One of the advantages the mobile photography (i.e. taking photos with your mobile device) has over the classic photography with a DSLR is the level of creativity freedom you gain. Not only that you don´t have to get the beast out of the cage, set it up and perhaps change the lense… missing the moment… you get a different approach to the photo per se, too.
Let me explain: nobody expects technical perfection from a picture taken with mobile, at least not comparing it to a DSLR picture. So, you just hold up the device… and shoot! You don´t think too much about the aperture, the ISO, the speed or the white balance. Forget the histogramm. You look on the screen and tap. That´s it. The moment has been captured, you check it and you´re happy. Perhaps, as a step beyond, you then open an app and beginn to process the image with some fancy filters and share it with your friends. Nobody will criticize the technical aspects of the image. All the viewers will do is (hopefully) enjoy the picture and even comment it. The main point of this procedure was not to get the technically perfect image, but get the subjective moment. Even if the picture is unsharp, nobody will care ´cause the intention is another. You´re transporting an emotion or a moment that was important for you. That´s why you took out the mobile and snapped.
Try the following experiment: next time, when you go out shooting with the DSLR, take along your mobile. Shoot what you have to shoot with the big cam, but have the mobile handy. I bet there will be many moments when you wont unpack the biest, but snap the mobile and tap. Or even take the same motif with both. Afterwards, when you´re back home, compare the pictures from both devices. You´ll be surprised to realize that often your whole visual language will be different. Not only because you have a fixed focal length on the mobile (you could mimmic that with the DSLR, too), but because your approach to the motif will be different. Just try it out 🙂
Take for example the picture of the chicken above… this funny fellow was walking around the tables in a restaurant in Bali, Indonesia, cackling. He moved very quickly and never stood still. If I would have taken out the DSLR of the bag… I probably would have scared the hell out of him. But as my mobile was lying on the table… I snapped it and tapped. Yes, the pictures is unsharp… but that doesn´t matter in this case. It was all about the moment/subject. We all enjoyed the situation and till today I use this picture for many occasions.
Here are some samples I have shot with my Samsung S3:
The mobile device also allows you to really unleash your creativity regarding many ways of “making” the pictures. Check this video for some ideas:
And nope, the Mobile Photography isn´t better than the classic DSLR… it´s just a different approach. As always: it´s not the gear, it´s the eyes of the Photographer.
More of my mobile pictures here.
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