Reading mode: Light Dark

My best photo we taken with an iPhone...

Go to last post
B

Bryan Campbell

Senior Member
Messages
1,013
Reaction score
15
Location
Springfield, IL, US
I've been using DSLR cameras for many years now... Started with the 20D, then 40D, and now I've been using the 5D Mark II since around it's release date. Love the 5D2 but with L glass it's hard to "always" taken with you which is why I've considered a Leica m8.2 or m9 with a 28mm, 35mm, or 50mm lens.

Anyway, I was with a friend of mine on Monday at the Missouri Botanical Gardens and it was a scorcher (it was unbelievably hot outside) I had no camera with me except for my iPhone 4's built in camera which is EXCELLENT for a smart phone camera, but not something I would rely heavily on. I could not have handled the 5D and lenses that day, I would have killed me (not literally) but it would have been very painful to say the least.

We where ended up near this maze garden and near the top of this overlook you could see the entire thing. I was about to take a photo when this young child suddenly started to dash through the maze. Not only was I lucky enough to photograph him, but while he was in mid air as well. If you look at the photo from a more abstract or artistic stand point it says things (to me) about the innocence of children/childhood, it also has a bit of a phallic symbolism to it perhaps implying that the maze is a child who can not wait to be an adult, or more precisely, the journey of moving from childhood to adult hood. I thought the shot resembles some of Henri Cartier-Bresson's work, who along with William Eggleston have been a huge influence on me. No processing at all, no ultra shallow dof, just a moment captured.

My point is: The best camera is the one that is WITH YOU.

 
First of all, what the heck does a phallic symbol have to do with coming of age?

Anyway, it was just pure luck that you hit him in mid-stride.

Besides that, if this is your so-called best shot then you just need to Craig's List all your gear right now and stick with your little everything gadget.

There have been real men who climbed and hiked through real wilderness to take pictures with extremely heavy tripods and large-format cameras that would make your Canan equipment appear to be as light as that iPod you love so much. If you can't handle a tiny bit of extra weight, then it's time to move on and forget that kind of hobby & try something else.

--

There are 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
 
Real men huh? You don't see William Eggleston and Henri Cartier-Bresson carrying 25 lbs of gear when they go shooting. They usually have 1 camera and 1 lens and look to capture a moment.

You are the kind of photographer who is probably impressed by sunsets and judge a photo strictly on image quality. No offense, but if you did not understand what I meant by coming of age you are not a real artist, maybe a photo journalist but not an artist.
 
The other thing is my DSLR gear serves a strictly different purpose. I wouldn't use an iPhone for studio photography, but I don't see the point in carrying one with me ALL the time. You see a lot of people complain how x camera isn't good enough, when almost any can get the job done. It's not the camera, it's the photographer.

As far as being lucky, your just being a jerk. Unless you are working in a studio most of photography is luck... You (usually) have to be lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Besides, who cares if I lucked out and got both feet off the ground. If I used a 1DS4 and machine gunned the shutter, yeah one of 14 frames would have the same result, but who cares the end result is what matters.

Here are some of the other photos I've taken that you can complain about:









 
The very first one is quite interesting. However, just like all the rest it is slightly over-exposed. You could easily remedy your exposure post-processing issues by using shadows&highlights. This would make a properly exposed image look good and not too dark.

As far as the quality content of the images, I would have to say that just the first one grabs me. But I have to admit that the image is quite compelling (enough to say that it wasn't luck).

I think that like most photographers, you end up just clicking at everything you see and that's not the way to go. And sometimes you see something that is meant to be a picture, and when you take that one then you know it will be a good picture even before you click the shutter release; I think that's quite common too.

I'd have to see more of your work to make a better decision. But that snake picture is actually very good and I commend you on it. It creates a tension, a story, and moves the eye. Thought and vision work together here. It's very impressive.
--

There are 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
 
That photo just shows; Iphone cam sucks. On occassions one can get a good shot that is decent for sharing on the internet.

But if it comes to print...One must be a heck of conning photographer to let the lensblurr, odd colors, lack of detail wok with the image.
 
Posting an image at 5MP doesn't help your case as all that can be seen initially is the lack of detail: the whole image cannot be seen on a current normal monitor. Maybe downsizing & cropping would have helped?
 
Bryan Campbell said:
My point is: The best camera is the one that is WITH YOU.
Click to expand...
I agree. An iPhone when you have nothing else is much better than ten cameras in the house. A shame you didn't have one of those cameras, but this isn't a bad shot at all.

