Photography heading for the worse with smartphones?

Ever wondered why we are sometimes unable to shoot great-looking pictures like the ones advertised on huge billboards?

The answer to the above question is complicated. It’s not just as simple as a tap on an expensive smartphone that has a high megapixel number and the result will be a great picture. It requires a combination of good equipment and skill in photography. Even while shooting with a smartphone, it takes good ‘composition’ to get good end results. Simply put, it needs the effort to shoot a picture that speaks a thousand words.

Back then, there was only one way to do serious photography – buy a film single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. In the digital era, there are compact cameras for casual shooters, while the ones who wanted to do more serious photography bought a digital SLR (DSLR).

A film SLR camera. Picture credit: pixabay.com/ analogicus

Things became slightly complicated when smartphones began to get advanced camera systems with multiple lenses. What was once a big procedure of shooting and then getting the film developed and printed was made simpler with digital compact cameras and DSLRs. With smartphones, it became much easier as one could do all the shooting with the same device that is used for office work.

However, there is a line of thinking that says that smartphone photography is killing the art of photography.

Renowned German film director and photographer Wim Wenders believes that with smartphones ‘photography is more alive than ever but also more dead than ever’. He had once told the BBC that when photography was invented, it was meant to be a more truthful testimony of our world than a painting. But with smartphone photography, he goes on to say that he is in search of a new word for this activity that looks like photography, but it is not really photography.

It is not that great pictures cannot be shot with smartphones, but that a lot of people are casual shooters who do not really want to be remotely artistic. A casually shot photo, which might have a huge number of likes on social media, might be mistaken for a good photo by someone who is serious about photography.

It is imperative to understand the technicalities and use them to the fullest to capture good photos. Most smartphone photography is done with fully automatic settings. Basically, the smartphone does all the hard work. However, it is possible to manually control things like aperture or shutter speed. More importantly, a good picture requires more than the gadget and technology. It requires the user to think about the lighting situation. For instance, shooting with the sun or light source behind the subject will obviously result in the subject ending up looking dark. Or if the light source is directly above the person, the result might be the shadow of the nose on the face of the person being photographed. These are simple examples of how a photograph can be ruined. However, in the hurry for a photograph, most people end up with mediocre results. In this way, photography could be heading for the worse.

Of course, one can end up with ordinary photographs even with a DSLR if the lighting situation is not assessed properly. However, it might be safe to assume that most individuals who buy a DSLR will try and understand a bit of aperture, shutter speed, composition and so on. And it is a good idea to understand the basics of photography. Otherwise, the whole idea of buying a DSLR will be defeated.

The other major problem is that people are misled with the megapixel race. A lot of people falsely assume that if the megapixel count is higher, it will automatically result in great pictures. The megapixel number indicates nothing about the quality of the picture. It is the sensor size and quality that are important. Unless the photo is going to be printed out as a large poster or banner, megapixels don’t really count for, say, webpage use.

It is possible to shoot good pictures on a smartphone camera too. Simple things we can do to get better photos from a smartphone is to adjust focus on the subject (in the foreground) rather than letting the camera trying to focus on the background as well. Secondly, by turning on the gridlines, the user can see the screen divided into nine boxes. There is something called the rule of thirds, which involves lining up the subject at the intersection of the boxes. Reading, understanding this principle and implementing it will result in better photographs.

Picture credit: pixabay.com/ Free-Photos

There are technical side and artistic sides to photography. Though it is possible to get good shots from a smartphone with a bit of imagination and technique, there is also the technical side as to why a smartphone cannot be a substitute for a DSLR. This is because of the sensor, which records the image the user sees in the eyepiece.

In film cameras, the size of each frame was 36 mm in length. There are DSLRs with 36 mm image sensors and these are called full frame cameras because they are of the same size as a film frame. Then, there are advanced photo system – type C (APS-C) sensors, which are about 22 or 23 mm depending on the manufacturer. In a smartphone, the sensor will be a tiny fraction of these sizes. Think of it like this – a bigger sensor has more area that can capture more detail of the light that is coming in from the lens. Therefore, the picture quality will generally be better in a DSLR. Even within smartphones, image sensors can be of basic or high quality depending on the segment.

Of late, mirrorless cameras are becoming more popular due to their smaller size compared to DSLRs. The main difference is that mirrorless cameras do not have a mirror like in DSLRs. In a DSLR, a mirror reflects the image to the viewfinder. When the shutter button is pressed, the mirror folds up and the image is recorded on the sensor. In a mirrorless camera, the image is directly reflected on the sensor. Mirrorless cameras are gaining popularity due to their smaller size as compared to a DSLR.

A DSLR camera. Picture credit: pixabay.com/ klickblick

A mirrorless camera. Picture credit: pixabay.com/ Qamera

Whether an individual wants to stick to smartphone photography or go the DSLR/ mirrorless camera route, learning the basics will definitely yield better pictures.