Anyone who loves smartphone photography knows that the flash isn’t one of the better features of most camera phones. I’m always looking for better ways to take flash photography, and here’s one trick, for both iPhone and Android, that’s promising.

While there are some photography apps like Camera Plus that do a better job than others with ambient light, I’m really happy to learn about the Pocket Spotlight. Especially because it’s not just for iPhones.

Click over to the photos on the Photojojo site, and you’ll not only see how much better the Pocket Spotlight portable light source makes portraits, but also those food photos, when holding a votive candle near the frame just won’t cut it. (Been there, failed that.) You just charge the light by USB, then mount it to your phone’s headphone jack at the top of the phone, and you’ve got a continuous light source you can aim just where you want it.

Pocket Spotlight phone camera flash | Cool Mom Tech

Pocket Spotlight flash for portraits | Cool Mom Tech

Pocket Spotlight flash photo comparison | Cool Mom Tech

In fact, you can even mount the Pocket Spotlight to a DSLR should you want to use it that way, or hold it in your hand separate from the camera for backlighting, side lighting–it would be pretty fun to play around with it and see what you can do.

For an extra 10 bucks you can also get a colored filter set, should you want to play with blues and reds and yellows. Or hey, even greens. I hear these retro filters are kind of the in thing these days. –Liz

Take better cell phone photos with the the Pocket Spotlight portable camera flash online at Photojojo. It’s compatible with iPhone, iPad, Android, and iPod.