How easy is it to become obsessed by camera gear? You buy one body and a lens. Then you start seeing other people getting great results with a different lens so you have to get one of those two. Who is that guy with two bodies? Better get in on some of that action. And so on, so forth.
The truth is, as you likely already know, that the most important part of any setup is the operator. Even with this in mind, the best photographers in the world are of no use if they don’t have a camera. It goes without saying that it’s not practical to carry around a DSLR everywhere you go and even compacts can be too much at times. I would imagine that 99% of us have a phone capable of taking pictures but why do we often neglect this function as a competent photography tool? It’s almost as if we think it’s not good enough for us. That we are somehow above a built-in camera or that it’s just a novelty add-on.
Yet, by not having to worry about lens choice, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance etc. and by automating pretty much the entire procedure of taking a photograph, mobile phone photography is arguably the purest form of picture taking. There are no distractions. Similarly, there are no excuses when you mess up. You’re forced to constantly reconsider how you see things. I reckon I’ve learned more in the last twelve months from shooting on my iPhone than I have shooting with my DSLRs or NEX-5. I still don’t think I’ve got anywhere near utilising 100% of my iPhone’s potential. With that in mind, it’s been quite a realisation that maybe I don’t need that new lens or body. Instead, I’m going to spend more time learning how to see.
All the below have been captured on either an iPhone 4 or iPhone 5 over the last few years and lightly processed in Lightroom. They are all presented in their original aspect ratio.
