I’ve started posting pictures that I am taking during this crazy time here. I’ve chosen to use black and white images because there is a lot of mixed light in the home (natural, incandescent, LCD, fluorescent) and I find the colors difficult to manage and off-putting. I’m electing to lift the shadows and keep the images brighter than I usually would because I want to have details in the shadows in my poorly lit home … the details for a project like this are most important, I think.
It is funny, really. I have $2000+ worth of camera equipment in my office and I’ve started a photo project with my $400 cell phone. I would be ashamed of myself if not for how wonderfully pragmatic the decision is.
I LOVE my real “camera”. The images from my Olympus are great and far exceed the quality of the images that are coming from my Pixel. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll never print any of the images larger than 4×6. None of them are going to end up framed on the wall of my house. Maybe they’ll be in a photo book with captions. Maybe not. This is about documenting memories only, not creating ‘art’.
The cell phone is always in my pocket. The cell phone is easier to keep clean and disinfected. I can edit the images on the spot with the same black and white setting that I will use with all the images. The cell phone has “night mode”, which can offer more authentic images in low light than my Olympus, even with image stabilization. The cell phone sends the images directly to my PC for upload to the blog. But most importantly, the cell phone shoots wider than my widest available lens.
I am eager to get the last of my prime lens for the Olympus: it is the brand’s most expensive non-Pro lens at 12mm, so I have been waiting to save up for it while filling my bag with the cheaper lens that were on my list. Unfortunately, money is gonna be tight for a while, and my widest available focal length right now is only 14mm. I want the 12mm/f2.0, because that 2mm makes a difference. The Pixel? It is wider than my 14mm and offers me that perspective I am looking for: it is better at offering a glimpse into my experience. It best illustrates the feeling of being distant and apart from the family. It makes them look like they are far away as they feel. Like they are out of reach.
I could very easily put a flash on my camera and get out a zoom and take some really sweet and well-composed environmental portraits of the family over the next few weeks. I still may, if I can find a way to bride them into participation. But for this job and this little personal project, my cell phone is doing just fine (even when the photographer using it isn’t).