, ISO 50–200, WB 5500K
- Looks right when
- Twenty frames with consistent color and brightness, even though you moved between sun and shade.
- Common mistake
- Forgetting to lower ISO when you step back into the sun. Glance at the preview every time the light changes.
Tutorial: Samsung Street Photography: Settings and Tips for Galaxy Phones
Seat someone side-on to a large window with the room lights off, and shoot a portrait with every setting chosen by you.
about 30 min
Settings and tips for day 23
- Start with
- Pro mode, 2x–3x, ISO 100–200, 1/125s, WB 5500K, tap to focus on the nearer eye
- Looks right when
- A portrait where soft light falls off across the face and skin looks its natural color.
- Common mistake
- Using 1/30s on a person. People sway slightly, so stay at 1/125s or faster and raise ISO instead.
- If your phone can't
- Without a telephoto, shoot at 1x from about 1.5 meters and crop a little, since moving closer stretches faces.
Tutorial: Samsung Portrait Mode: Sharp Subjects, Creamy Bokeh
Set up a plate or a few objects by a window and shoot them with fixed settings, changing only the shutter between frames.
about 25 min
Settings and tips for day 24
- Start with
- Pro mode, ISO 50, 1/30–1/125s, WB 5000–5500K, phone braced, 2x if you have it
- Looks right when
- A frame with clean whites, soft side light and nothing cluttering the background.
- Common mistake
- Leaving the kitchen lights on. Switch them off so the scene has only one color of light.
Tutorial: Samsung Food Photography: Light, Angles and Food Mode
Twenty minutes after sunset, set the phone on a wall or railing and shoot a lit street or skyline while the sky is still blue. Use what you learned on days 11 and 14.
about 40 min
Settings and tips for day 25
- Start with
- Pro mode, ISO 50–100, 1/2–2s, WB 4500–5500K, 2s timer
- Looks right when
- A deep blue sky over lit windows that still show detail, sharp from edge to edge.
- Common mistake
- Dropping the kelvin value to neutralize the streetlights. The sky turns an unnatural electric blue.
Tutorial: Samsung Landscape Photography: Which Lens, Which Settings
Indoors in the evening, photograph a moving child, pet or friend and choose a shutter speed fast enough to freeze them.
about 25 min
Settings and tips for day 26
- Start with
- Pro mode, 1/250s, ISO 800–3200
- Looks right when
- A sharp subject with some visible grain, which beats a clean picture that's blurred.
- Common mistake
- Dropping to 1/30s to keep ISO low. Anything moving smears at that speed.
Tutorial: Samsung Children Photography: Settings for Moving Kids
Photograph the moon in Pro mode on your longest lens with a fixed exposure instead of letting the phone guess.
about 20 min
Settings and tips for day 27
- Start with
- Pro mode, longest lens, ISO 50, 1/250–1/1000s, manual focus at infinity
- Looks right when
- Craters visible across the surface and a sharp edge against a black sky.
- Common mistake
- Letting automatic exposure meter the night sky. The moon then comes out as a plain white disc.
- If your phone can't
- Without a telephoto, include the moon small above a dusk skyline at 1x while the sky still holds some light.
Tutorial: Samsung Moon Photography: Real Moon Shots, No Faking
At dusk or under streetlights, follow a passing cyclist or car with the phone and press the shutter mid-swing, so the subject is sharp and the background streaks.
about 30 min
Settings and tips for day 28
- Start with
- Pro mode, 1/30s, ISO 50–100, swing from the hips and keep moving after the shot
- Looks right when
- About one frame in twenty with a sharp subject over a background of horizontal streaks.
- Common mistake
- Trying it in bright daylight. With a fixed aperture, 1/30s overexposes badly, so wait until the light drops.
Tutorial: Samsung Sports Photography: Settings and Common Fixes
Pick nine of your best challenge frames and edit them so they look like one set, starting from a single preset.
about 40 min
Settings and tips for day 29
- Start with
- Lightroom Mobile; edit one photo, ⋯ → Create Preset, apply it to the other eight, then adjust exposure per photo
- Looks right when
- Nine frames that sit together in a grid with matching color and contrast.
- Common mistake
- Building the preset from your hardest photo. Start from a well-exposed frame so the preset fits the rest.
Go back to the eight scenes from day 1 and shoot each one again with settings you chose. Put the pairs side by side.
about 40 min
Settings and tips for day 30
- Start with
- Pro mode, or Photo mode with your own focus and exposure; WB and ISO set by you
- Looks right when
- Eight before-and-after pairs, each with a note on which decision made the biggest difference.
- Common mistake
- Standing somewhere new. Match the old position so the comparison is about your settings.
Tutorial: Samsung Galaxy Photography Guide: Lenses, Modes and Editing
What to do when you miss a day
It’s ok if you don’t get through the 30 days in 30 days. That’s not what this is about. Life will get in the way, and that’s ok!
Just use the Jump to next day button and continue with the next day that you haven’t done yet. There’s no point in trying to cram it all in one day to get caught up. The challenge builds on itself day by day and week by week, so even if it takes you 45 days to do it, you’ll still get the same benefit out of it!
Reviewing the day 30 reshoot
On day 30 you can check if your efforts paid off! Open up the Day 1 album and the pictures you took on day 30 in Gallery. Try to compare the pictures side by side if you can. Look at the pictures full-size. First pay attention to the brightest area in the picture, as problems in this area are the most common Auto problem. Check if the skin tones and whites (walls, etc.) in the picture have a strange color cast. Zoom in on the main subject and check if it’s sharp. Compare the pictures you took and make a note about the differences.
Write down what you changed and if it helped or not. Some of the pictures will probably look the same. This is good information too, as it means Auto worked well in these situations. Next time you find yourself in a similar situation you’ll know what settings to try first! The Gallery app guide shows how to keep both albums together and backed up.
After day 30
In the 90-day Samsung photography challenge, you’ll spend two weeks on composition and light, 15 days working on genres, do an entire edit phase and graduate with a 12-image portfolio. If you’ve completed the steps of this month’s challenge, you can breeze through the first two phases of the 90-day challenge (they’re about getting comfortable with your camera app and learning manual controls, and overlap with the skills covered this month). If you want a single reference on manual controls, our Pro mode guide is what you want. Leave this one open. If you're deciding whether to keep learning for free or pay for lessons, our free vs paid course comparison lays out the options, and our review of Samsung Photography Academy lists what students praised and what they didn't.
Do I need a flagship Galaxy for this challenge?+
How long does each day take?+
How is this different from the 90-day challenge?+
Where is my progress saved?+
Can I do the challenge with an iPhone or Pixel?+
What comes after day 30?+
Keep reading
How to Turn Off the Shutter Sound on a Samsung Galaxy
Open Camera settings and switch off Shutter sound. No switch on your Galaxy (UK and EU phones)? Mute the System volume. Korean and Japanese ones can't.
Samsung Panorama Mode: How to Get Clean, Level Panoramas
How to use Panorama mode on a Galaxy phone, why panoramas warp or ghost and how to fix it, plus vertical panoramas, lens choice and viewing in Gallery.
Samsung White Balance: How to Get Accurate Colors Every Time
How to set white balance manually on a Samsung Galaxy, with Kelvin values for common light and fixes for orange indoor photos and blue shade.
Samsung Pro Mode Presets: Settings to Save by Situation
How to save and load Samsung Pro mode presets in Camera Assistant, with starting values for night streets, tripods, action, portraits and the moon.