iPhone Insights...David Hoptman Photo-Creative
Updated: Nov 10, 2020
Excerpts taken from an interview from the New Mexican.
I just came across this in the backlogs of my computer files, and thought I would re-post it. Time is moving by but the fundamentals of creativity and iPhone possibilities still remain the same. Yes there are new smart phones not just the iPhone that continue to come out every year. The cameras are somewhat better each time but the idea is for the big manufactures to try and hook you into spending more $$ making you think that your next upgrade will put you over the top and magically your imagery will be noticeably better. New toys are always fun but not always the answer. I will say this; I am just as enamored with the iPhone/Smart Phone and the apps available as I ever was. Photo-apps continue to improve and help those who have a vested interest in making better/creative imagery. The years are rolling by. Don't stop Now! Its just getting going!
1.The first time I opened the photo app on my iPhone and tapped the screen, click I was hooked. It’s the camera that is always there when you want it, its easy to carry, you are more or less ambiguous when you take photos, tripod adapters are available, your photos appear instantaneously on your HD monitor and the touch screen allows you to enlarge check details, composition etc. You also have the ability to store, transfer files, upload to social media, and share with friends as well as documentary capabilities including video, etc. All these benefits would be for naught if the image quality were not up to snuff. The image quality is astoundingly good along with the availability of so many truly sophisticated apps to affect imagery makes the iPhone a very powerful and creative tool. The final straw was when I heard that you could get good quality German Schneider lenses that will bayonet mount onto an adapted iPhone case, the lenses range from fisheye to wide angle and telephoto.
1. I still don’t think there has been a vast improvement from the 4s to the 6s but a definite improvement no doubt, a faster chip and more megapixels never hurts. The truth of the matter is when I look at my prints that are 16x20 inches and larger made from my 4s I am still blown away from the quality. I have printed for professional labs, teaching at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design as well as for my personal work, trust me I am quite familiar with fine art museum quality prints.
2. I am the one who is astounded by the range of things available with iPhone Photo apps. I would say there are certainly some things that you can’t really do without Photoshop, on the other hand I would say there are many things you can’t do in Photoshop that you can do with the iPhone, although I don’t think one necessarily excludes the other. The idea is to merge the two and take the best from both; if you can pull that off you have just added a powerful tool to your creative bag of tricks.
3. I admire photographers that still work with film. It is a beautiful medium and carries along with it a different mind-set. I do not think for the most part the film photographers exclude digital imaging unless they go directly from film to print with no digital manipulation. Personally I love digital technology but have not stopped using it in conjunction with other more traditional photographic process I am involved with such as Platinum Palladium Printing and Photo Polymer-Gravure/ Printmaking.
4. I think Ansel would have done whatever it took in the end to make a photograph and no matter what kind of a camera he were to have used the results you can be sure would have been STUNNING. It’s using the tools at hand the best you can and not being afraid to experiment. “Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art.” Ansel Adams.