FALLING SOMEWHERE AS RAIN

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. 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. Cubism So my analogue lenses real...

Threadbare Until fairly recently, almost all my casual photography would appear on Instagram, a site which historically, was designed as a photo sharing device. However, as the social media market changed and moved into video, so the site moved its focus towards the more sensationalist and narcissistic side of the user base and concentrated on video clips and featured content. The attraction for me had always been the discrete size and format of the image - generally a neat square of 1x 1 and most camera apps for the mobile phone were directed at this format. The option to add a frame in imitation of a Polaroid print or a Kodakchrome slide added to the illusion of an analogue product and I quite enjoyed the idea of creating images, which I felt, could function equally well as a small print. Keys to the Kingdom Dry Season Using  the phone and various apps, it was a simple process to take a shot, adjust it or edit it on the phone and have it online in a matter of seconds. Historicall...