Why Not Just Shoot with Your Cell Phone?

 Dogwoods in Bloom

This photo could have been made

with a cell phone camera. (But wasn't.)

Olympus E-PL1, 14-42mm Zuiko lens.

(Blog Note: Life has been getting in the way a lot recently, so today I'm re-posting a blog from June, 2020.)

What's the point of carrying a camera, anyway?

Cell phones are an easy way to to make and share spontaneous pictures in the spirit of George Eastman’s “You push the button and we do the rest.” So you might well ask “Why not just shoot with a cell phone?”

Most people, I'm sure, are perfectly happy to do just that. Why would anyone choose to fool with cameras and lenses and all that related photo paraphernalia when cell phone cameras are so convenient and capable? But there are some of us for whom cell phones just not enough.We may be a minority, but we want something more.

For me, at least, there are a number of good reasons why I choose to use a camera rather than a phone.

First, Better Pictures. When I’m out and about with a camera, I’m usually attuned, even if only on a subconscious level, to looking for things that will make good pictures. With a cell phone, not so much, although something may slap me upside the head, like the three ladies and the baby in my post of June 1, 2020. I almost didn’t go back and take that picture.

Second, Control. Cell phone cameras don’t offer much in the way of control, although they are improving in that regard. Exposure and focus are automatic, and the vast, vast majority of happy-snappers wouldn’t have it any other way. But if I want to decide what my exposure should be, whether I want much or little depth-of-field, whether I want to use a fast or slow shutter speed, or exactly where I want to focus, I need a real camera. All these capabilities are the reason we call them real cameras.

Dall Sheep in Denali National Park, Alaska

This photo could not have been taken with a

cell phone camera. Olympus OM-D E-M5,

Panasonic 14-140mm lens at 260mm equivalent.

Third, Capability. Most cell phone cameras come with a somewhat wide-angle lens. If I want a lens with a wider angle of view, or a normal or telephoto field of view, I need a real camera.

Fourth, Quality. Cell phone cameras have very small sensors. And while some of them are surprisingly good, everything else being equal, the larger sensors in real cameras will always be sharper and clearer, especially in larger prints.

 

Fifth, The Intangibles. A good camera gives me pleasure that a cell phone simply cannot provide. There’s the pleasure of owning and using an object of high quality workmanship. There’s the pleasure of mastering and using the skills necessary to operate such a complex tool. And finally, as I said in my previous post, I simply like cameras. I like holding them (don't call it fondling, please) I like reading about them, and I especially like using them.

Different strokes for different folks.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     cell phones     Olympus E-PL1 digital camera     Olympus Zuiko 14-42mm lens    Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-140mm lens     Olympus E-M5 digital camera     Alaska     Dall sheep

Devlin Discovers the Sprinkler

 

Devlin gets sprayed.

This will be a short post because we just got home and it's late. Our water heater went out last week, and while we wait for a replacement we've been going to our son's house on the other side of town to take showers. So I'm just going to write a few words about how I find photographs.

I don't much go out looking for photographs these days, especially since we moved to Knoxville. There was a time when I did, but most of my photographs for the last several years have come from magazine or book assignments, self-generated projects, or out of my life as I lived it. 

Family, at least if you have one like mine, can be a rich source of photos if you keep your eyes open and your camera handy. This is my grandson Devlin, not quite three years old, becoming acquainted with a sprinkler. Devlin is 23 now, and a student at the University of Tennessee studying something so advanced I don't even know how to tell you about it. I suspect he does not consider this his finest moment. 

The photo was made in 2004 with my first digital camera, the Canon EOS 10D and a 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 EF lens.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     family      Knoxville     University of Tennessee    Canon EOS 10D     Canon EF 28-105mm lens

The Backroads Traveler: Greensboro, Georgia

The Old Rock Gaol in Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia.

Located just off Interstate 20 about 75 miles east of Atlanta, the town of Greensboro, founded in 1786, is the county seat of Greene County and is the doorway to Lake Oconee, with 400 miles of shoreline and ten championship golf courses. The population in 2024 was about 3,600.

