iPhone Vs Camera

The previous blog set the stage: One vacation, many cameras. I shot most everything twice, trying to line up the composition so that the only real difference was the focal length - one I could control with an SLR or DSLR, or one that I could not control with the iPhone 4. With the camera phone, I tried to keep the filter consistent and subtle so that the images were not overly distorted. I wanted the iPhone images to capture the same element I sought with the "real" cameras - the way the soft, warm light of late August, even on overcast days, enhanced the textures of water, faces and wood.

Sometimes, the iphone gave me a perspective that I didn't realize I had when I looked through the "real" camera's viewfinder - it really gave me height, the ability to focus while holding the phone above my head. The extra room around my mother standing in front of her classroom blackboard, for example, gives you more information about her classroom than the saturated colors picked up by my DSLR. However, the lack of a filter on the DSLR led to more saturated colors - the colors of summer that I was trying to convey - such as the green grass stains on my mother's white tennis shoes as she mowed the lawn.

  

I added my digital point-and-shoot, with all it's shooting options and zoom capabilities, to the mix? What else would have been revealed about the subjects? Or does the filtering options on the iPhone inherently add an interesting element unattainable with a "real" point-and-shoot camera? That's the exercise I have planned for my next trip.I found both camera options to be valuable tools and successful in their own ways. Now I'm curious: What if I had added my digital point-and-shoot with all its shooting options and zoom capabilities into the mix? What else would have been revealed about the subjects?  Or do the filtering options on the iPhone inherently add an interesting element unattainable with a "real" point-and-shoot camera?

Urban Safari

 
Strolling Jungle Island can be a great opportunity to practice photography as there are a wide variety of subjects to challenge one's creativity and technical skills. Particularly, when you get to go with your photography professor and three very energetic kids running ahead of you!

 
It is a great location to practice how to overcome certain challenges. For me, the major issues were the distance to the animals and shooting through glass or bars. In these situations, sometimes tightly cropping to an animal's face, or body, helps getting a shot with real impact.




Moving subjects can also be challenging as rarely do these animals stay still, although I did stumble upon one or two animals in the perfect pose.

Patience is a must and for the most part one has to stick around and wait for something interesting to happen. And, of course, there is always the changing light and trying to find a good angle of view. 

 




Since I now have an annual pass, I will most certainly go back soon and try again with different exposures and lenses. As with all things, practice makes perfect!

THREE CAMERAS

I was visiting familiar landscapes in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and I wanted to capture in photographs the light and textures that I associate with the end of the summer. In my head, I know how the late August light casts everything in a soft, warm light. The cool relief of dark shadows and swimming pools. The dry blades of grass that still somehow retain their saturated colors.

I wanted to communicate those sensations recorded by the camera in my head, but I didn’t know which camera in my hands would get it right. So, I shot most of my subjects twice, often standing in the same spot and keeping the frames as similar as possible. The only significant difference between the frames was the focal length: I had no control over the standard iPhone camera lens, while with my Nikon I tended to shoot with either a 50mm or 20 mm lens set with a wide aperture.

Can you tell which camera was used for each frame? Which frames do you prefer, the iPhone images or the “real” camera frames -- and why?  The answers and my picks will be revealed in a future blog post.