iPhone 6S | alan frost photography

Posts tagged ‘iPhone 6S’

Starting to see again…..

If you read my last post (Photographic Purpose?) you will know that I have taken very few images in recent months. There are lots of reasons but there is one factor – I wasn’t seeing anything to photograph. Even if did see something I wouldn’t have a camera with me, with the possible exception of my old iPhone of course.

Photography is like any creative hobby, you have to keep practising and it’s very easy to get out of the habit of taking and making new images. You stop looking partly because you don’t expect to see anything and over time the brain no longer sees pictures. It becomes a vicious circle and the longer this situation continues the more difficult it is to break what has become a destructive habit.

I used to play a lot of golf but to keep my handicap down I needed to play regularly. If I didn’t play for a few weeks then my game would suffer. However one good strike during a round would help to restore my confidence and inspire me to play more.

Photography is no different. The above image was taken yesterday and during processing it immediately reminded me of the great moody black and white landscapes by Don McCullin. A photographer whose work I very much admire.

I find this one image quite inspirational, not because it’s a great image, it isn’t perfect by any means. But because of what it represents. The fact that I am ‘starting to see’ again and as importantly want to reach for the camera when a scene unfolds before me.

The fact the camera was my old iPhone 6 doesn’t matter, although I am constantly amazed how much processing in Photoshop can be done before the image starts to degrade. Yes, I would have preferred a more detailed file to work with, and there are elements of the composition which could have been improved had I stopped to think about what I was doing.

Nevertheless each new image I take is a step back to where I would like to be – taking, making and sharing new images on a regular basis.

A walk in the Piddle Valley – what camera should I use?

If I head out with the specific intention of making photographs then I will always take one or maybe two 35mm full frame cameras and a choice of lenses depending upon what I am hoping to achieve. I may also have with me a set of Lee filters and quite possibly a tripod. I have never been a huge fan of tripods but sometimes you just can’t be without one. Carrying this lot for several miles is not that much fun.

The Dunes – requests for a mono conversion

A few weeks ago I posted this image of The Dunes at East Head in colour. You can view it here. I had a number of comments, for which I am always grateful. They all had one thing in common – they expressed a desire to see a black and white version. Well here it is and I am pleased with the result, so thanks everyone for the suggestion.

I guess my only disappointment is that it was taken using an iPhone – nothing wrong with camera phones these days but when I came to processing the photograph, I just wish I had been able to work on an 18MB RAW file from my Leica Monochrom. The flexibility, dynamic range and the depth of detail from a full frame file would have been a joy to have at my disposal.

When the forecast is right I shall return with the Leica but I always remember that any photograph is capturing a moment in time which will never be repeated – and that’s why this hobby has such an enduring interest, as no two photographs can ever be the same.

The Dunes – East Head, West Sussex

I have said it before, and I’ll say it again, but East Head on the West Sussex coast must be one of my favourite places. I am so fortunate to live nearby and I try not to take it for granted, which would be a very easy thing to do.

Strangely I rarely visit this location specifically to take photographs, as it is really dog walking territory. As a result most of my images taken here are opportunistic, and are often captured on my iPhone. This shot is just such an example. The clouds were wonderful and the sun lit the dunes in the foreground. The sands were rippled from the wind and luckily were pure; not a paw print in sight! The grasses too were bending in the wind and a lone figure below the patch of blue sky completes the scene. How lucky I am to have such a beautiful place on my doorstep.

Out of the shadow – seizing the moment

Out of the shadow

I don’t regard myself as a street photographer but I do think of myself as an opportunist. With only my iPhone to hand, I was out and about and spotted the stark contrast between what I considered to be an interesting wall, with its mixture of windows and drain pipes, and the deep shadow cast by a building on my side of the road. I found it appealing but the missing ingredient was a person walking in front of the partly obscured window. I didn’t have to wait very long before a woman approached the scene, pulling a shopping trolley and with her head well wrapped in a head scarf. iPhone at the ready and the shot was taken.

The image was processed in Silver Efex Pro. I further accentuated the shadow, added some grain, and a border which I very rarely do, but I felt it suited this particular photograph.

An iPhone is a great street camera. Everyone these days seems to have a mobile phone in their hand on an almost permanent basis and if they aren’t looking at the screen, you know it will not be very long before they next do so. In essence they are totally unobtrusive and nobody knows you are taking a photograph with a smartphone because they are so prolific. They are virtually silent in operation and you could just as easily be texting your best friend and not taking a photograph at all.

So whilst for me a phone will never replace my camera, they do allow you to seize the moment when the opportunity presents itself.