Talking Photography

Pretty much everyone I know enjoys a good picture, although we all define what that is differently.  I have a friend who only uses mostly old cameras.  He still sends his film out to be developed.  There is just something about a tangible photo, developed in a lab; it has almost become romantic or nostalgic.  His hardcore film views have actually rubbed off on my vocabulary.  I now use the terminology "making a photo" rather than "taking a photo," after a long (totally fun) debate about it.  Anyhow, a while ago, we were talking about how anyone can "make a photo" now, without having ever owned a camera.

As such, a growing number of people are into photography.  The world of photography is changing rapidly in the 21st century, with the dawn of the digital "point-and-shoot" camera and now cell phone cameras capable of making more than decent photographs.  Anyone with a cell phone can now make a photograph, and play around with different settings (granted, artificially created settings that don't involve knowing much about lenses, lighting, etc., but they can figure out the basics).

I own a digital camera, which I still use on occasion, but it is way easier to use my cell phone to make a photograph in my daily life.  I have less to carry around, and, frankly, the camera my Samsung Galaxy S5 is equipped with is almost as good as my point-and-shoot.  When there is nothing to do at my job (basically, while I am waiting for people to interview), I play with my photography settings on the camera.  There are action features, and some focus settings I really like that are pretty novel for a cell phone camera.

These are a few of my favorite shots that came out of playing with the focus settings:

Simply adjusting my overall focus OR my object of focus, I was able to take many different shots.  With these two photographs of petals, I created the illusion of blurred objects in the foreground by focusing further out, which is relatively simple with a point-and-shoot, but I also was able to enhance the petal in the foreground in the first shot, which is more difficult to accomplish with a normal cell phone camera.

The final "current top favorite" photograph of selective focus is this one I shot at the local bar:

I was talking photography with a stranger I had just met.  This guy just walked up to me as I was reading (yes, I was reading at the bar) and he struck up a conversation with me (yes, guys it really is attractive to interrupt someone's alone time as long as it is done in a tactful way).  He was confident and had a nice smile, so I figured that I would put my book down for a conversation (quite the feat, as it was a very good read).  I'm glad I did, though, because not only was he quite interesting to talk to, this awesome photo above came out of it (and later a painting).  Somehow, he got to talking to me about photography, and I began showing him the cool features on my cell phone that I had discovered just weeks prior.

I bring up the random guy I met at the bar because, since then, we've crossed paths there a few times, and somehow great things always come of it.  I don't particularly care for the things kids do with their photos (the hot colored scribbled and phrases that cover most of the decent shot they took, etc.), however I was always curious about the tools they use to make such "art."  Well, I discovered this app a few weeks ago that allows me to alter photos after I have taken them.  Usually, I don't like doing that because, call me old-school, but I think it takes something away from the art involved in photography.  After playing with a simple photo I made of some candles in my bathroom (at the bar with my now photography friend), this really awesome version we churned out got me to re-think the possibilities of editing.

We turned this photo:

Into this image:

I'm still not sure whether or not I can call the second image here a "photograph," but I like it!

Message of the Day:  Open yourself up to explore new things; you might find them beautiful. Also, collaboration with friends often yields the best results!

...Or don't.  It won't change my reality.  Cheers!