Greensboro is notable for a number of historic buildings, including the Old Rock Gaol (Gaol is the way the English spell jail). Built in 1807, it has granite walls two feet thick and was patterned after the Bastille in Paris. The original cells and gallows are all still in place.

The Greene County Courthouse.

The Greek Revival Greene County courthouse in downtown Greensboro was built in 1848. It is the eighth oldest courthouse in Georgia and the second oldest still in use. The upper floor was designed to house the Masonic Lodge, which it does to this day.

Across the street from the courthouse is the Yesterday Cafe, famous for Buttermilk Pie and other good things. Country music star Carrie Underwood ordered 300 of the pies for her wedding reception.

At the intersection of Main and Broad streets stands McCommons Big Store, once the largest store between Atlanta and Augusta, and boasting of selling "everything from the cradle to the grave." It is now home to the Greensboro Antique Mall and other shops.

The Davis-Evans House.

On West Broad Street, next to the Methodist Church is the lovely Davis-Evans House, built in 1854. It served as the parsonage for many years and is now the Parish House.

The Happy Times House.

 The Happy Times House at 205 West Broad Street was built iin 1824 and was once a dormitory for Greensboro Female College. Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, was once a teacher there.

The Spinks-Kinitra House at 201 West Greene Street was built sometime before 1846.

One thing not to be missed in Greensboro is the Ripe Thing Market at 112 West Broad. Featuring fresh, locally-grown fruits and vegetables and grass-fed hormone-free meat, poultry, and lamb, they also serve outstanding home-made soups, deli sandwiches, and fresh-baked desserts.

(All photos were made with Olympus E-M5 digital cameras and the Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-32mm lens.)

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     travel      Georgia     Greensboro    Greene County     Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-32mm lens     Olympus E-M5 digital camera

A New Picture for Summer

Butterfly on azaleas, Deer Run Farm, McLemore Cove, Walker County, Georgia.

Blog Note: I apologize for not posting on Wednesday. I had an outpatient procedure which kept me in a bit of a funk for a few days.

For many years now, we have had a large canvas print for each season of the year hanging above our fireplace. This summer, we have a new one. It's a photo of a butterfly on some azaleas in our back yard at Deer Run Farm and was made with a Fuji X-T20 and the inexpensive but very sharp Fujinon XC 50-230mm lens.

The picture below was our winter print this year: 

It's a photograph of Chickamauga Creek and Pigeon Mountain at the back of our farm in McLemore Cove after the Great Blizzard of 1993. It was made with a Canon EOS film camera on Fujichrome 100 film and scanned with a Konica-Minolta DiMage 5400 scanner.

Having these large prints hanging where we can live with them every day is something both Louise and I enjoy very much. So far, I haven't made any photos of Knoxville/East Tennessee that I like well enough to use above our fireplace, but who knows? Maybe by this time next year. . .

You can see a few more of our fireplace panels here.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     Deer Run Farm      McLemore Cove     Chickamauga Creek     Pigeon Mountain     Georgia     Pentax 6x7 camera    Canon EOS camera     Fujicron XC 50-230mm lens     Fujichrome 100 film     Fuji X-T20 camera     Konica-Minolta DiMage 5400 scanner    Blizzard of 1993

Is Photography Better in the Digital Age?

 Clearing storm over Lookout Mountain. Walker County, Georgia

Bob Schwalberg (European editor of the now-defunct Popular Photography magazine) was once raving about the newest cameras on the market to Ernst Haas, an Austrian who was one of the leading photographers in the world. Haas shot him down with "Ach, Schwapselberg, why is it that cameras keep getting better but pictures don't get any better?"  

That's the sixty-four-dollar question, isn't it?

In this digital age it's easier than ever before to make a sharp, well-exposed photograph. But is it a better photograph? Are things like sharpness and proper exposure the criteria that make a photograph good? Or is it the content?

What do you have when you have a sharp, well-exposed picture of a boring subject? Answer: you have a boring photograph.

I can't say it won't happen in the future, but so far, at least, cameras do not come with a little signal that pops up in the viewfinder to say "Good photo. Snap now."

If only it were that easy. But no, good photographs do no come from what's in the camera. They come from what's inside the photographer. 

