Yesterday found me at Las Vegas’s Foundation Room, on the top floor. But it did not find my camera there. I had to check my camera and camera bag before entering the elevator. Not allowed.
This annoys me no end. We see more and more of it and it is not good. Usually the control freaks use “terrorism” as the reason, but surprise surprise: in Vegas it’s “money”. Apparently, some pro made some money from pictures taken from this bar – so now, all cameras are banned.
Except cell phone cameras.
And today, these can do pretty decent pictures. So I made it my point to get a nice pic or two. And here’s what my iPhone 5 did in panorama mode:
You really have to see that in full size screen mode: click until you see the size I uploaded it at (1600 pixels wide, not counting the margin). And you will see it is good enough for a nice print. Take that, Foundation Room!
Moral of the story: learn to use your cell phone; it may be the only camera you carry and it can do decent work.
At ruins in Cozumel, we were told a dSLR was fine, even in movie mode, because it looks like a still camera. If we used a movie camera they will want to charge extra!
I was in NYC a couple weeks ago, and taking a picture of a window inside the 72nd St. subway station with an Olympus XA2 film camera…when I was accosted by a nosy lady (55 or so) who demanded to know what I was photographing, etc. I told her I was a photographer, and that it was none of her business, but she persisted to the point I had to tell her more forcefully to move along. Which she did…sort of, because she planted herself 10 feet away and just kept staring at me. I had another camera hanging from a strap, was using a film camera and was clearly a tourist (wearing a Boston Red Sox cap), but this woman seemed to think I was part of some sleeper cell casing the joint for a suicide bomb attack.
The funny part was when my 4-year-old started asking me out loud (with the nosy woman still nearby and within earshot) things like, “Why is that woman mean,” and “Did you say you were taking pictures?” and “Daddy, I want to leave” etc.
An Olympus XA2, that’s what was funny to me. Not like I had the SLR and hugest zoom lens on or anything.
The camera phone is another tool available to the photographer, much like a lens, extra flash or second body. It can be used where the DSLR is prohibited, not suitable or it’s your only camera handy. Using your camera phone in a way that is not obtrusive is a skill that can be practiced. Photojournalist Michael Christopher Brown (wounded by shrapnel in Misratah, Libya, April 20, 2011) express the view; “He uses the phone because in some situations it’s simply the best tool for the job.” Read his article in Jan 2013 Digital PhotoPro titled “iPhone Photojournalism”
http://www.digitalphotopro.com/technique/camera-technique/iphone-photojournalism.html