As the well-worn adage says, the best camera is the one that you have with you. Your smartphone is probably always in your pocket, and while phones tend not to lend themselves well ergonomically to documentary-style photography, they can be a useful tool. This short video tells you how to make the most of the camera that’s almost always immediately on hand.
Photographer Roman Fox is a big fan of his Fujifilm gear, but he acknowledges that having a camera swinging around your neck is not always convenient — or permitted. As he emphasizes, there are often lots of places in large cities where security guards will quickly move you on as soon as you pull out anything even remotely resembling a DSLR, but a smartphone tends not to draw any attention.
While smartphones now seem to pack in a ludicrous number of megapixels, the physical size of the sensor continues to be one of their biggest disadvantages. Fortunately, when it comes to shooting architecture and life on the street, a shallow depth of field is often not what you need. Their ability to hand low light levels is always improving, and as Fox points out in tip number four, there are means of making sure you aren’t losing information in the shadows or the highlights.
Do you have any additional tips? Be sure to leave a comment below.
