iPhone 6 the last camera you will ever buy? Not Hardly

I have been an iPhone owner since the first one hit the market.  No, I am not a tech nerd or a Hipster, I just want a good product that works.  I know, I know... I can already hear the iPhone haters and the Droid fan-boys mantra coming across the interwebs on why the iPhone is crap and Droid is best.  Just stop now and keep reading.  This isn't about the phone, its about the incessant blog posts on why the iPhone camera is the last camera anyone will need to buy.  It is, unfortunately, quickly becoming the latest urban myth.  If you ever wanted to take photographs like a pro, well, the iPhone will not get you anywhere near shooting like one.  There is so much more to taking a photograph than the camera.  Yes, you can take great photos with the new iPhone 6 but just because you have a great camera does not mean that you will automatically take great pics.

ADRIENNE PITTS, London, United Kingdom

Here is a great example of great photos taken with the last iteration of the Apple magic wand.  Is it the photo, the resolution or the eye of the photographer?  You already know what I am going to tell you, its the photographer.  Lets say this photo was taken with the old silverback iPhone 3G, would that have made it any better?  Probably not, in fact there is no way it could be better but it would still be a great photograph.  Even if this photo was poor resolution and the colors were slightly off it would not have made a difference.

The iPhone 6 is an impressive camera as well as a video camera.  It is not, however, a professional camera.  It has flaws, I could go into those flaws but why waste your time?  After reading this post you would undoubtedly say "well, it is a phone after all".

To say that this is the camera to end all cameras, that is tantamount to saying the new Fords will be the last car you would ever have to buy.  Please don't send me emails hating on Fords, it's sarcasm, get over it.  Anywhoo..  Yes, soccer moms and ego driven selfie takers are going to go gaga for the new found prowess of the camera mixed with great software emulation of actual photographic techniques.  They will post millions of these photos promptly after activating their new toys.  People will comment on the photos, like them and some may think that they can go into business as Pro-Photogs because they take such great selfies.  I am looking forward to laughing at the photos actually.  For that is what I do, I laugh at narcissism put on display.  (ok, this blog is getting really mean)

This is actually a more common problem in the photography world than you would expect.  Many amateur photographers who do really nice work are of the mind set that the camera is the most important thing.  They buy a great full frame camera for about 5k and a wonderful lens for another 4k and the pictures still look just like the ones they were taking with that Cannon T2i they bought at Sam's Club.  These cats show off their pictures to the rest of the world and proclaim them to be some of the best ever, they submit to the photo contests and tell all their friends how they must give up a full time job to pursue a career in photography because they are so great.  Many a camera company has gotten rich from the promise of better photos if you buy their newest model.  It never works.

Cameras will always be evolving.  The tech will get better and better with easier interfaces and new ways to focus like the Lytro camera.  It is a really cool concept that I would not mind using for web site design.  It allows the viewer to click on the area they want to see and the photo then focuses on the pixel area that was clicked on leaving the formerly in focus area with a nice Bokeh.  It really almost gives you a Harry Potter Wizard Picture feel.  Over the next ten years you will see even greater advances.  Eventually we will be able to pick our brains for the photograph we would like to take without even picking up a camera.  Ok, maybe that one might be in 2215, but you get my point. This alone is why the iPhone 6 will not be the last camera you need to buy.

In closing this amazing, colossal and spirited blog that tends to rant on and on about seemingly nothing, I want to share with you a photograph you have seen before.  It was taken at my Uncle's lake house this past July (2014).  I used NO photoshop (other than to convert it to a jpeg) or digital effects.  No color was added or altered in a computer.  I did not even set the white balance to some crazy setting in my camera.  What I did do was use old school photography skills to make a great photo.  This is something that you cannot re-create on an iPhone.

Paul G Newton

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Who owns a photograph and why you should pay to use them

Do you know who owns the photograph you just ogled over on Facebook?  Chances are you probably don't.  Many of the photograph we see on Facebook are legitimately owned by the one who posted it.  They are of family, friends or an event.  Sometimes, all we get is very poor quality pictures of someones lunch.  I must say, I have never been inspired to visit a restaurant by a cell phone pic, yet these photos are moments of pride and awe shared with the rest of us who just aren't as hungry.  The rest of the photos, however, might have been pilfered off the internet using a quick Google Search.  It seems harmless enough, grab a pic to make a post about something, but it isn't harmless at all.

In the past it was very hard to take a great photograph.  I did a little searching for an example to post here that would knock your socks off but none of them hold a candle to what we can make today.  Back then if you wanted to take a photograph and do it right you needed great film stock, great lenses and a fully stocked light room.  There was no Photoshop or color correction anywhere near what we use in even a simple application like Instagram.  If you were in a big city or if you were lucky in rural areas you might have had a druggist that also developed film the right way.  I remember my mother having to mail off the rolls of 35mm film to the developer and wait three to four weeks before getting them back.  All this being said, it took a long time and they were precious keepsakes even if they weren't very good.  We showed them to our family, neighbors and whomever we could rope into it.  Everyone, just about, found it interesting and fun, much like we do today...  sort of.  

