Life Behind the Emerald Lens

I took this picture with my Droid in July. As you can see, it's actually not a horrible photo. Even if someone is making a strange face. But why use the camera phone at all?

Not that you can tell by my recent camera phone pictures… but I do believe you can get quite nice images from these little devices we all own. You might not be getting something to print at 20×30, but you can get snapshot size photographs with no problem these days.

Some camera phones give you the really soft “pinhole camera effect” and I actually kind of like that. Just a personal thing for me. Maybe it is the photo-nerd in me, but I really love pinhole cameras. I actually made a crazy cheap one with my sons a few years back and let them loose. This worked out better in my head then in reality. (We had a slight problem with advancing the film.)

I used to take better camera phone pictures. I’ve been spoiled by my SLR. I’ll fully admit that now. I think it’s my sadness at my crummier camphone pictures that has led me to do more of my Wordless Wednesday posts with this device.

Sometimes what you need to remember with photography is patience. You might go into a situation with the plan for a particular photo, but it just won’t be possible that day. Sometimes you need to wait and wait and wait until the right opportunity comes along. Well, you really learn patience waiting for the little camera in your photo to focus and snap.

Yesterday I just wanted a picture of hands for my post on my personal blog. The camera phone was just too slow. I nearly gave up.  In the end, I got a picture that was workable. Not quite the one I wanted, but of the fifteen I took? It would work.

Call me stubborn.

One of the things I would love to do is use my phone so I can do “live from the shoot” posts. I can actually post to this blog from my phone, so I think this would be a lot of fun.  I just need to get a little speedier at it. However, I want to take a better camera phone picture as well.

I lose a lot of control with my phone. I want to learn to improve my photography when I cannot control everything.

Yet another reason to use my camera phone more.

Besides, it’s just fun to have a small camera and not have to lug the giant camera bag around.

Interestingly, I also learned that I need to pay better attention in my software on my phone. My attempt to post a Wordless Wednesday live from an event failed miserably because even nerdy me can fail. Little checkbox for “publish”? How did I miss you? It’s up now. Wordless Friday?

Silly me.

The first rule in photography is ALWAYS: Take the darn picture.  It’s the one rule you simply cannot break and get away with it. If you break it, there’s no photograph. Sometimes it just isn’t practical to carry the big hefty camera.

Have Camera, Will Travel (And I’ll even go low tech from time to time)

JS

You would not believe how many times I hear this question. You would not believe how many times people tell me I bought the wrong camera brand.

Confession time: I am a Canon Girl through and through. I love Canon. I adore Canon. I think Canon is where it is at.

For so many reasons.

Now, that said, here is the truth in the proverbial black and white. Which is better? The one that feels right to you.

That’s right. That’s the answer.

Pick up a Canon. Now pick up the equivalent model in Nikon. Back to Canon. Back to Nikon. Feel like the Old Spice Guy yet? Guess what, those cameras are pretty much the same. You have the same megapixels, you have the same functions, you have the same person taking the photographs… you!

If you want the best of the best, really it is whatever came out last. Canon and Nikon generally release new products on a schedule staggering one another. If this month Canon is the new kid on the block, that’s the winner. However in three months time, the title will change over as the Nikon brings out their new big bad.

It doesn’t matter what you shoot with. It can be the camera built into your iPod or your mobile phone to one of the credit card sized deals to the $20,000 SLR.  Each has their strengths and their weaknesses. It really comes down to the glass you use. A bad lens will “break” any camera.

So why am I so vehemently a Canon girl? It all boils down to two things: Usability and Ergonomics.

It has just been, in my lowly experience, that Canons are much friendlier to a user right out of the box. Their menu system is intuitive, and you can start snapping amazing photos right away. This is why I always recommend Canon cameras when my not-camera-savvy friends inquire. The last thing I want to do is try to talk them through a nightmare of settings over the phone with a camera that confuses me.

I once spent so long trying to find the white balance settings on a Nikon I nearly wanted to cry. Sadly, it was another amazing photographer’s inability to find said white balance setting that sparked my attempt. This is just sad. Thank goodness for post-processing allowing you to correct that, even if it is better to do it at the time of picture-taking.

The other reason I shoot Canon is because my newer model Rebel contains the same insides as the pro line but it fits neatly in my little hand.

Have I ever mentioned my hands before? My hands are little. My twelve year old son’s hands are larger than mine. (Sadly, they have been for a couple of years.) I cannot even reach a full octave on a piano. This means my hand cannot quite fit around a larger body camera.

Believe you me, I’ve tried.

I also have some ever fun arthritis issues, which gets aggravated by the larger, heavier bodies. It’s just really not pretty.

Are there other reasons? Sure. There’s Canon‘s service, their high quality product, their embracing the digital market with arms wide open… I could go on. I won’t.

So in the end? It doesn’t really matter. You know what does matter? Taking the darn picture.

After all, if you are so busy stressing out over the Canon vs Nikon war and miss baby’s first steps or the bride and groom’s first kiss? You’ll never be able to capture that moment again.

This is my oldest son skipping rocks at Atlantic City, NJ. I'm so glad I had my camera ready! This is what I mean - take the darn photo!

–Have Camera, Will Travel (Even if you like Nikon)

JS