* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #798 / Revived #018 on 2023 08 02 *

HI David,
I don't think that I have seen you around here much, before this week, so welcome!
(It is possible that you already participated in the past weeks, but I have been an "absentee landlord" recently, so please excuse me then.)

About your observation on gear used:

I think that a recent generation Iphone (mine is still an 11 and we are already at generation 14) are quite capable image makers (with fairly decent small lenses and making use of some extensive software trickery, no doubt).

On this hike, I also carried a small "real" camera in my shoulderbag and I have used it extensively with all three small lenses.
For such a hike in expected good light, I take the old Panasonic GM5 body (no IS, but it is the smallest interchangeable lens camera with a real viewfinder).
And for lenses, I take the Pany's kit lens 12-32 mm, then the small plastic but quite good Olympus 40-150mm lens to give me more telephoto options, and an Olympus 9-18mm lens for wider.
That gives satisfactory range and results in good light. I add a fast prime when I know it is gonna get darker or if I want shallower DOF (portraits).
(But none of it is weathersealed, so walking under a waterfall is a bit scary - I carry a waterproof backpack ...
but if the shot is too tempting, I WILL use the camera without swapping lenses. No accidents so far...)

The results from that camera are still on a hard disk and will join the long waiting queue for processing.
It will include an image very similar to the one above. When I see a truly great scene, I always double-shoot with camera AND phone.
When I get to them, they will yield better results and more options, being shot in RAW.
But that is the trouble with my "real" photography : it always still needs that post-processing.

The main benefit of the iphone (any smartphone) is its immediacy : images can get a quick touch-up and they are ready to be shown to the world.
I understand the appeal, although I also still keep my real cameras.

But gear, in the end, does not matter.
What matters is the image. That is also the philosophy of this thread.
Compared with literature, photography is about the novel, and not about the typewriter it was written on.
(Although I am nerd enough to enjoy talking about gear too, and I especially love the experiments some of our gang make with extraordinary equipment.

Interesting idea that 've I've also worked with for years -- photography from the passenger's seat. .. Sometimes it is random and sometimes a bit like sports photography with pre-plan, anticipation, surprises, momentary decisions, success and disappointment as you don't get a do over . ... This picture adds the idea of motion and maybe reflects about that passing of a desirable location to stop .. The kind of story I would have made up from this shot .... I would have cropped a bit differently but not sure how that effects the story .... I will think about this for a while because this is the kind of photography I often indulge in ....

WhyNot

Great picture, of course ..... read that this is an iPhone picture! .. Like David, I find these phones ergonomically terrible and for a picture like this I probably would have never even thought about taking it out of my pocket ..... That said they do take good pictures. I too use the iPhone 11 as I get hand me downs when my wife gets a new phone .. The 11 is new to me and has many new features not found on the previous 8 that I had .. often I realize that I'm just pushing the buttons as the phone takes pictures that it likes!!!! I'll have to post some of it's choice some day ...

WhyNot

I've taken photos from the passenger seat of a moving automobile, but it was years ago. It is so much fun to see what "develops!" MinnieV will remember the name of the gentleman we knew on another forum who had many successful gallery showings with his views from 80 miles per hour.

The Impressionist look, colors and composition are highly appealing to me. The merging of the line of umbrellas is a great result.

Simplejoy's curved version puts me immediately in mind of this small, fragile blue planet we humans call home.

I love everything about this photo! There's a nice sense of organization and "grounding" with the darkest building placed at bottom. The glimpses of blue sky in three forms (straight and clear beyond the gaps of the buildings, the reflections, the view through the grid) seem placed in perfect positions to make me wander through the whole. The poles and canopy keep me from flying off into space. I can't describe my response as well as I'd like; just know I'm quite awed!

This is challenging me. I probably read too much "news" online because my first thought was this is a homeless person. I need to consider its being a jogger who decided to take a nap after a hot run, or a dad taking a break from a game of baseball with his kids. The image is displaying quite dark for me; is that your intent? I am trying to peer into the shadows of the trees for details. Also, the darker view lessens my sense of a sultry summer day.

I think you are right .. I thought its upload was a bit darker than I remembered it but even the original may have been to dark for the day .. I revisited it after your comment

Brighter, warmer , different .. but I don't think it changes the story much ... I think he is a jogger as the homeless usually have a few more of their belongings with them! and this is not a usual stopping place without a hammock -- that bench is short and uncomfortable ... I've tried it ........ Thanks for the critique ...

WhyNot

De Wedding ....

Thanks for looking, Lou

A good image, very good, it has a typical balance, but it works. Like it Chris

Good point about lack of possessions. I smiled at your having personally tried the bench and found it lacking in both comfort and space 😀 Thanks much.

Lovely. You say I should be familiar with the subject but I can't figure out what it is!

Great document of the moment in time. I like your pp, almost dreamy colours. One has to increase the size to appreciate various details.

Drive by shooting?

Wow. Just wow. You inspire me.

Thanks for your response, Roel. I post my photos in the Canon weekly thread.

I agree with you about the iPhone and about the image and results being the final arbiter. But I think you are very "brave" to carry all that gear with you. I usually go out with my Canon R6 an RF24-240 and a prime lens, usually 16mm, though if I want to travel light I take a Sony RX-100 (34-70mm equiv). I never worked out how to control the exposure with the phone!

David

I find the bolded part very interesting. While I agree with your assessment of this being an amazing shot, I initially wanted to mention that it clearly looks like a phone shot at full magnifcation, (but then didn't because I thought it to be self explanatory anyway, and at the sizes necessary for 99% of what we do with our images, it's more than enough). Don't get me wrong - it still looks very good for an (let's be realistic here) already pretty old phone and I'm quite happy with my iphones ability to take pictures anywhere I go.

Just thought it's interesting how our perspectives on that are so different. For me this image works great, when it's filling the height of my monitor... anything beyond that, and I'd say it shows what it was shot on. I'm looking forward to seeing your camera shot @RoelHendrickx ! Perhaps there's not much of a difference, but I'd be surprised if it really looks the same after some careful processing. You have to remember (and appreciate) that the iphone and other mobile phone cameras do their magic in a fraction of a second. That's something which I'm continually impressed with, even though I'm growing more and more skeptical each day, if we're not on the way of loosing our creativity by relying on overwhelmingly automatic software solutions for almost everything...

Sounds like an old man rambling? Well, yeah it does... but while I'm not yet in my 40s, I guess I'm already 80 in my heart. 😅

"All that gear" is really a very minimal package. It can fit in in the smallest of shoulder bags. I would be surprised if it topped one kilogram altogether.
The Panasonic GM-5 is smaller than most little compact cameras. And the lenses I mentioned are all mostly plastic and really light-weight.
There was a time when on mountain hikes like these, I carried an Olympus E-3 or E-5 with 12-60mm F2.8; 40-150mm F2.8 and converter, and 7-14mm F4.
I think that was roughly four times as heavy, with each piece of kit weighing as much as now the whole setup.

The Iphone does have ways to control where you focus and also to spot-meter for exposure (and then a slider for EV comp). Most people don't know about that.

I'm in my fifties, but still feeling like 35.

Mind you: this shot did get some camera-based enhancements. The picture "as shot" has a bit less contrast and vibrance, and I fiddled a bit with the sliders for dodging and burning and for black point levels etc to make it "pop" more. Every manipulation of any digital image relies on software. Some of it can be automated, but for best results, a quick human intervention is still the way to go. (I don't or hardly ever use pre-baked filters.)