The kindness of strangers

I watched this scene for five or ten minutes, but from the other side of Broadway where my view was somewhat limited. There were one or two moments where I could see the blond woman's face, and that should have been the "decisive moment" when I took a photograph of the scene. But for reasons that I can't explain or even articulate now, I did not take the photo at that point ...

 

And now, days later, it makes me wonder: how many times do (does?) each of us see a "decisive moment" out on the street -- or at work, or in our home, or anywhere else -- that we don't even recognize as such until later on, when we replay that scene in our minds? Consequently, how many such moments are lost forever, at least in terms of being able to share it with others? Mediocre as this photo is, I suppose it's better than nothing; without it, it would have been something that only I, alone, saw and experienced; and like all memories, it would have faded over time.

 

In today's world of "free" digital images, I suppose it's a good argument for photographing almost everything you see in your day-to-day life, if it has any chance at all of being such a decisive moment. If the moments turn out to be boring or blasé, you can always delete the digital images, and it will have cost nothing ...

 

Of course, to do something like that, you have to have a camera with you; but while I've been celebrating (in this Flickr album of iPhone6s photos) the fact that an iPhone-camera is better than no camera at all, it is an embarrassing reminder to me that I should have had a better camera with me, and I should have been ready to use it at a moment's notice, even if a particular scene like this one is an unexpected surprise. I've just come back from a photography workshop (about which I'll blog or write separately at some other time and place) in which we were reminded that we should be pleased if we managed to make one really good photo in a month ... and maybe this could have been that one photo for me. Or maybe not. But (a) I won't know unless I actually take the shot, and (b) in order to take that one fantastic photo each month, I have to be willing to carry a camera bag for the other 29 or 30 days of the month even if I never see any great shots to take. C'est la vie.

 

A couple of other minor points about this photo: I first noticed the old woman about an hour earlier, when I was walking from my apartment to lunch at the Earth Cafe (scenes of which you can see in this Flickr album), and while I "registered" the scene in my mind, I didn't stop to think about it, or consider taking any photos of it.

 

I didn't really pay any attention to the scene until a little later in the afternoon, when I noticed the woman with long blond hair bent over and talking to the elderly woman, and occasionally reaching out to stroke her face. At first, I thought the blond woman was someone I know, and the juxtaposition of the two startled me ... and then I saw the little boots, which I realized "my" blonde friend probably would not be wearing. Even so ... what I should have done is walk over to the two women, introduce myself, and try to find out what was going on. I'm convinced that something extraordinary was going on, simple and innocent as it may have been, as indeed it probably was. But I don't really even know what was happening...

 

... because I was on the wrong side of the street, with nothing but my puny little camera-phone. I guess I should be content with the fact that at least I got something, even if it was only a mediocre snapshot of a moment in life.

 

But I deserve, you deserve, and we all deserve, better than just "snapshots." So I've renewed my determination to always have my camera bag with me, with at least two cameras in addition to the iPhone6s+ that's always in my pocket. With today's technology, even the "advanced" cameras are so compact and light-weight that there is no excuse for someone like me to do otherwise.

 

In any case, the moment is now past: there is nothing more I can do about it at this point, other than trying to be better prepared for the future ...

 

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Sometime in 2014, I created Flickr album for photos that I had started taking with my iPhone5s; and a year later, in the fall of 2014, I started a new Flickr album for photos that I’ve begun taking with my iPhone6, and iPhone6+. But progress doesn’t stop (at least with Apple): as of October 2015, I’ve upgraded once again, to the iPhone6s and 6s+ (yes, both of them) and this new album contains photos created with those camera-phones

 

In last year’s Flickr album, I wrote, “Whether you’re an amateur or professional photographer, it’s hard to walk around with a modern smartphone in your pocket, and not be tempted to use the built-in camera from time-to-time. Veteran photographers typically sneer at such behavior, and most will tell you that they can instantly recognize an iPhone photo, which they mentally reject as being unworthy of any serious attention.

 

“After using many earlier models of smartphones over the past several years, I was inclined to agree; after all, I always (well, almost always) had a “real” camera in my pocket (or backpack or camera-bag), and it was always capable of taking a much better photographic image than the mediocre, grainy images shot with a camera-phone.

