Remember my post “I’m Not a Photographer“? No? That’s cool, I guess.. Well in that post I put up a few photos I had some fun taking one day a couple of years ago with the disclaimer that I’m in no way great at photography, nor will I ever be trying to sell you a photograph deal where I take pictures of you with my cheap little silver camera standing next to trees that I then edit with windows picture viewer. But, that said, I recently signed up for instagram because I decided that I just gosh darn don’t have enough online profiles.
And what do you know, I suddenly think that the photos I’m taking are pretty. Especially the one above which actually -thank you very much- was not taken with instagram! I took that rainbow shot a couple of months ago then just decided to run it through instagram because I didn’t know how else to crop it on my phone (there was a lot of my backyard’s lawn in the bottom half) and doesn’t it just look better with that filter? Giggle.
I still maintain that a talented photographer will be able to take perfect pictures without the need to edit them afterwards because they’re already so lovely. Still hasn’t stopped me asking my boyfriend which filter he thinks will look best with which photo. Still hasn’t stopped me from thinking that a photo of my cat licking itself is worthy of being posted on the internet. But then again, ha ha ha I already claimed I wasn’t a photographer! So smart! So sly!
I always thought that photos taken with a phone weren’t ‘real’ photos. I thought that to have that authenticity they had to be taken with a proper camera, but the quality of photos on my phone are a lot better than what my poor camera puffed out. The phone takes clearer, sharper, prettier pictures than my poor digital buddy.
What is your take on photos snapped with a phone, instagram app or not? Are they still just as good photos as others? Does great photography transcend the equipment used to capture the image or does the equipment dictate the shot, not the person?
Find the kitten.
Bye for now.
The big pull.
A firework mid pop
Beautiful photos, thanks for sharing
Love the soft focus effect in “By for now”.
Rohan.
Thank you very much Rohan
Love the rainbow! I take my pictures that I post from my phone. Very non fancy-schmancy but it works for what I need. Quick and easy (and already paid for, with my phone bill).
Exactly
Thank you! It was too pretty to not take a photo of. And thanks to having a smart phone, I could.
Good post, Jessica, and rainbow. I’ve been kicking this same idea around in my head also. My daughter, a professional photographer, was looking at some of my photos (taken with iphone 4) and she was very complimentary of the image quality. The advances in technology have tranformed the profession.
But here’s what I’ve found. When I’m taking a shot, I have an idea in my mind of what I want to capture. It’s not always what the lens shows me. It was quite the revelation to me that my mind automatically “edits” how I interpret the world in front of me. The ticket (for me) is figuring out how to duplicate the symmetry, lighting and focus I’m seeing inside my head. Does that make sense? -Nikki
Oh why thank you very much
They really have. And you’re right! The lens never shows me what I see perfectly – is my mind seeing things correctly?
In a youtube video once the narrator guy who is a scientist was talking about how our minds edit our faces to be better looking so when we take a photo, look at it and go ‘ew bad photo’ we’re actually seeing what we really look like, while our image in the mirror that looks better is not quite true.
Which makes me quite sad about all those times I thought I looked smahing haha.
Totally makes sense, by the way
Instagram is fun, I use it frequently and have an Instagram page too as well as a photo website. Photography is great, and readers love to come back and see your recent photos.
Photography is a good thing to have on a blog every now and then, changes the feel of the post and lets the reader in a little bit more. I think it was you who told me to put up some more photos originally! I’ll have to have a look at your photography website.
I do remember that post!
I’m resisting Instagram. I use The Gimp (http://www.gimp.org/) because it’s free and doesn’t come with the guilt of pirating a copy of Photoshop but does almost as much as Photoshop and doesn’t come with the privacy policy of Instagram. I think you can get filter plugins that could possibly maybe give instagram a run for it’s money. That’s just me.
As for photos from phones. My phone has a crap camera (must upgrade phone) and my camera is a bulky DSLR which could really use a better lens. I think a good photo can be taken with average equipment. It’s mainly in the subject, framing, lighting, etc.
Yes! Someone with a great memory! haha but I’m glad someone did, I was being sarcastic but it’s nice.
I resisted instagram for quite a while, I’m not someone who uses it everyday on everything I see however – I will continue to resist that stage of instagraming purely because I don’t like to have a lot of clutter, technological clutter included.
A good photo can definitely be taken with average equipment. However, my camera does not follow this rule. It makes everyone look sweaty no matter which setting you put it on, and it also loves to give subjects double chins. It seriously gave my cat a double chin and I don’t even know how that’s possible. Perhaps it’s purpose was to take photos of sweaty, overweight people? Perhaps pictures of people working out? Either way, I don’t think I’m using it right…
Just guessing but I wonder if your flash is too bright or the subject too close (for the sweaty look) or the angle is wrong (for the double chins) but then you’d expect a lot more people with similar cameras to have similar problems. *holds hand against ear, listening for people complaining* – nup.
Actually, isn’t there an iPhone app that makes people’s faces look really fat? A mate of mine did that with a pic of me, a while ago. That might explain the double chins!
You take nice photos
Now that phones have a built-in camera, everyone can play around with photography, and Instagram (and similar apps) only encourage us. I’m all for it. I think professional photographers and other snobs would say it’s the worst thing since…something really bad and I guess the use of filters is a bit annoying, especially now that it’s overused everywhere. But good cameras are expensive, heavy and are kinda complicated to use, no?
What I’m trying to say is “yay camera phones!”
Aw thanks.
Haha yes, definitely if they were snobby! And I agree, unless you are a professional or have time to self-teach then a big, expensive camera is complicated to use.
Yay camera phones indeed! They allow us to capture moments we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise, and what’s wrong with little pieces of history?
Reblogged this on Simon Sundaraj-Keun.