Thoughts on Photography

Those who follow my blog have read a number of posts documenting my recent trip to Florida. If not, that’s OK . . . I only mention them as a reference. 

All of the photos on those posts were taken, processed, and published from my SmartPhone. Mind you, I also snapped many photos with my Nikon (although not as many as some of my previous trips).

The thing is, the phone (a Samsung Note II) takes decent photos, and I use apps on that same phone to add interest, enhance the photos, and in general make them presentable.

This begs the question . . . did I need to bring my full complement of gear on this particular trip? Mind you, I would have missed out on some photos one cannot take with any smart phone, at least not any phone I am familiar with.

But, if the point is to share an experience, the argument could be made the photos I did share were sufficient to entertain those who were interested in the subject, and posting the photos taken with the Nikon using the very expensive (and heavy) lenses would not have added anything to the reader’s experience.

“Oh yeah? Prove it!”

“Why, that’s an excellent idea, Bob.”

Let’s start with the Florida Keys.

This was the first photo from the Keys.

This is the approximate same photo from the “real” camera.

Now, this is not exactly apples and oranges since the one for the camera is smaller (an unfortunate slip in my awareness; I uploaded a slightly smaller size than I intended when I did the original post).

Still, one can immediately see a difference in quality and, somewhat important, the zoom. Now, one can “zoom” with the phone as well, but it’s what I charitably call Crap Zoom. You see, it’s not a zoom at all. They are just magnifying the original picture. A True Zoom (Optical Zoom) actually gives you more information, retains the clarity and detail, and it’s much, much better than Digital Zoom (a.k.a. Crap Zoom).

Here’s the second photo.

Now, I happen to like this photo, especially since the vulture was flying toward me at the time.

Here is a similar photo from the Nikon.

Definitively, the resolution and color rendition is better. For one, I have more control in the processing of the Nikon Photo. For another, it has three times the resolution and better dynamic range.

Notice that on the phone photos I play with borders, shading, etc. to make the photo more interesting. I could do the same with the Nikon photo, but for this discussion, I didn’t bother.

Plus, here’s another thing about Optical Zoom. I can show you what the bridge looks like.

Oh, did I mention? You should be able to click on the Nikon photos to open the original in a new window, then click on it to zoom to original resolution (unless WordPress loses the links, as it usually does). They are BIG files . . . don’t click unless you have a fast Internet connection.

Edited To Add: WordPress did lose the links. HERE is the SmugMug album link. Bastards! That was a lot of work!

The zoom also lets you frame the subject in the picture. You have no control with the phone camera. You get what it sees.

The last photo from the Keys was of the vine on the beach.

This is not bad . . . this is better, but not by much. 

Unless you click on the picture and look at it at full resolution. But, who the heck does that? I mean, I usually link to the SmugMug albums with the originals of the photos on these blog posts, and hardly anyone ever clicks on the links. (edited to add – album HERE)

So, from the Keys . . . I call it even. Unless I had made the comparison, most people would be, and probably still are, satisfied with the pictures from the phone camera.

Oh, by the way . . . here’s a couple from around Jupiter, Florida, which would not be possible with the phone camera, as both of these required a long zoom.

OK, let’s move to Epcot . . . Don’t worry; I won’t flood you with photos until the Magic Kingdom.

Here’s the one from the phone.

Not bad, not bad. 

They are not clipped or treated the same, and Alice is on the one from the Nikon, but I’m calling these a draw as well . . . maybe even a slight nod to the one from the phone camera. The casual reader would not care which I posted.

By the way, what the heck is Alice doing at Epcot? Never mind.

Here is one from Epcot that could only be gotten with the Nikon and my fast telephoto zoom.

This is a crop (still about 2500×2000 pixels) of Gary Senise doing a reading. It does not look like it, but he was in semidarkness, about 100 yards away. Not a great photo, but I wondered about all the people next to me snapping away with their phone cameras . . . I don’t think they got anything usable.

Right . . . on to Magic Kingdom.

From the previous posts, using the phone camera.

See, I kind of like this . . . it has the ‘magical’ feel of the place.

. . . but I think this is better framed (and I could add the border if I wanted). Not only that, if you click on the photo go to the gallery, you can see the netting used for the lighting of the castle after dark. Again, not a necessity for the casual reader.

Here is the phone street picture . . . 

How can anyone compete with a cute girl in a princess costume?

For the purpose of showing there were WAY too many people, either photo will do. However, nod to Samsung photo for better processing and composition given the subject.

And here we are, the castle at night . . . 

From the phone, a random sampling.

Not bad . . . here are the camera photos.

I think these look a tad better . . . still, enough to make a difference to the reader? Maybe. Certainly to anyone who looks at them at full resolution.

Plus, the phone camera could not capture these next ones, where the lighting was lowered, and different themes were projected onto the castle.

I think it would have captured these next ones because of the extra light.

But I know it would have had trouble with this one (as we were leaving).

So here we are, and not done yet . . . 

There’s still a poll to take.

Personally, I think I will get less views from when I post my Nikon photos than when I posted the ‘live’ reporting from my trip. Which points to maybe paring down the amount of equipment I travel with. 

Unless, of course, I’m doing animal or landscape photography. For this trip, the phone was almost enough.

Well, that’s it . . . another lo-o-ong post in the can.

. . . and my throat is still very sore.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ o o o o o o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Astute persons might have noticed these doodles, and correctly surmised they hold some significance for me, and perhaps for humanity at large.  

If you click on the doodle, and nothing happens, this is the link it’s supposed to go to: https://disperser.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/palm-vx-and-i/.

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. . .  my FP ward  . . . chieken shit.