I’m a big fan of iPhone photography but on days out I always go back to taking my Canon 70D DSLR.
I’m not the greatest photographer but I do enjoy getting in closer than my iPhone ever will and love the background blur I can get.
I take my Canon out everywhere with me pretty much. Be a day at the Zoo, an air show (remember those!), national trust visit or even just an early morning walk.
I just can’t get anywhere close with an iPhone and wouldn’t expect to.
I think of my iPhone as a way to store memories of where I’ve been and I’m not worried about fidelity of the image.
If I’m out somewhere I know I’ll want to use images as wallpapers or really want to practise then the DSLR comes with me.
Where the iPhone easily has the DSLR beat though is video and I use my iPhone 13 a lot when I’m out. Even using digital zoom it’s a great way to record bits of your trip.
Do you use your iPhone for everything when you go out and about?
I’ve been using an iPhone X for the past couple of weeks and really appreciated having a 2x zoom back in my hand. This got me thinking about how it compared to the ultra wide that my iPhone 11 gives me.
In my use case I’m finding that optical 2x zoom is more useful in the usual day to day photography. It isn’t amazing indoors but really does a good job outdoors and in good lighting. I’m taking day trips out and images at home with family and pets etc.
The ultra wide is great for getting interesting angles on buildings or to fit an entire room into an image but for me at least I don’t find myself using it day to day.
Since switching to the iPhone X I’ve not missed the ultra wide at all.
If you get the choice between an iPhone with an optical vs one with an ultra wide I feel that you should get the ultra wide.
I know a lot of people zoom in digitally but the quality isn’t as good as if you have a dedicated telephoto lens.
I’ve been wondering what’s been off about my recent use of Glass since the introduction of likes (or appreciation as they call it) and Andy nailed it.
Since this move I’ve had zero comments on my photography. It’s really changed the way that I’ve experienced the app and I’m now thinking I’ll just leave the service and get on with my life. For me comments are a much better mechanism for feedback, showing appreciation is nice but doesn’t really help me improve as a photographer.
I still feel it was a bad slope to start down by adding appreciation and I’ve cancelled my subscription. I’ll be using it on and off I’d imagine whilst I still have my subscription but I don’t see why I should invest my time in it right now.
I’ve been wanting to do more around night sky images but struggle with manual settings on my DSLR (I’m not too proud to say I run it in auto most of the time, it’s no big deal).
I saw a nice clear morning sky out of the window, grabbed my iPhone 13 Mini and took one image. Totally handheld and not really trying and whilst it’s not the best image in the world it represents what I saw. it’s impressive and a step up from the already good iPhone 11 I was using previously.
I’m lucky to live in the countryside and I have to remind myself to get a tripod get out at night and push the iPhone to see how far it can get.
How are your night sky photos coming out on your iPhone?
In an announcement yesterday, Glass have added an appreciation option for photos. Initially I was against this and worried that it might be the start of a path to adding like counts and for me at least it’s one of the reasons I moved away from other social services and don’t check notifications on Twitter. In more of a look into it and reading more comments on it from friends I’m leaning towards being ok with it.
It’s effectively a quick way to show you like an image rather than typing a comment like “nice photo”.
It’s not public, it just shows in your notifications.
I think as long as it’s treated like a quick comment and not a popularity contest we’ll be ok. Let’s see where Glass take it next but I’ll be keeping a close eye on it’s next step.
I’ve had some more time with Glass and I’m still enjoying my time there. I think looking at some of the sentiment on Twitter and reviews on the App Store some are still not getting it. It’s not Instagram, that’s a very good thing.
My view is that it’s a place to share and view photos. No algorithm, no ads, no short form video, no follower counts and no likes – back to what a photo sharing service should be. It’s paid to be able to do this.
I’m enjoying commenting on others photos showing appreciation or asking questions.