Because you don’t need a $3000 camera to do legitimate photography

Damon Winter took a series of amazing photos using the iPhone’s Hipstamatic app, and created a feature that won third place from Pictures of the Year International. Naturally, this has led to a lot of unwarranted bitching about whether or not the photos are legitimate. Winter’s written up a thoughtful response:

I have always loved shooting in a square format. This program allows you to shoot and — most importantly — compose in that format. I could not have taken these photos using my S.L.R. and that perhaps is the most important point to be made about the camera phone in this story. Using the phone is discreet and casual and unintimidating. The soldiers themselves often take pictures of one another with their phones and that was the hope of this essay: to have a set of photos that would almost look like those snapshots — but through a professional eye.

The beauty of a new tool is that it allows you to see and approach your subjects differently. Using this phone brought me into little details that I would have missed otherwise. The image of the men resting together on a rusted bed frame could never have been made with my regular camera. They would have scattered the moment I raised my 5D with a big 24-70 lens attached. But with the phone, the men were very comfortable. They always laughed when they saw me shooting with it while professional cameras hung from my shoulders.

I’ve always defended iPhone photography since the outset. It’s good to see someone with actual credibility doing so as well.

Positive Trends in Digital Photography

Gordon Haff discusses what’s going well in the world of digital photography. Example (and thank goodness for this): the megapixel wars are basically over. Haff elaborates:

For a time, camera makers vigorously proclaimed how their camera sensors had more megapixels than the competition. This made some sense in the early days of digital photography when cameras really didn’t have enough sensor sites to deliver the resolution needed for making even modest-sized prints at high quality. However, for most purposes, more pixels don’t much improve image quality past a certain point and crowding more pixels into a given area means that individual pixels have to be smaller…

It was noteworthy therefore when, in late 2009, Canon revealed that its new Canon Powershot G11 model would actually have a lower megapixel count than its predecessor. This event played a big part in reducing the emphasis placed on megapixels. (At least in cameras; the megapixels war rages on with mobile phones.) And this, in turn, is one of the factors that has allowed for cameras with fast and low-noise sensors that can take quality pictures in very little light.

The Last Processor of Kodachrome

A sad story from the NYTimes about the last processor of Kodachrome (the first successful color film):

At the peak, there were about 25 labs worldwide that processed Kodachrome, but the last Kodak-run facility in the United States closed several years ago, then the one in Japan and then the one in Switzerland. Since then, all that was left has been Dwayne’s Photo. Last year, Kodak stopped producing the chemicals needed to develop the film, providing the business with enough to continue processing through the end of 2010. And last week, right on schedule, the lab opened up the last canister of blue dye.

I still think back with nostalgia to my college days, when I spent countless hours in the darkroom, developing and printing film on real photo paper. And while I love the convenience of digital, I’m sad that this way of photography is slowly fading…