I used to always think that in order to take a good picture you needed a good camera. It never mattered how good these phone cameras were or how good they would get, I would always tell myself a photo from my camera is better. In the past few months, I’ve learned it’s not and that the camera on my phone is the one that is always there when I need it. Though it may not be able to capture the photo exactly how I picture it, I am still able to use it to capture photos that are interesting to me without having to carry around an actual camera.It all started when I was doing real estate videos, but I didn’t have to do the photography because it was either already done or someone else was handling that while I focused on the video. So because of the fact I was not doing photos, I would put everything into the video which created one huge problem. How was I supposed to photograph these places, things or rooms if I was just doing video? I could take a screen grab sure, but that was not the solution. I had my phone in my pocket and I wanted to challenge myself to be able to shoot a home with my phone as well as I could with a camera. From there, it all began.

As I started to get used to taking photos with my phone, I began to like it more and more. I started to look at it as a way to practice keeping all my angles and lines straight while hand holding the camera which used to be very difficult to do. Now that I have started doing this so much, I realize I am getting a lot better at paying attention to my angles and controlling them, even with some of my handheld video shots. I find it pretty cool that I am able to shoot the way I do with my phone and whenever something interests me when I am out and about or at a job, I know that I can take my phone out and grab a nice photo. Not every photo is perfect from my phone and it is still very difficult to achieve some good shots yet being able to edit on an app like Instagram alone can make these photos look more like you want them to.

My favorite thing to shoot with my phone would be architecture and design, I find it very interesting to look at some of this stuff and have an appreciation for the way it looks and the work that went into it. In the photo below, I was walking up to my aerial shoot at a 25 million dollar home in Alpine NJ. While I was waiting for the home owner to open the door I decided to look up to see this grand entry way. Right away I saw a lot of symmetry and patterns and knew that was a photo I had to take my phone out for. In the photo below with the staircase, I was shooting at a wedding in NYC and my buddy Tom was shooting family portraits in that lower space. After everyone cleared out, he had the couple dance there and pose so we could take some photos and grab a few videos. When I was done actually filming what I needed to, I asked Tom to have them dance one more time so that I could get the shot I did on my phone. There is plenty more that interests me when it comes to using my phone for photography, but a lot of the time its a quick, impulsive little thought to just go ahead and grab a photo because it cant hurt.

Conclusion:

Try it. It really has opened my eyes to be able to use a pretty basic camera to capture a few things that interested me. I love to share these photos on Instagram when I feel that they are pretty good and I am proud to say that they were taken on my phone. It’s funny to think that I was able to change my mind about the phone camera because of how strict I was about just using a camera for all of my photography. If it is a thought in anyones mind that a phone doesn’t take “good” pictures, let it go and look at the phone as a way to just practice something you already do. Use it to shoot things that you find interesting and find a way to make these phone photos something you are proud of.