Embodiments of the present invention disclose a photographing method. The method includes: detecting a first operation performed on the mobile terminal; determining whether the first operation meets a first preset condition; supplying electrical power to hardware components of the mobile terminal that are involved in performing the photographing operation when the first operation meets the first preset condition, and pre-allocating an application resource for the photographing operation; detecting a second operation performed on the mobile terminal; determining whether the second operation meets a second preset condition; and performing the photographing operation when the second operation meets the second preset condition.