I’ve been cranking the iPhone for almost 2 years now, I was a reasonably early adopter but certainly wasn’t a pioneer. For some reason I thought no one in Adelaide would have one when I returned and couldn’t wait to trump my friends in the fancy phone department, unfortunately I soon discovered that pretty much everyone already had one, and they all had the newer 3GS version. Devastated.
The camera on the iPhone has copped a bit of stick since its release. Only 2mp (3 on the latest version I think), no zoom, no flash, no manual settings – there are 10mp camera phones out there these days which put it to shame. But you know what? I love the simplicity of it. My previous phone, a Samsung D600, had more camera settings than I knew what to do with, a bunch of different resolution choices, white balance settings, a host of different metering modes (including spot metering! On a Phone!!), optical zoom, digital zoom – it was just too much. Anyone who understands what all these features do probably has an actual camera stashed on their person at any given time rendering the camera phone useless. The options were overwhelming and there were problems as a result (high resolution images were too big to send as MMS which was super annoying for instance), Apple hit the nail on the head with their less is more philosophy in regards to the camera. I love the fact I have to use my legs instead of the zoom to frame my shot properly, I love that there is only 1 resolution option, I love that there’s no flash which forces me to hold it extra steady in low light.
On the theme of keeping it simple I find the pricing structure of many wedding photographers to be a bamboozling mystery. Pages of different packages with a variety of combinations of hours, print credits, albums, proof albums, prints, wraps and digital negatives. As someone in the industry I’m often unclear about exactly what each package is offering, how the print credits work, and how much the whole thing will actually cost when it’s all said and done. For this reason I offer one simple package which includes:
- Full day coverage
- 12” x 12” deluxe leather album
- Low resolution jpg images (ideal for web use)
- Customised website
I think the album is important, there’s something permanent and special about flipping through a sturdy album printed on the highest quality photographic paper that on-screen viewing just can’t match. High resolution jpg images are available for purchase, as well as smaller parent albums and wall mounts and the like, but the core product of full day coverage is not negotiable.
In the spirit of keeping it simple here’s a collection of my favourite iPhone photos. If you’re on twitter you can follow me @simonbills where I’ll be posting more shots taken on the iPhone as well as other bits and pieces.
