Equipment - Cameras For Travel
Smart Phones for Travel Photography.
There is an old saying in photography that the very best camera is the one you have with you when you need it. If you’ve ever looked at an interesting/beautiful/amazing scene…without a camera with you, you’d appreciate the truth of this. This all makes a pretty strong argument for the use of our phones as travel cameras. We all have one and rarely leave home without it. And it’s not just that most modern phones have very good little cameras in them, but also that there is incredible software in them that dramatically increase their usefulness.
I’ll admit that I am a dyed in the wool DSLR user and would never travel without it, however I will happily admit that there are situations where my Samsung S21 is faster, easier to use and more convenient than my Nikon. Just being able to pull my phone out of my pocket and have it ready to go in a few seconds makes it a great tool. Here are some situations where your smartphone is the best option:
Selfies – You and your travelling companions want that selfie with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Flip the phone to selfie mode and compose away. You can’t hold a DSLR at arm’s length and point it at yourself. (unless you have arms of steel) While I’m on this, remember that selfie-sticks have been banned in many places. I once got clipped in the head by a traveller who was swinging it around carelessly so I’m not sad to see them outlawed.
Videos – Yes, I can take great videos with my DSLR, but for speed and convenience, its hard to beat a smartphone. And the quality is great too.
Food Shots – Your server has just placed a plate in front of you that is as much a work of art as a meal. If you hold your smartphone over top of the meal, you can shoot right down at it. Most brands of smartphones these days have an automatic function that detects when you are trying to photograph straight down and will provide some indication when you have levelled it over your subject.
Quick uploads to the folks back home – You just took that amazing dinner shot and now want your envious friends at home to see it. It only takes a few seconds to upload to your favourite social media platforms. This works for videos too. My DSLR can do this too, of course, but nowhere near as quickly and easily.
Silence! – There are places you may travel too where the click of a camera shutter is just not appropriate…and may even get you escorted out. Churches and museums come to mind. Wildlife are often startled by the click of a bigger camera’s shutter. On my Samsung, I just mute the phone (in the phone settings) and the fake shutter sound is gone.
In-camera editing – There are an amazing array of options for cropping, lightening or darkening or just being creative hidden away in your smartphone’s camera. Most modern smartphones even allow you to edit out unwanted elements in a photo. Like when Uncle Harry photo bombs your image of the bride and groom. These are things that we once had to rely on Photoshop or similar computer-based software and now. There it all is in your smartphone.
Photograph your travel documents – I like to have a picture of my flight tickets, museum passes, addresses etc so I can get at them quickly when needed. I can photograph them on my phone and have them handy as needed and then keep the paper copy as backup.
There are some drawbacks to smartphones for vacation and travel photography. None are big but you should take them into account and plan for them:
Harsh light makes it hard to see the screen – On a bright day, you usually want the sun behind you to put your subject in good light. This makes it very difficult to see through the smartphone camera screen. You can get around this in a number of ways – lower the device so that your head and shoulders block the sun, for instance.
You still have to download the images – You don’t want your favourite vacation photos to live forever on your phone so find out the best ways to move them to your computer, Dropbox or the cloud. Whichever method works best for you. Do this often though. Like protecting your DSLR photos, you want to back up frequently so that if something bad happens to your phone, your vacation photos remain somewhere.
Remember that the lens on any smartphone camera gets dirty. Fingerprints, sunscreen, dust and grime will limit your smartphone camera’s ability to take good photos. Bring a small lens cleaning kit and use it often. Add a few Q-tips as well.
Finally, as small and convenient as they are, there are still occasions where hand-holding your smartphone will not be enough. Dark scenes and outdoor night photography for instance require a way to keep your camera still and a small tripod is the answer. Also, if you want to try slow shutter speeds to get that ethereal look in a waterfall or catch the movement of car lights after dark, you’ll need something like this.
To really take advantage of your smartphone for travel photography, you really have to invest time in learning all that they can do. There are several good books about smartphone photography. I highly recommend this one for Samsung users and this one for iPhone users. Don’t be too concerned about picking the exact right book for your specific model of phone as most modern camera phones have very similar lists of features.
I have recently bought a simple product that is a good alternative to selfie sticks and also makes your smartphone camera all round easier to use. This is a grip that clips easily onto the body of the smart phone. It has a shutter button that connects with the phone via Bluetooth ( a simple 5 second process). Once connected, the shutter button on the grip triggers the shutter function on your phone OR starts and stops the video record function. A great feature is that the shutter button can be removed from the grip to allow for remote photography. Great for group shots or any time you want to set your phone down and walk away from it to get that photo which you just can’t get while holding the phone. The supplier states that this fits smart phones between 59-85 mm (2.3” to 3.3” ) wide.
Check it out! Click the pic…
Finally, remember that smart phones are sought after targets for pickpockets. Highly skilled, big city pickpockets are watching for that outline of a smart phone in your pocket and can lift your phone and all the photos you’ve taken without you being aware. Zippered pockets are the minimum to keep your phone (and everything else) safe.
For more on camera bags and other equipment for bigger camera gear, watch for a future post.
Conwy Castle, Conwy, Wales. Taken with a Samsung Galaxy S21
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