Parenting on the subway-series of 4

lizzard_nyclizzard_nyc Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
edited March 17, 2011 in Street and Documentary
EDIT--oops--meant to post this in Street/PJ:)

Two takes of each.
I have found a way I feel very comfortable shooting on the subway. If you recall I'm a longtime admirer of B.D.'s Boston subway shots (or the T I think ). I've been trying for a while to get subway shots I'm happy with first with my Olympus and then with my 5D and haven't been able to pull it off. I've only had two I'm semi happy with after countless attempts.
I feel these are very close to the kind of shots I want. I'm thrilled--BUT--they are cellphone shots. What does this mean to you?
Does it cheapen the shots?
Is it not really photography?
You are right I don't shoot this on manual--it's really just about capturing a moment and working on my comp and then tweaking the photos in post op--but is that different than say a shot taken with a GF1 set to priority or aperture mode?




1.
1217654517_ZZrA5-XL.jpg


2.
1217654545_GUkRy-XL.jpg


3.
1217654563_WYX9T-XL.jpg


4.
1217654596_ASskJ-XL.jpg
Liz A.
_________

Comments

  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,961 moderator
    edited March 16, 2011
    I moved this for you, Liz.

    My mantra is: the only thing that matters is the image. How you get it--the equipment, processing and technique--doesn't matter in the least. The image speaks for itself. If you are getting better results with a cell phone on automatic, then maybe that's the right tool for the job. Your cell phone probably has higher resolution than the P&S I was using six years ago when I first started doing photography, and I managed to get some pretty good shots with it. These are excellent, especially the first two, though I think it would be more fun if you reversed the order of them. No need to apologize or doubt yourself at all.
  • AndeeAndee Registered Users Posts: 123 Major grins
    edited March 16, 2011
    My my these are nice! I would never have guessed that these were from a cell phone. They have come a long way. Very nice!
  • sara505sara505 Registered Users Posts: 1,684 Major grins
    edited March 16, 2011
    I agree with Richard. I don't think you even needed to say how you got them, and especially not apologize.

    I'm very impressed with the quality of the image - what kind of phone does this? - my favorite is #1 - love the guy's face, in the context.
  • SyncopationSyncopation Registered Users Posts: 341 Major grins
    edited March 16, 2011
    I'm with the others. I remember reading that Walker Evans used a concealed camera to take photos on the subway and I see this as being no more than an extension of that. In fact it's less subversive in that technology no longer requires the camera to be concealed.

    Everyone has a camera of some description these days so it becomes more a question of how you choose to use it. I appreciate you taking and sharing these images as they show me something that I wouldn't otherwise see.

    Great image quality by the waythumb.gif
    Syncopation

    The virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking. - Brook Atkinson- 1951
  • bdcolenbdcolen Registered Users Posts: 3,804 Major grins
    edited March 16, 2011
    VERY nice. Classic La Liz!
    bd@bdcolenphoto.com
    "He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan

    "The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
  • lizzard_nyclizzard_nyc Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
    edited March 17, 2011
    Thanks everyone for your input. Glad to hear that.

    Syncopation, it's funny you mention this because he's the photographer I'm currently discovering.

    FYI--this was taken at 5.0 mp, but goes up to 8.0 mp. I recently upgraded from a Sprint blackberry to a HTC EVO 4.
    I hate the touch screen, I keep missing updates, battry life is horrendous, my big cheeks hit the screen which then hangs up on people DAILY--but I love, love the cameraphone, so I will keep it.

    B.D.---"La Liz"--I like the sound of that:D
    Liz A.
    _________
  • aquaticvideographeraquaticvideographer Registered Users Posts: 278 Major grins
    edited March 17, 2011
    You go, Liz!
    sara505 wrote: »
    I agree with Richard. I don't think you even needed to say how you got them, and especially not apologize.

    I'm very impressed with the quality of the image - what kind of phone does this? - my favorite is #1 - love the guy's face, in the context.

    Totally agree, these are great pics and you should NOT apologize. You should be proud for eking out such quality from gear with limitations like a cell phone camera!clap.gifclapclap.gif
  • lizzard_nyclizzard_nyc Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
    edited March 17, 2011
    Totally agree, these are great pics and you should NOT apologize. You should be proud for eking out such quality from gear with limitations like a cell phone camera!clap.gifclapclap.gif


    Thank you very much :D
    Liz A.
    _________
  • lizzard_nyclizzard_nyc Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
    edited March 17, 2011
    Richard wrote: »
    I moved this for you, Liz.

    My mantra is: the only thing that matters is the image. How you get it--the equipment, processing and technique--doesn't matter in the least. The image speaks for itself. If you are getting better results with a cell phone on automatic, then maybe that's the right tool for the job. Your cell phone probably has higher resolution than the P&S I was using six years ago when I first started doing photography, and I managed to get some pretty good shots with it. These are excellent, especially the first two, though I think it would be more fun if you reversed the order of them. No need to apologize or doubt yourself at all.


    Richard I mean to comment on this earlier.
    The day I posted this I was exhausted, just one of those days and I debated the order of those two shots. NOt sure what made me post them in this order, but upon reading your comment and looking back, I totally agree. Will change the order:)
    Liz A.
    _________
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,961 moderator
    edited March 17, 2011
    NOt sure what made me post them in this order, but upon reading your comment and looking back, I totally agree. Will change the order:)
    thumb.gif I think I must have looked like that when I first looked at my daughter's doctoral dissertation. lol3.gif
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