Camera phone (mobile photography)

I have been rather harsh in my views on mobile phones and their cameras and whilst I still think they have many limitations.  I do think they are great for certain kinds of photography.

So I thought I would just post a couple of images taken with my Samsung Galaxy Note 4.  The Note 4 has been around for a few years but was class leading when it came out and that included its camera.  Now camera phone technology has come along way in the last couple of years, with multiple lenses and various extra features but with the main lens, not much is different.  The Note 4 has a 16mp sensor, which is more than enough (it is 10mp more than my first DSLR).  The sensor doesn't have the low light ability or dynamic range of a DSLR or mirrorless camera but if you know what you are doing, that doesn't hugely matter.  

My local park

Phone are great for landscape photos, their lenses are wide and because of their size, very easy to carry around.

This photo was taken whilst walking my dog on a crisp winters morning.  I shot down low to separate the trees on the left from the main tree.  The sun was behind me, which lit the tree nicely.  Now if am going to critique this photo properly, I would say the problems are on the right of the image.  The first problem is the trees on the right, which are very distinctive in the image because of the amount of sun light falling on them.  In theory I could change this in Photoshop, by either reducing the light or if my Photoshop skills were good enough removing the trees completely.  The second issue is the vapour trails left by planes flying from London City Airport.  Again this issue could easily be resolved buy editing way the trails. 

The second image is probably the favourite I have taken with my phone and again involves Reggie

Reggie's Holiday

This second photo I have edited and I feel it is a very strong photo for a variety of reasons.

I recently went down to Margate with Reggie.  It has been over 6 months since my mother passed away and she always love living in Westbrooke and taking her dog Jamie to the beach.  Reggie, has only been to the beach once before and the tide was out, so he didn't go anywhere near the sea.

This time the tide was in and he was a little afraid to go near the water. Apart of the beach at Westbrook doesn't have the tide come fully in, so I took Reggie onto the beach.  Whilst walking, next to the incoming tide, Reggie did various things, the first being to taste the water (he didn't like that much), then run away from the waves, which at first scared him a little.

We then got to a point where the beach was slightly lower and the tide had reached the sea wall.  Now I am slightly devious and wondered if Reggie would go into the water (as you can see it isn't very deep), so I walked towards the water and Reggie took a few steps in (I of course stopped).  To my surprise Reggie, continued going further (at one point laying down (he soon realised this wasn't a good idea).  Reggie continued walking around and I took various photos.  This was the second last photo before he decided he had had enough.

So the first important part of this photo for me, is meaning and memory.  I will always have this image and will remember the day because of it.

The second part of this photo is, it is a good photo, with everything done well.  The lighting is nice, and the sky to sea ratio works well.  I took the photo from low, so Reggie is on the top right thirds, looking left.  The waves drive the viewers view to Reggie and the brightest part of the image is Reggie's face.  There are a contrast of colours and tones, with the blue sky and white cloud, contrasting well with the sea, seaweed and beige sand. 

Now in post production I have done a few things.  I have slightly cropped the image.  I have also removed the ships and wind turbines from the image.  I have also removed the fencing on from the island, which was a unnatural distraction.

For me this is almost the perfect photo to sum up the day and it means a huge amount to me.  It was only 1 moment in a day but that moment was for me perfect and I have it for the rest of my life.