Photographer's thread

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by spike021

I admit I only took this with my iPhone, but it's one of my favorite photos:

Phone camera is better than no camera and for many (most?) applications is more than enough.

This pic was taken in 2010, somewhere in India. (The wife would know which city it is, it's somewhere in Rajasthan.) The wife and I were both using a Panny TZ10. 12mp!!! Woooo! There were many discarded photos but I really like some of my pics. I have one A4 print taken with this camera.



Picture > hardware
But you already knew this.

[Capt Spaulding]

Rain over the south Texas brush country.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by spike021

I admit I only took this with my iPhone, but it's one of my favorite photos:




I've taken a handful of photos of Haru early in the morning at what is basically golden hour and they always come out majestic-looking like this where the sunlight just illuminates the edge of his coat.

cc @Atmo

seek advice, do you.

[Atmo]

Originally Posted by spike021

I admit I only took this with my iPhone, but it's one of my favorite photos:

I've taken a handful of photos of Haru early in the morning at what is basically golden hour and they always come out majestic-looking like this where the sunlight just illuminates the edge of his coat.

cc @Atmo

Nailed it. Light, DOF, subject pose (so elegant), low angle, and on National Dog Day no less. Perfect.

Nothing to apologize for using a camera phone. I do the same for web shots. That's the reason Costco no longer sells DSLR's. I only lug my gear along when I'm shooting for detailed crops or enlargements.

[spike021]

I think you guys misunderstood what I said a bit :P.

I wasn't admitting to it as in, it's the best I can do with what I have. Just that it was a surprisingly nice shot by a phone.

For instance, with my usual mirrorless A6000 I snapped this shot back in Kyoto, Japan in 2019:



I was just bummed at the time because I sort of was able to ask this guy while he was at a red light if I could snap him and his shiba, and he gave me the OK. At first he was grinning but none of those frames worked out because with my usual hand tremors + nerves, I couldn't get any without motion blur. This was like the final frame I got, but of course by then he was no longer smiling. But I kinda like it anyway because the expression (to me) provides more gravitas; a man and his best friend out on the city by bike.

Originally Posted by Atmo

Nailed it. Light, DOF, subject pose (so elegant), low angle, and on National Dog Day no less. Perfect.

Nothing to apologize for using a camera phone. I do the same for web shots. That's the reason Costco no longer sells DSLR's. I only lug my gear along when I'm shooting for detailed crops or enlargements.

Originally Posted by soundman98

seek advice, do you.

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

Phone camera is better than no camera and for many (most?) applications is more than enough.

This pic was taken in 2010, somewhere in India. (The wife would know which city it is, it's somewhere in Rajasthan.) The wife and I were both using a Panny TZ10. 12mp!!! Woooo! There were many discarded photos but I really like some of my pics. I have one A4 print taken with this camera.

Picture > hardware
But you already knew this.

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by spike021

For instance, with my usual mirrorless A6000 I snapped this shot back in Kyoto, Japan in 2019:

You have reminded me of my dogs in Japan pic. It's not sharp but it was a moving subject so I was under pressure. Flea Market, Yoyogi Park, Feb 2011, Panny TZ10 (again).

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by spike021

It was a surprisingly nice shot.

Ftfy.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by spike021

I admit I only took this with my iPhone, but it's one of my favorite photos

i wouldn't even bother 'admitting' to anything. as long as the quality is good, use it.

i haven't touched my dslr in at least 5 years. the phone camera's plenty good for all but the pickiest of shots.

the one advantage to a dslr anymore is if you're walking around with it, everyone just assumes your a professional photographer. the last auto show i went to, i was asked a few times if i missed the press day or something while carrying it around...

[The Red One]

Originally Posted by soundman98

i haven't touched my dslr in at least 5 years. the phone camera's plenty good for all but the pickiest of shots.

the one advantage to a dslr anymore is if you're walking around with it, everyone just assumes your a professional photographer.

Im with you here, My Phone can take nice quick picts but cannot take shitty pictures such as this one.





