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Frankly even just as a hobbyist photographer anyone asking me to photograph their wedding with a smartphone would be told no firmly, even if it cost me money, based solely on the principle of the thing. .
OK. At least we know how you feel. So it doesn't matter, to you, how good a picture is, if it was taken with an iPhone it is automatically garbage?
Sorry, but some of my best shots were taken with that little old Canon SD1100. Why? Composition along with fortuitous lighting. I'm no pro, but I do know a good picture when I see one. With that said it appears that my iPhone 5 camera is better than the 1100. Go to my first post and compare the two shots. It is what it is. What can I say?
90% of the time a good shot is the result of the shooter's skill and luck. The camera? Not so much.
An iPhone or Smartphone camera has nothing on point and shoot cameras when it comes to nature photos and portrait shots. The phone cameras are nice to take quick shots at the park or just out and about. I think the quality of point and shoot digital cameras for most types of pictures are far superior than those on iPhones or smartphones.
What will people say if they saw your photos? would they be WOW? or EWWW?
It is not appropriate to shoot a whole wedding with an iPhone; that just means the B & G are cheap, don't respect photography, or their own event, and they don't want to pay you real wedding rates! After all, the "photos" are pretty the only thing that has remained after the event! Some people like to f-that up! Oh well...they're loss.
You should also NOT bring a P & S at a wedding to show respect to the bride and groom...but again, if they don't understand what makes a good photo, there is nothing we can do than find folks who STILL appreciate quality, and care enough about their event, which took lots of planning just to be thrown out=flowers, or eaten!!!!!
PhotoProIP nails it. Granted, it is their event, but still it's a once in a lifetime event & deserves at least some stab at decency even if you can't afford a $1500 top-tier professional. A wedding is an occasion, if you are a somewhat skilled photographer & are attending with license to shoot, to pull out the big guns. It is NO time to use the Kodak Easyshare stuff, which to me is what a stinking iPhone is. If you're just a point & shooter and are attending with license to take "social snaps," then so be it, so long as you don't get in the way of any professionals who are covering the event with their skill set & high-caliber equipment.
The camera is not the begin-all & end-all, but of course it matters. Else why even bother having an SLR available for sale to start with? I suppose Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Olympus, Sony etc should just fold up their tents with the lens business and SLR business altogether? I mean, if the camera doesn't matter, why stop there--why not bring back pinhole cameras, or Kodak disc cameras, because the camera apparently doesn't matter AT ALL, PERIOD?
For everyday stuff, a smartphone camera is probably fine, hence the subject of this article. That's fine by me. However, a wedding is not everyday stuff. Show some respect for a REAL professional, have some respect for someone who is willing to lug the big stuff to get the quality goods and has the skill set they do. Heck I am into hobbyist photography but I respect someone who's a professional and can get the shots. But call yourself a "professional" with an iPhone at a wedding, or tell me National Geographic has commissioned you to go to the Grand Canyon to photograph it & you've showed up with a smartphone instead of a Nikon D800, D600 or even D3200 etc--I've automatically dismissed you, and rightly so. You might as well call yourself an electrician and show up with a Light Brite and Erector kit.
For everyday stuff, a smartphone camera is probably fine, hence the subject of this article. That's fine by me. However, a wedding is not everyday stuff. .
I agree. For 90% of the population the basic P&S or quality smartphone camera is all they want or need.
Sometimes you are in a situation where you don't have your SLR handy and a shot presents itself. Out comes the iPhone. And (shot by dtr in law)...
they are nice shots of the family because they contain family members but to the rest of us who are photographers they are nothing special and look like nothing special cell phone shots by artistic standards to be honest.
for most folks thats all they want or need. but most photographers demand alot more from their equipment than cell phones can deliver at this stage.
Last edited by mathjak107; 01-09-2014 at 05:11 PM..
The best cell phone will never replace the best P&S. Simple.
Agreed. There is no way my iPhone camera can compare with my Lumix OR my G12. Both provide far superior images, and offer far more in features. My phone is just for those times when I don't have my camera(s) around.
What a closed-minded attitude.
Did you even look at the photos linked to by kdog? They're pretty darned good.
If the client and the photographer agree on what equipment is to used and everybody knows what to expect and then get results as lovely as that, it's really not your place to decide that it's somehow wrong.
Well, no, they are really just very unspectacular, everyday photos. I'd be very unhappy if that is what I wound up with as my wedding photos.
I can see doing it as an experiment, just to see how the pics turned out. But I'd have had a professional there with a real camera, for the real photos.
Well, no, they are really just very unspectacular, everyday photos. I'd be very unhappy if that is what I wound up with as my wedding photos.
I can see doing it as an experiment, just to see how the pics turned out. But I'd have had a professional there with a real camera, for the real photos.
Right, but you knew going in that iPhone photos aren't your favorite -- you made that pretty clear in your last post. And that's absolutely fine.
But it's also absolutely fine that some people have different taste. Obviously some people actually prefer iPhone photos run through Instamatic filters. That couple WANTED a professional photographer to shoot their wedding with an iPhone. They sought one, found one willing to do it, and hired her. I'll bet they are quite pleased with those photos you're not impressed with. They're not likely the first iPhone photos they've seen, you know? They knew what to expect and that is what they wanted.
I am not arguing that iPhones are as good as DSLR's. All I take exception to is the attitude that any kind of art is categorically bad just because it doesn't suit an individual's taste, and that a photographer who uses an iPhone to shoot a wedding is somehow an insult to the entire industry. If a couple seeks iPhone photos for their wedding, they'll get much better photos from a professional photographer (one who's familiar with iPhone photography, that is) than they will from an amateur. The photographer is not in my opinion acting unprofessionally or somehow disrespecting photography in general.
That being said, when I shoot weddings I'm strapped with two 7D's and L lenses. That couple would have had no interest in hiring me. They wanted their wedding shot with an iPhone. That is their taste, their preference. I'm not saying it's right -- but it for damned sure isn't wrong either. It's their opinion. Some people like caviar. Some people really do prefer microwave fish sticks.
the issue is more a case that very few folks who are capable of doing anything of real quality would be doing it on an i-phone.
i have seen some real pro's crank out beautiful stuff on their phone that is stunning but it was more to accept a challenge or make a point rather than something they would do seriously all the time.
most folks who take i-phone photos as their main source of photo taking usually have a skill level that produces snap shots and not real quality work.
it is not say the phones can't ,only that an i-phone and low skill set usually go together since you are dealing with the masses.
i use my phone camera from time to time but i have yet to even post 1 photo taken with it.
anything i post has to be the best i can do at any given time. i don't believe in getting brownie points because it was an i-phone or it is straight out of camera.
if it can't compete with the best i can do i will never post it for public viewing .
while we all may have camera phone pictures that mean something to us because it is loved ones or special events the fact is it means nothing to anyone else unless it has good photographic traits that hold the publics attention.
we have all kinds of stuff posted here and when you comment about problems in a photo they tell you the photo means something to them and my answer is well than why post it for us ? unless it represents quality work it just ends up being eye clutter for the rest.
we have beginner photographers here who post all the time and some of their stuff is quite good for their skill set. it won't compete with a pro's work but it isn't just a snap shot either and it is certainly worthy of posting here..
i guess what i am saying is camera phones have made everyone a photographer now and we have far to much worthless clutter being posted on photography forums just cluttering things up .
it is not the camera phone as much as the skill set that usually accompanies it.
but that is my own opinion.
Last edited by mathjak107; 01-10-2014 at 04:18 AM..
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