The other day while walking to my car I stumbled into one of the most beautiful sunsets we have seen around here in quite a while. It was magnificent. As I pulled my phone out of my pocket to get a quick shot it occurred to me that my trusty Canon G15 was in the car as it always is and it would give me a much better image with plenty of options. One of my mantras when teaching is to always have a camera with you (use your phone as a last resort). Most photographers I know, professional and otherwise have a second camera they can keep with them when the big heavy stuff is not an option. The Canon G15 is just such a camera. It has a great range, 28-143mm and is fast 1.8-2.8. For most things this camera is great. Sure it does not focus fast and not very good in low light but for most things is awesome! Capturing that memorable moment is all about what you have with you. Hence the image below!
Travel photography is pretty easy – right? How many times have you returned home and gone through an edit of your images and been disappointed? It’s happened to me, believe me. One of the basic things that people forget is that you are trying to tell a story with your images. This means looking for images everywhere that record what you did on your trip. Sometimes I forget these things when I am faced with a new area with lots of really interesting image possibilities.
Recently when I was out with friends showing them the beauty of Rockport. I decided to shoot some details at a couple of the places we went. The Glass House on Bearskin Neck was such a place. Colored glass everywhere! So I decided to look for some interesting shots of the glassware. Not overall shots mind you but closeups.
Treating this like I would any other shoot I also looked for the details not just the overall scene. This helps to bring those memories back of where you have been. Of course you need to have those dramatic landscapes you came for but showing the details rounds out the story of your visit.
It’s important to remember the things you like best, like taffy from Tucks in Rockport!
I never thought I would say this but – those darn phone cameras are getting pretty darn good. I’m surprised that people buy point and shoot cameras anymore. I can only speak to the iPhone because that is what I own. My kids however own Samsung phones which have pretty darn good cameras in them. It got me thinking that most everyone who is not a camera or photography buff are using their phones when traveling to record their visit. I’m different I want to make great photos when I travel because I may never be there again. Which brings me to the point of this blog post. Most phones today are pretty idiot proof. Most people leave them on auto pilot and everything works out fine.
iPhone 6s ISO 25 1/2300s f2.2 Auto exposure
For the most part this is true if you are taking selfie’s with the main travel feature in the background. So let’s talk about framing your image. Most of the lenses in today’s phones have a 28-29mm lens (in 35mm film terms). So basically you are stuck shooting wide angle photos of everything. Which when traveling is not a bad idea. Just keep in mind if you hold the phone vertically you will cut out tons of interesting things. So the first thing you need to do is hold the phone horizontally and look for an interesting foreground that leads you into the image. This can be done vertically too, so experiment. All you need to do is turn the phone. If you do this one thing, look for an interesting foreground that tells a story (like the lobster traps in the above photo) the image will look more interesting. The image above is not a great image but it’s a lot better than just the Motif #1 standing alone by itself.
iPhone 6s ISO 25 1/2300s f2.2 Auto exposure
This brings me to another point that traveling photographers are just starting to learn about. Shooting in RAW format not jpg. Here’s the difference. In a jpg image everything is baked or done for you in the camera. In a RAW image all the information is left in the file for you to adjust later or right there in the app itself. As a photographer I appreciate the fact that I can open up my shadows more or pull down my highlights, it makes a world of difference. But the only way you can shoot in RAW is to have an app that allows you to do that. Lightroom by Adobe has such an app that is paired with their program and is an absolute killer addition to their mobile app. Without going over board let me just say that all your RAW controls are right in the app or you can sync them to your desktop Lightroom program and do your processing on your computer. The only way to have use of this app is to be using Lightroom CC as part of their monthly program. Here are some other apps that you can look at that do the same thing. I have not rated these or used them so look them up and decide for yourself.
In no particular order:
Pro Cam 4 – Manual Camera + RAW – $4.99
Manual – $3.99
VSCO – Free
MuseCam – Free
iPhone 6s ISO 25 1/2100s f2.2 Auto exposure
The really cool thing about using your cell phone camera is that everything is in focus unless you are REALLY close to your subject. This is because the sensor is tiny (less than a fingernail) in comparison to a full frame sensor (the size of a 35mm frame of film). Now if you have an iPhone 7 you have portrait mode which utilizes software to knock out the background.
iPhone 6s ISO 25 1/2300s f2.2 Auto exposure, processed in Lightroom CC and Silver Efex Pro 2
The image above was synced over to Lightroom on my desktop and processed in the Silver Efex Pro 2 plugin for Lightroom which enabled me to bring the clouds out.
iPhone 6s ISO 125 1/7000s f2.2 Auto exposure
All of these images were taken in RAW format with the iPhone 6s and as you can see it works pretty well for photographing your trip. If you are a photographer and your camera is not handy your phone will do a pretty good job, and in RAW format if you so choose. One thing I did not go over was exposure control. None of these cell phone cameras allow control over the aperture they are set at 2.2 or 1.8 therefore you can only control ISO and shutter speed with some help with exposure compensation. Most of these other controls come with using apps like Camera+ or Lightroom mobile. Either way it’s a journey worth taking with your phone.