No one ever questions your shot with the phone.

You get PROfiled pretty quikly as a Pro when you have anything other than a phone.

I meet bouncers and security as soon as I enter Public concerts, dealing with drunk concert goers jumping in front to block my shots. Been harassed , interrogated and detained for 20 minutes by 6 city police one time during a midday Halloween event as some parent had pointed to a suspicious old guy taking pictures around kids. Cops could only pull adult costume shots from my camera and quizzed me why I was there? I had to leave the area with two cops shadowing me out of the event, quite the embarrassment and realization your rights don’t matter to Karen. Yet many around me were taking photos of the event with their Phones unmolested.

Taking a trip in a plane is always comical as they investigate the suspicious apparatus.

Also, Always wear a good size hat when taking BIG bird pictures!

[Capt Spaulding]

My iphone does a surprisingly good job with what might be tricky exposures on the dslrs. The hdr get very close to what my eye saw for snap shooting.

To get this exposure with one of the beasts would have required playing with the raw file in post.



But, as @The Red One noted, it'd be tough to get a phone camera to do something like this.

[Atmo]

Originally Posted by soundman98

i haven't touched my dslr in at least 5 years. the phone camera's plenty good for all but the pickiest of shots.

I was considering going mirrorless but am so heavily invested in the flappy mirror gear that it would be cost prohibitive to make the change and have to carry 10 spare batteries to a remote location due to MILC quick drain.

I'm old school and still make prints at home with a lab quality printer. I haven't seen phone cameras that produce images that can be cropped and enlarged for wall hanging without making a mess, even shooting RAW with edits.

A newer generation phone is great for 90% of shots viewed on a computer though. I've done side-by-side comparisons between my phone cam and APS-C DSLR and have fooled most people trying to guess which exposure came from what when viewed on a monitor.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Atmo

I was considering going mirrorless but am so heavily invested in the flappy mirror gear that it would be cost prohibitive to make the change and have to carry 10 spare batteries to a remote location due to MILC quick drain.

I'm old school and still make prints at home with a lab quality printer. I haven't seen phone cameras that produce images that can be cropped and enlarged for wall hanging without making a mess, even shooting RAW with edits.

A newer generation phone is great for 90% of shots viewed on a computer though. I've done side-by-side comparisons between my phone cam and APS-C DSLR and have fooled most people trying to guess which exposure came from what when viewed on a monitor.

yeah, enlarged wall hanging prints, i wouldn't ever use a phone camera for.

[The Red One]

Originally Posted by Atmo

I was considering going mirrorless but am so heavily invested in the flappy mirror gear that it would be cost prohibitive to make the change



A newer generation phone is great for 90% of shots viewed on a computer though.

The marketing for new stuff is a strong motivator for parting with your cash.
If your present stuff is not blocking your creativity & artistic endeavours
and not dependent on your livelihood why change.

Ill let future events determine when I will change systems, either being Unfixable or due to theft.
I keep stalling the format change as when I consider what I would get for my dslr kit
investment vs get the same native mount lenses in Mirror less the price tag would be staggering

More importantly I still get wowed looking at the output im getting with my old stuff.

I make it a point to get out shooting at least once a week. Got to keep those hunting skill fresh.

Cameras now days transfer picts to Phones, When I show my pictures from the phone to people
I always like to add “look what my phone took today”. Just to play with them…


(early overcast morning 500mm 1/4000 F6.3 pre-focused on the sound bouncing from the tunnel at Mt Tremblant 2017)


I sometimes pull out the phone for to get pictures my other cameras im carrying are not set up for lens wise,
that always impresses the onlookers..

[Atmo]

Originally Posted by The Red One

I make it a point to get out shooting at least once a week. Got to keep those hunting skill fresh.

Key takeaway. So many enthusiasts like me get bogged down reading all the how-to articles that we miss the opportunities in front of us every day. Well, that and getting up at 3-4:00AM to get to location for golden hour.

Phenomenal photo of #34.