It was last summer that I finally entered the growing world of mobile photography, having upgraded from my faithful old Blackberry to a ‘real’ smart phone, a Samsung Galaxy. Enthralled by Instagram, I fiddled around with filters and frames as I tried to find my feet in this new era of mobile images.
It was a while before I took the medium seriously, and realised that mobile photography is just as valid – and equally as impressive – as the traditional shots taken on standard cameras. Kirsten Alana is a photographer and blogger who excels at what is often called ‘iPhoneography’. She has “built a good portion of her career around experimentation with mobile technology,” and it was reading her advice (not to mention admiring her work) that made me realise there was more to mobile photography than Instagram filters.
As a traveller and blogger, the phrase ‘ The best camera is the one you have with you’ rings true to me, a principle that I soon put into practice on the streets of cities like Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York. In Paris the camera phone was my only option, as my trusty Panasonic of almost six years gave up the day I checked into Le Royal Monceau.
There is an ease, I discovered, in positioning your phone to capture a scene, preserving a moment that might be lost by the time you’ve opened your bag, pulled out your point-and-shoot and switched it on. I also find it less obtrusive; people don’t seem as edgy when faced with a smart phone as opposed to a standard camera. The editing process is a learning curve too: I’m enjoying experimenting with the likes of Snapseed and VSCO Cam, and typography app Over for a bit of fun.
The latest addition to my camera arsenal is the Nokia Lumia 1520, part of my prize for winning ‘Top Travel Blog of 2013′ in the competition run last month by Holiday Hypermarket. With almost as many megapixels as my new digital point-and-shoot, I’m excited to see what kind of images I can capture on my next adventure. The only question now is, where to go?
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I have almost the same photo of that NYC building in the top right 🙂 It’s true though…I don’t have a phone with a decent camera, and I kind of wish I did. As much as I love my Nikon, it’s a bit much to lug around every day, and it seems like almost every day I see something and think ‘that could be a nice photo!’ Maybe it’s time to get a more portable camera….
Thanks for your comment, Alba Marie! I love the IAC building, I think I take a photo of it every time I pass it 🙂 I never thought I would use my camera phone as much as I do now – if you like taking photos on the go, then it’s definitely useful!
I actually just got an iphone (my first time with one of these things…I’ve been resisting jumping on the bandwagon for years but I finally caved) and I’m excited to see how good the camera actually is! I’ve seen some great camera phone pics on the internet and I can’t wait to see how my new phone compares!