Dave
 
Bryan Campbell said:
I've been using DSLR cameras for many years now... Started with the 20D, then 40D, and now I've been using the 5D Mark II since around it's release date. Love the 5D2 but with L glass it's hard to "always" taken with you which is why I've considered a Leica m8.2 or m9 with a 28mm, 35mm, or 50mm lens.

Anyway, I was with a friend of mine on Monday at the Missouri Botanical Gardens and it was a scorcher (it was unbelievably hot outside) I had no camera with me except for my iPhone 4's built in camera which is EXCELLENT for a smart phone camera, but not something I would rely heavily on. I could not have handled the 5D and lenses that day, I would have killed me (not literally) but it would have been very painful to say the least.

We where ended up near this maze garden and near the top of this overlook you could see the entire thing. I was about to take a photo when this young child suddenly started to dash through the maze. Not only was I lucky enough to photograph him, but while he was in mid air as well. If you look at the photo from a more abstract or artistic stand point it says things
Click to expand...
Like "Don't quit your day job", perhaps?
Bryan Campbell said:
(to me) about the innocence of children/childhood, it also has a bit of a phallic symbolism to it perhaps implying that the maze is a child who can not wait to be an adult, or more precisely, the journey of moving from childhood to adult hood.
I thought the shot resembles some of Henri Cartier-Bresson's work,
Click to expand...
Yeah, Cartier-Bresson's, right. What does it tell you that "your best pic" requires such a verbous explanation. Exactly.
Bryan Campbell said:
who along with William Eggleston have been a huge influence on me. No processing at all, no ultra shallow dof, just a moment captured.

My point is: The best camera is the one that is WITH YOU.
Click to expand...
You, sir, fail. That everyone can pull a lucky shot is out of question and, above all, irrelevant. The only thing is that they can't claim it's 'theirs', but the camera's What's yours in a pic you did not wanted to take? And if you don't want to take pics the camera that is with you is, again, irrelevant.

--
-------------------------------------------------------
My Galleries: http://webs.ono.com/igonzalezbordes/index.html
 
It doesn't require such a verbious explanation, I just decided to give it so you know what I saw.

Have you ever been to an art gallery and the artist talks about their work? They often explain what they saw in it, and then leave the rest up to the viewer. It would be pretty pointless to have the artist or photographer say "this is a pretty photo I took" and leave it at that.
 
Bryan Campbell said:
It doesn't require such a verbious explanation,
Click to expand...
Bryan Campbell said:
I just decided to give it so you know what I saw.
Click to expand...
Which would have been completely unnecessary, had it been a good photography. Remember the saying? the pic worthing more than a lot of yadda yadda?
Bryan Campbell said:
Have you ever been to an art gallery and the artist talks about their work? They often explain what they saw in it, and then leave the rest up to the viewer. It would be pretty pointless to have the artist or photographer say "this is a pretty photo I took" and leave it at that.
Click to expand...
Oh, my. I don't wan't to go there but let me point out thatm had you ever been to a gallery, you might have noticed that even artists (the real ones, not some poster in DPR) that change the aesthetic paradigm, that create a new language, including those who write essays theorizing about their vision of art - which as you should realize is fundamentally different from creating a work of art-, often use kind of criptic captions like, "Composition VI", "white on white" or even "Untitled"?
 
igb wrote:

often use kind of criptic captions like, "Composition VI", "white on white" or even "Untitled"?

They've done so much good drugs that they no longer remember taking the picture, where it was taken, and who the hell was in it... :(

Dave
 
Chato said:
igb wrote:

often use kind of criptic captions like, "Composition VI", "white on white" or even "Untitled"?

They've done so much good drugs that they no longer remember taking the picture, where it was taken, and who the hell was in it... :(

Dave
Click to expand...
That's why I wouldn't go as far as to suggest th OP took the pic (pressed the shutter, actually) and then posted it in a state of altered consciousness.

The fact that in the morning he is in for a nice hangover and the realization that the pic wasn't so good is cruel enough, don't you think?

You really could use some sympathy, dude.
 
Your iphone photo looks a hundred percent better on you flickr site than it does here on dpreview, possibly because it is much to big. In any case, if it were my photo I would try different crops, especially cropping the bottom part of the photo.

I don't think that it is your best photo - the 2 photos of yours here I think are much better. These 2 photos of yours below I really like, especially the 2nd one, very cool indeed.
Ed
Bryan Campbell said:


Click to expand...
--
NewYorkEd



SHUTTERBUGS
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=34199234
The Naked City
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=34999582
BRYANT PARK
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=35206950
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top