Its so often said that the best camera is the one you have in your pocket. I learned this some time ago after laboriously packing several bags full of kit to take on a short family holiday, much to the annoyance of said family. Although it might seem ideal to have a good camera, a favourite lens, tripod, flash, lens hood, the full works - but in reality, practicality and most often, speed are much more important.
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| Watering Hole |
As much as I love the idea of 'street photography', I really haven't got the brass cohones to point any kind of camera at a stranger, or indeed to pointedly photograph a situation in public. Add to this, my preference for manual analogue lenses, so that capturing the elusive 'decisive moment' comes down to how fast I can manhandle a fifty year old lens into focus, handheld, on a busy street. For me, its never going to work. The principle and ideal are great in theory, but really difficult to apply in practice.
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| Cubism |
So my analogue lenses really only come into play with static shots such as landscapes or studio shots and I rely on my phone for anything out and about.
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| Spiritual |
But there are instances when things cross over - the suite of apps on the iphone are also extremely useful for studio work, such as model and toy photography and if I swap out the analogue lens for one of the digital lenses, especially the pancake or prime, I can take advantage of the larger format of the camera, together with the speed.
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| Alfresco |
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| Last Post |
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| One Careful Owner |
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| Sleazyjet |
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| Supervillain |
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| Off Road |
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| Naughty Corner |
Where mobile phone photography really comes into its own is with the unbidden, spur of the moment shot, that I see and without having to wrestle a large camera into position, can take the shot easily.
The other great benefit is that the app suite contains a great many editing and processing programmes, so that unlike camera work, I don't have to wait till I can put the SD card into a pc to post process them.
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| Secret Gardener |
Many apps such as Hipstamatic, give the option to pre-select a particular style, or shoot exclusively in black and white with apps such as Argentum or Blackie. Hipstamatic also has the option to shoot in RAW format and save a separate unprocessed version of the shot at the same time, so that if the effect shot isn't suitable, the straight shot can be used instead.
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| Boxed Off |
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| Doesn't Make A Summer |
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| You can see our house from here |
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| Calvary |
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| Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too |