Since the days of George Eastman and his first Kodak, camera manufacturers have been telling people that better cameras would make them better photographers. It was a lie then, and it's a lie now.

So no, photography is not better in the digital age. But cameras are better, and it's nice to have a good one. With some study and work, you can learn to make truly good pictures with it.

The scene at the top of this post is one I passed twice a day, every day, on my way to my studio in Chattanooga. I photographed it at least 15 or 20 times before I got this shot. Persistence pays off. 

(Canon EOS A2, Canon 80-200 f2.8L lens. Not digital, but Fujichrome 100 film.)

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     Bob Schwalberg    Ernst Haas     George Eastman     Kodak    Canon EOS A2 camera     Canon EF 80-200 f2.8L lens     Fujichrome 100 film

A Birthday and a New (to Me) Car

The mighty Kia Sorento.

Last Tuesday, May 14th, was my 87th birthday. I celebrated by getting a new (to me) Kia Sorento. We started out with a list of about eight, culled from the AutoTrader listings, but this was the first one we looked at, and the one I really wanted. It was the only one on the list with a V6 engine and four-wheel-drive. After the big snow last winter I determined that our next car would have four-wheel-drive if at all possible.

In addition to that, this car seems to have every bell and whistle imaginable. I may be in a nursing home by the time I figure it all out. For that matter, figuring it all out may well put me in the nursing home.

But at least the monster truck is gone to a new home and we have space in our driveway for another car.

As to the matter of turning 87 -- it was just another day. But that doesn't mean I take it for granted. I receive every day as a gift and I'm thankful. I hope the days will continue coming for a long, long time. 

I'm grateful to God for allowing me to live so long. To be honest, I kinda hoped I might live a long time, since my father and mother lived to 90 and 91, respectively, but long life is nothing anyone can count on -- too many things can happen.

So I'm grateful. I'm grateful I was able to spend so much of my life doing things I love. I'm grateful to have spent so much of it with the woman I love -- nearly 59 years so far. I'm grateful to be a photographer, and for the places photography has taken me and the adventures I've had. 

Above all, I'm grateful to Jesus, who gave his life so that I could have eternal life.

I've been blessed far beyond anything I could ever have hoped or dreamed. And if the adventure should have a few more chapters to write, that would be even better.

Photo: Fuji X-T20 camera, Fujicron XC 16-50 mm lens.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     travel    Kia Sorento     Fuji X-T20 camera     Fujicron XC 16-50mm lens

Back to Maine: 1984

 Derelict Schooners, Wiscasset, Maine.

We went back to Maine in 1984. This time our primary purpose was not vacation, although we did do that, of course.

We had decided to send our son, Don, who was then 16, to the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, based on coastal Maine at Camden. The four-week program included camping, backpacking, canoeing, sailing, and other activities to develop self-reliance and leadership skills.

Don went up to Maine by bus and we picked him up in Camden at the end of the Outward Bound program, camped around Maine with him for a few days, then drove him across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont to the Word of Life Camp at Schroon Lake, New York while we drove back to Maine for two more weeks of vacation.

The Outward Bound program was transformative, but not immediately. The kid who couldn't focus on anything was discovered by the Outward Bound instructors to have immense powers of concentration when given a sufficient challenge.This paid off in the army when he spent ten-plus years disarming bombs. Today, he has a busy company contracting to remove unexploded ordinance from various sites and is negotiating to expand his business to the Ukraine.

Lobster shack, Cape Neddick, Maine.

Left on our own, Louise and I had a great two weeks knocking around the southeast coast of Maine, including a great week camping at the Cape Neddick campground.

I brought the Olympus OM SLRs this time, but didn't use them all that much, and, in fact, didn't get anything I care to display. I did get a few shots with my 4x5 view camera, slow and cumbersome as it is, that I like, so I'm showing them here.

A good trip in many ways, but photographically not very productive. Both photos were made on Kodak Ektachrome film. It was not until around 1987 that I switched to Fujichrome.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     travel    Maine     Cape Neddick     Wiscasset derelict schooners      Camden     Hurricane Island Outward Bound School     4x5 view camera     Olympus OM cameras     Kodak Ektachrome film