iPhone 3 At Mullion Cove Cornwall

As a camera the iPhone 3 is often criticised when compared to other manufacturers’ phone cameras let alone small compact cameras. It’s low resolution, poor lens and limited controls make it easy to see why. But, with a little luck and imagination you can still get some interesting photos. Hopefully the images I posted from my London photo walk a few weeks ago, and the ones below from Mullion Cove in Cornwall, go a little way to demonstrating this.

These shots were all taken in the middle of the day.The light was pretty harsh with a lot of glare from the sea. We walked down the harbour and climbed over the wall and onto the edge of the cliffs. The composition options were pretty limited here, with the interesting scenes looking straight into the sun. I suspect that if I hadn’t broken my DSLR in the morning I would have moved on and looked for another location. But all I had was the iPhone so I started snapping. It was a little tricky to get the horizons straight, especially as the screen was too dim when facing into the sun, but I was pretty impressed with the camera’s results.

This first shot was a compete shock.

With next to no control over the exposure, I had expected there to be lots of glare and silhouette, but I hadn’t expected a beam of sunlight pointing straight into my shot! Ok, so I can’t really take credit for it. After all it’s an artefact from the lens, but it I was pleased nonetheless.

I took a few more facing into the sun before facing away a little for the next two images below. They are still pretty silhouetted but not too bad given the circumstances.

But I still preferred the ones looking directly into the sun, so I took these two looking down into the harbour itself.

The images above are all straight off my phone. When we get back from this trip I’ll run them through Lightroom or Photoshop. I think a little black and white treatment will help a lot. I’ll post the results if it works.

Art in the Gardens (Sheffield)

Kim and I spent yesterday morning at Art in the Gardens in Sheffield’s botantical gardens. It’s an annual art and craft event and according to their website, the largest of its type in the north of England. There were a real mixture of styles and quality, but the photographic highlights for me were (in no particular order):

Paul Schatzberger’s Canoe in Ice. I really like this type of lonely black and white shot. This one is well composed and the subject really complements the approach.

David Birchall’s poppy field. A lovely example of the typcical poppy field shot, brought to life by the streak of yellow flowers across its upper 2/3 line. I can’t find this particular image on his website though.

Angela Harpham’s South Bay, Scarborough. Great shot of mist falling over the sea cliffs with a few sailing boats in the foreground. The contrast of the dark sails and the white mist make this photo for me. Unfortuanly I can’t find a website link for her.

Tom Anthony’s Sunrise on the Bay. I really loved the colours in this photo, wonderful purples and subtle blues. Although I’ve linked to the photo, unfortunately on my screen at least, the purple water of the print is blue on screen.

Terry Davies’ Rainy Day in Settle. Nice use of monotones with a muted splash of colour.