Today's world of photographs is HUGE!  Now that taking and developing photographs takes only a fraction of a moment to create and costs next to nothing.  Everyone takes photos at every opportunity.  Selfies, kids first day at school, new car, new shoes and of course, lunch.  

We are surrounded by photographs and have quickly learned to take them for granted.  Thus making the value of all photographs shrink in the eye of the general public.  I hear all the time that "it's just a pic" when I mention that a photo they used in a blog post or in a small advertisement should be at least credited to the photographer who took it.  To say the least, I am aggravated by the casual dismissal of someones work and sometimes I am down right disappointed in the person who used it without permission.  

The real down and dirty of it, the essence of my point is that someone took time to create that photo, make sure it's right and poured part of their essence into it.  They also, in the case of many really good photographs, took valuable time to make it what it is.  Should that photographer be paid for their time?  You betcha they should.  

I am a professional photographer, as many of you know. Although I am not, at the moment, a well known photog like Dave Hill (whom I admire professionally).  I do fairly well at what I do and my photographs have been used many places where I have gotten not a dime for my efforts.  What I have got is attribution for the work which is enough, depending on the photograph.  This leads me to wonder how many times my work has been used without my permission.  All one has to do is search Google to find my work on the interwebs, right click and save.  Without a watermark (which I have been advised against using by other pros) there is no way tell who took the photo or track them down.  

I used to work as a portrait photographer.  I do it very rarely now because it is a tough business these days. The last solid quote I gave was for a measly $150 to do some engagement photos.  I quoted the gig and told them that the total would be $160something because I had to charge sales tax.  The text I got back was more than I could take.  She said "That's just too much for someone to just take a photo".  Really?!  This wasn't the first time I had heard someone say this, but I wish it was my last and I know I will hear it again. First off I was quoting her at the request of a friend at a DEEP discount.  Normally a session like that would run five hundred or more.  

There is so much more to it when doing portrait photography.  It takes time to make that photo more than just a snapshot.  The average time it takes for me to touch up one photo is about an hour.  It's the little things that count.  Especially if you want to be thinner (don't ever ask a photographer to do this, BTW)!  This is also true for any photo.  Most of the celebrity photographs you have ever seen in the modern age are photo-shopped and meticulously poured over to make every detail right, no matter how beautiful the model is.  The photograph below is one of my personal favorites.  I took this in a studio setting and got the light perfect and the focus crisp.  The model was great and required little for me to appreciate her natural beauty.  Everything was perfect and the photo turned out just like I wanted it.  But you know what?

This photo took three hours of Photoshop to get right. 

In the modern world of Photoshop and Composite Photography it takes even longer.  My favorite example of this composting style is one of Dave Hill's works of art that consists of Hundreds of separate images combined to make the final, single image.  It takes months of work to make a photograph like this.  Why then would we want to use this work of art without paying or at least attributing the creator?  Shouldn't we show our appreciation for things that we love?

So next time you are sharing something or downloading a pic someone else has taken.  Consider how you would feel if your boss decided to not pay you and say, "it's just a spreadsheet".  When it comes to photography or any art share-able on the interwebs, we should all take a moment and think to ourselves, "Could I make that?"

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Correct way to use Your Phone as a Camera

I love to film stuff. It says so right here on the title of my blog. I mean, really, how could you have missed that? I work very hard to make my photographs, no matter how mundane the subject, look and feel as great as I can. I love to look at great photos on the interwebs as well as great short films by filmmakers like Philip Bloom among others. For those great social film makers like Bloom, you know, the ones that have it all. Great photography, editing and tonality with a great voice. You just cannot help looking at the work they put out and saying "Wow". 

However...

The rest of the world has a problem. I am not saying that Everyone in the world has a problem. I mean there are some people that have never owned a smart phone after all. But for the rest of us like the Soccer moms, working moms, dads with a tech handicap or grandparents that want their keyboard back, they have a PROBLEM! That problem is using your camera phone (especially when using video) the wrong way. You have seen the Facebook posts, you know, the ones that look like this one I took of my wife one snowy day a few years ago. It wasn't meant to be anything other than what it is. I crappy picture. I wanted to share this so we all could understand that even Pro's take crappy pictures, sometimes.

I do believe that there is no excuse for taking pics like this ALL THE TIME!  That is where the problem lies. Even worse is when people use their phone as a video camera and do the exact same thing!  You have no idea how many times my studio has been asked to edit into a coherent piece of cinematic gold video that has been filmed vertical.  Some of my friends do it but I Always Refuse.  There is no way I am letting my reputation be smeared by something like that!  Ok, I know I am being harsh but someone has to do it, right?

So, the next time you see someone holding their phone vertically grab them and stop them, for the love that is all holy, please stop them.  Show them the right way.  All I ask is that we all do our part to end these horrible picture from ever being seen again.  One last thought before I go.  No one will ever get the current camera phones to take a picture like this last one.  What you see is what I took.  No photoshop, no manupulation, Just good old fashioned camera work.

Happy Shooting!