• Ever been to a Yankees game and seen people pull out their cell phones expecting to get great-quality shots by using the zoom? Don't use it--it's a digital zoom. Digital zooms just make your shots look blocky and pixelated. (According to our cell phone analyst, Sascha Segan, there aren't currently any camera phones offered by US carriers with optical zooms. Verizon sold one a while ago, the Samsung A970, but it had problems. You can find some others through specialty importers.)

• Light your subjects well--I can't stress this enough. The quality of your phone's 1- or 2-megapixel camera can be improved tremendously by great lighting. Here's an example below: Compare the lit photo to the non-lit. The former obviously looks much better with less image noise. Even if your phone has ISO settings (which should be kept at the lowest possible setting), shooting in low or little light is not recommended. Leave the camera's exposure (or brightness) settings on the standard mode. Making the shot brighter without proper lighting just throws off the color balance of the entire shot. Also remember to keep your white balance on Auto and the metering exposure on Center-Weighted.

Notice the difference that lighting makes in the above photo vs. the one below. The one below clearly has more image noise and the finer details in the shot are not as visible as the one above.

• Explore your settings. While looking at a co-worker's three-year-old phone, I noticed that even it has multishot capabilities. (Most point-and-shoots call multishot the "burst" mode.) My phone (a 2-year-old Samsung T-619) can take 6, 9, and 15 shots in a row on medium and high-quality settings. This is great for being right up in the action and catching it at high speed.

• Use your camera's rule-of-third's framing system, if it has one. This helps you frame your shots better. While using this system, try to keep your subject right in the middle--the framing system will help you do so. That way when you're showing off a pic of your new puppy at work, people will know exactly where to look in the shot.

My phone, a two-year-old Samsung T-619, has a framing system in the camera settings.

• The slightest movement can make your pictures look grainy or blurry. So you need to hold your phone correctly, as optical image stabilization has not been implemented in phones yet. The phone may be very light-weight and your hands are probably steady, but you want to get the best quality possible. So flip your phone around and hold it the way you hold your point-and-shoot. Otherwise, try to hold your phone with two hands.

Notice how Jen DeLeo holds her phone like a point-and-shoot camera--for extra stability and to frame your shots well, this is the best way to take a photo with your cell phone's camera.

Holding your phone with two hands this way is also another great way to ensure you have a stabilized shot.

• Want something that looks really different? Try using your phone's color/effects settings, such as sepia, black and white, emboss, negative, or anything else it may have.

• Use the timer. One of the reasons a pro will use a timer is so that the camera won't move when they press the shutter button--therefore getting rid of excess camera shake. The same concept applies with phone cameras.

• Shoot in the highest resolution possible. On my 1.3-megapixel camera, it's SXGA (1,280 by 1,024). Also use the least compression possible: Choose Fine or Super Fine.

• As a rule of thumb, try to use your flash as little as possible. It washes out the beautiful natural colors in your shots--unless it's too weak to be of any use at all.

• Some new phones offer basic photo-editing options. In some cases, this can be handy--but in general, you're better off uploading the shots to your computer and editing them with an app such as Paint, Photoshop, Paint.Net, GIMP, or Microsoft Photo Editor.

• As a personal favor to me, please don't use the frames! A photo of you and your love with hearts around it is, well, tacky. The shot will look much more intimate just the way it is without any framing.

Any more suggestions? Please let us know in Comments!