 

“But still … there were a few occasions when I desperately wanted to capture some photo-worthy event taking place right in front of me, and inevitably it turned out to be the times when I did not have the “real” camera with me. Or I did have it, but it was buried somewhere in a bag, and I knew that the “event” would have disappeared by the time I found the “real" camera and turned it on. By contrast, the smart-phone was always in my pocket (along with my keys and my wallet, it’s one of the three things I consciously grab every time I walk out the door). And I often found that I could turn it on, point it at the photographic scene, and take the picture much faster than I could do the same thing with a “traditional” camera.

 

“Meanwhile, smartphone cameras have gotten substantially better in the past few years, from a mechanical/hardware perspective; and the software “intelligence” controlling the camera has become amazingly sophisticated. It’s still not on the same level as a “professional” DSLR camera, but for a large majority of the “average” photographic situations we’re likely to encounter in the unplanned moments of our lives, it’s more and more likely to be “good enough.” The old adage of “the best camera is the one you have with you” is more and more relevant these days. For me, 90% of the success in taking a good photo is simply being in the right place at the right time, being aware that the “photo opportunity” is there, and having a camera — any camera — to take advantage of that opportunity. Only 10% of the time does it matter which camera I’m using, or what technical features I’ve managed to use.

 

“And now, with the recent advent of the iPhone5s, there is one more improvement — which, as far as I can tell, simply does not exist in any of the “professional” cameras. You can take an unlimited number of “burst-mode” shots with the new iPhone, simply by keeping your finger on the shutter button; instead of being limited to just six (as a few of the DSLR cameras currently offer), you can take 10, 20, or even a hundred shots. And then — almost magically — the iPhone will show you which one or two of the large burst of photos was optimally sharp and clear. With a couple of clicks, you can then delete everything else, and retain only the very best one or two from the entire burst.

 

“With that in mind, I’ve begun using my iPhone5s for more and more “everyday” photo situations out on the street. Since I’m typically photographing ordinary, mundane events, even the one or two “optimal” shots that the camera-phone retains might not be worth showing anyone else … so there is still a lot of pruning and editing to be done, and I’m lucky if 10% of those “optimal” shots are good enough to justify uploading to Flickr and sharing with the rest of the world. Still, it’s an enormous benefit to know that my editing work can begin with photos that are more-or-less “technically” adequate, and that I don’t have to waste even a second reviewing dozens of technically-mediocre shots that are fuzzy, or blurred.

 

“Oh, yeah, one other minor benefit of the iPhone5s (and presumably most other current brands of smartphone): it automatically geotags every photo and video, without any special effort on the photographer’s part. Only one of my other big, fat cameras (the Sony Alpha SLT A65) has that feature, and I’ve noticed that almost none of the “new” mirrorless cameras have got a built-in GPS thingy that will perform the geotagging...

 

“I’ve had my iPhone5s for a couple of months now, but I’ve only been using the “burst-mode” photography feature aggressively for the past couple of weeks. As a result, the initial batch of photos that I’m uploading are all taken in the greater-NYC area. But as time goes on, and as my normal travel routine takes me to other parts of the world, I hope to add more and more “everyday” scenes in cities that I might not have the opportunity to photograph in a “serious” way.”

 

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Okay, so now it’s October of 2015, and I’ve got the iPhone 6s/6s+. The the camera now has a 12-megapixel lens (instead of the older 8 MP version), and that the internal camera-related hardware/firmware/software is better, too. Obviously, I’ve got the newer iOS9, too, and even on the “old” phones, it now supports time-lapse videos along with everything else.

 

I’ve still got my pocket camera (an amazing little Sony RX-100 Mark IV, which replaces the Mark III I had last year), and two larger cameras (Sony RX-10 II, and Sony A7 II), but I have a feeling that I won’t even be taking them out of the camera bag when I’m out on the street for ordinary day-to-day walking around.

 

That will depend, obviously, on what kind of photos and videos the iPhone6s/6s+ camera actually capable of taking … so I’m going to try to use at leas one of them every day, and see what the results look like …

 

Like I said last year, “stay tuned…”

Done