Gone are the days where the only way to make a great photo entailed lugging around an arsenal of expensive cameras and gear. Practically every mobile phone on the market now has a digital camera to rival dedicated point-and-shoot cameras. Add an impressive battery of photo applications that intensify colors, crop photos, add creative borders and instantly an image that would have taken hours in front of a computer with photo software savvy to produce can be zapped to the world wide web.
To be sure, the aforementioned arsenal of camera gear is still necessary for professional photo shoots, advertising and editorial photography. Higher quality cameras capable of exceptional clarity, capturing fast action and properly recording the ever-changing spectrum of light will always be necessary for specific tasks. Add to this a wide range of high quality lenses for various angles and depths of field and advanced user or professional cameras are hard to rival.
However, for the daily consumer, the home-photojournalist, the ever improving quality and portability of mobile phone cameras allows for the seemingly unlimited cataloging of daily breakfasts, adorable babies and glorious sunsets. Bloggers can showcase the dinner featured in their blog and social networks are bursting at the seams with vacation photos, cute pets, fashion and food all uploaded to the internet instantly with the push of a button.
In addition to the seemingly endless barrage of every day activities, mobile phones can be used to capture the instantaneously dynamic world. A late-breaking news story or carefully composed images can add credibility to any blog or aspiring photo journalist's webpage. To practice these skills, head out for a walk.
Baltimore offers great opportunities to explore this new form of instant photography. Making a quick photo is now as easy as tilting a mobile phone to get a creative angle. Try making simple photos first without subjecting them to filters and alterations. Look through a series of photos to see what catches the eye, what composition is personally pleasing. Once these basics are achieved, try modifying the images with photo applications. Start out with modest modifications as it can be quite easy to bog a photo down with excessive manipulations that mask the original subject.
For monuments and architecture, a walk up Charles Street from the Inner Harbor will provide a plethora of details; the Grand Historic Tremont and the Washington Monument to name a few. Once a skill set is developed for making photos and utilizing the editing applications, different subject matter can be explored.
From daily cataloging to creative documenting and photojournalism, anything is possible with a well-rounded skill set, and with creative and cleverly enhanced images. Adhere to the "less is more" rule and use a light hand with editing especially when trying to maintain credibility or bring a specific object or moment to light. For all other artistic visions, there are no rules.
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