My daughter Hannah says my iPhone pix are not so good. I’m not ready to abandon it yet.
Gordon patiently modeled for yet another camera picture.
I am working on a real post with real pictures for all the purists…
— Posted from my iPhone
No More iPhone Pictures
Gordon patiently modeled for yet another camera picture.
They say that the best camera is the one you have with you. (iPhone or otherwise!)
Pics are just part of the story. It is what you make of it. I don’t mind the iPhone camera.
He’s a regular fashionista, isn’t he. 🙂
I guess I’d have to agree with the other commenters. The iPhone pictures are just part of the story and good composition and exposure is possible with the iPhone (as you and others have demonstrated). IMHO, the resolution seems more than adequate for web posts.
http://www.chasejarvis.com/index.php#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&p=5&a=0&at=0
Here’s a photographer who has explores the possibilities of a cell phone camera. Sometimes i’m mildly surprised at my 1.3 megapixel.
I guess I have always been a bit impressed with the ability of the camera on my blackberry. I know it does not reach a high level of quality, but sometimes it can take a decent picture. If you are just trying to illustrate a story, sometimes it can be enough.
You’ve got a Leica M3 and a Nikon D700 (assume the latter is for work) and now you want the new technology to be as good as the old technology. A camera is only as good as the lense and the person behind the shutter. The latter you’ve solved, however the former may well be questionable.
More pixels does not a better camera make.
You’ve got a Leica M3 and a Nikon D700 (assume the latter is for work) and now you want the new technology to be as good as the old technology. A camera is only as good as the lense and the person behind the shutter. The latter you’ve solved, however the former may well be questionable.
More pixels does not a better camera make.
Can the iPhone posts. The picture quality is horrible and your posts don’t have the ‘depth’ that they used to.
It seems to be of better quality than my 1.2 mpx blackberry camera, and I rely heavily on that.
Hi Steve.
Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Like all point and shoots the image quality goes down as the light gets dimmer. I bet you fifty cents that if you shoot Gordon outside the coffee shop where it is brighter – the image will be sharper and the colors richer. Even so your $500 Canon digital is going to make a better photo than the iPhone camera. The gap gets wider in dim light though. Dominos Vobiscum, Paolo
Isn’t it funny how we claim to be blogging for our own enjoyment, then turn around and try to cater to readers?
I have to admit to being guilty as charged, also.
Easier said than done, but please yourself!
Micah: I’ve heard that before. Problem is I could have a lot of different camera’s with me. The only advantage to the iPhone is being able to post from the field.
Maybe I should only use it on rides for quick updates. Or for TwitPics…
SonjaM: Thanks for the input. Sometimes the pictures are part of the story. But there are times when they are most of the story. I probably need to pay more attention to when it makes sense to use the iPhone camera.
SimplyTim: Gordon is a fashion horse. He wears those porkpie hads with flair.
Richard: I agree in principle with your comments about the pictures just being part of the story but the quality of pictures does influence the impact I think. Otherwise all those advertisers would not spend so much time and effort making things look the way they do.
And my own expectations are a problem. I need to think more about this.
Richard: Chase Jarvis’s work is strong and almost elemental. I enjoy images that stylize reality. It’s something I do not display much talent.
I realized while looking at Jarvis’s iPhone work that my unhappiness with my own pictures is not a result of camera limitations but more a result of the limited processing power in the phone before posting.
If I send the pix to my computer and process them in Photoshop I can produce some astounding results. But the little I can do on the phone, especially in regards to sharpening, makes the pictures rather lackluster.
cpa3485: I think you hit the nail on the head for where I should be with the iPhone —-“sometimes”. With sometimes being those occasions when I need to post right now and not later when I get home…
Bryce: You’re right. The camera, while nowhere near being able to deliver what the D700 or my Canon G9 can deliver, still offers the ability to produce some powerful pix. I just have to figure out how.
Remember, I’m not good but I am slow…
Anonymous: You’ve put into words what kicks around my head. Thanks! I will try a bit longer to make something with the camera that will make people go “wow”!
Paul: My experience with cellphone cameras is extremely limited. I am hoping to turn the iPhone into a creative tool. So far it is merely a device to document…
Paul: The iPhone definitely does better in bright light. And unfortunately my brain turns off in bright sunlight. You know that.
So what’s a guy to do???
irondad: Oh no! I must be codependent!! I can’t get the positive feedback I need to remain sane with pictures from the iPhone.
