With the New Year on the Way, A New Way to Photograph...

I have always believed that what camera you use does not matter. Photography is not about equipment, it’s about images. It’s about learning the grammar of the visual language and applying those lesson when taking your photographs.

At the same time, I scoffed at the idea of photography with a cell phone. All the while cell phone manufacturers were improving the cameras in cell phones and the photography world started paying attention. Given that almost everyone has a cell phone with a camera, a lot of photographs are being produced by cell phone cameras. But still I scoffed. Real photographs are taken by real cameras.

One day during my usual visit to YouTube I came across a video from a company named Moment. Moment is based in Seattle. They make cell phone cases and lenses that you attach to the case for a number of different cell phone brands.  (https://www.shopmoment.com/)

Well now, this looked interesting. So I though I’d give it a try. I ordered a case for my iPhone and a couple of lenses.

Moment iPhone XS Max Case and Wide Angle Lens

The case finally arrived after a two month wait. (Apparently a small company does not get the attention from a manufacturer that a larger company does.) 

So yesterday I went out to Beckman Mill to shoot a comparison between the native iPhone lens and the Moment wide angle and telephoto lenses. Here are the results.

iPhone lens

Moment wide angle lens (18mm)

Moment telephoto lens (58mm)

I also got the Moment macro lens and shot some frost photographs yesterday morning.

And one more photograph with the Moment 58mm telephoto lens.

So far I’m liking the results but I need to spend more time taking photographs until I’m as comfortable with the iPhone as a camera as I am with my Nikons. Thus the title of this post. When I don’t need all of the capabilities of the Nikons, I plan on shooting with my iPhone and exploring all of its capabilities as a camera. After all, as someone once said “The best camera is the one you have with you.” And I have my iPhone with me all the time.

“Tri-X, f/8, and be there.”