And yeah, I think I have become more concerned with everyone reading. I used to just do what I did and didn’t think much of it. What the hell happened….
“And yeah, I think I have become more concerned with everyone reading. I used to just do what I did and didn’t think much of it. What the hell happened….”
Steve, you, and IronDad have become celebrities in your own right!
You’re the reason some form of camera is my daily companion. Be it digital, film or if I am a really gung ho mood, large format ie 4×5.
Cool site!!. I enjoyed it!… thanx for sharing…
Just got a Silver 2008 Vespa 250 GTS from ebay. Great price and never was titled. Amazed at how phone it is to ride even when it is 40 degress.
The engine is so flexible and the machine very versitilbe.
Your site is great, keep on writing, and I think the Iphone pictures are great. Big advantage with an iphone is the camera is always ready to shoot and close at hand.
At last, it’s all about your intent.
Not that the iPhone pictures might be a concern, though visibly worse than usual; it’s that actually iPhoning posts on the road leads to tweets rather than real posts. By now, I’m used to read somewhat long confident posts which resemble more meditations on riding than chronicle.
I believe SITS ain’t a news site, that’s why I just prefer your classic way of posting.
This doesn’t mean that I can’t understand you; I used to shoot photographs for my posts with my G9 as well… until I left it somewhere on the wonderful Plitviçe Lakes in Croatia, this summer. Now I backup with a small Nikon S3 and the difference is evident, though I simply slowed down a bit my “blogging power”. Lookin’ forward to a G11, maybe next year, I won’t change my blogging style, rather I’ll try to keep it constant changing my attitude towards the different means I have to achieve the same result.
and… c’mon, man, your breakfast pictures can’t really be the same if you shoot ’em with a tiny lens, eheheheh! 🙂
may the road rise with you (ancient irish wish)
Ale-
L’Insetto Scoppiettante
Steve:
This may make sense to a photographer. Like yourself, I usually carry a few cameras and depending upon the purpose I select the best one for the job. Most usually the pix is just used to show a “snapshot” of what you are trying to convey with words. You document the scene, it is not art it is just a picture worth a thousand words. A good image does not necessarily have to be sharp.
Then you may happen across a good conceptual image more deserving of more Megapixels, then you bring out the big guns like a D5, or D700, G9 whatever. It’s not like every image is a work of ART, most are just snapshots.
I had a friend who put on a show in a gallery. There was not one image that was sharp, on purpose. He photographed a bicycle race and had blurred spinning wheels, and color collages of bright neon clothing whirring by. He made use of vibrant color and each image conveyed action
I don’t mind your iPhone pix and I am going to use my camera phone more, but I have a backup system. Every cell phone pix I have duplicated with another regular camera.
bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin
Steve,
Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful Christmas holiday.
Phil
Bryce: Your comment about a camera becoming part of your daily routine certainly parallels by own experience. Not the fact that I earn a living in part from a camera, but because I use it in ways unrelated to that. The closest comparison I have is that of a sketching tool to help me think about things. Not snapshots, not art and not anything other than a tool to expand memory.
It’s weird the more I think about it.
motorcycle: thanks for the kind words!
Mark: Congratulations on the GTS. It’s a great machine and I continue to find myself enthralled by it regardless of all the motorcycles I have been riding.
I appreciate your comments on the iPhone pictures. I will continue to use it but only when I think I can make something really interesting. Most of what I have been doing with it to date should be filed under “learning”.
Ale: Great insights on photography and what you see me doing on Scooter in the Sticks. Gives me a lot to think about.
I’ve used the G11 a few times. Very nice camera. I want one. Now. Santa—you hearing this??
bobskoot: I agree with everything you say but…..
I have never been very good at having a backup camera for the important stuff. I always use whatever is easiest. Call me lazy.
So I travel with one camera. If I want good stuff I need to leave the crappy camera at home…
Maybe I can change??
Santa: if you’re listening please bring one here too 😉
I used to shoot years ago with a 5700 which got a tiltable display.Now that they added it to the G-series I just can’t stopthinking ’bout it!
I am glad that now you will now have a camera. they say a good picture speaks a 1000 words. I have never reached the 20th word though from a picture. But i think what they meant is a good picture speaks a lot. You have a point Steve, sometimes the decision on whether i will read a post is determined by the picture. So, go for the camera.