Capturing the “Beauty of Life” Using My Phone

Ever wonder if the camera on your phone is as good as a DSLR?

I know I am always inspired by many of the wonderful Local Guides here on Connect with their beautiful photography. As Local Guides photographers, we fall under two camps: Local Guides with DSLRs and Local Guides with their smartphones.

I want to share my personal experience as a Local Guide who only uses a phone, currently an iPhone 8 Plus (Don’t hate me for this!), as my camera of choice to take photos for everything, including Google Maps. You can get just as good results with a high-quality smartphone as with a DSLR.

Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, throughout the year, we have many types of birds that call this area their home.

I had an amazing “National Geographic Society” opportunity that literally landed on my doorstep during the Summer of 2016. This was priceless and I am still amazed that it happened without any prep on my part.

I was fortunate to be able to watch and capture in photos at the time with my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 the birth of a pair of mourning doves, not just once, but twice in my plant container on my front porch.

Mourning doves are smaller in size to pigeons. They are slightly different but from the same family. They can have up to 6 sets of chicks during their mating season. They are monogamous and form strong pair bonds. And both the male and female sit on the pair of eggs (two) and feed them after they hatch.

Birds, in general, build their nest in private, hidden areas to protect themselves and their eggs from predators, which includes both wildlife and humans. I have never heard of wild birds willing to nest so close to humans and let a human, me, hold out her arm less than 3 feet to take their photos, including the birth of their baby chicks.

Not knowing about Googler @Christina-NYC’s nature photography tip of taking photos in the early morning,

I was actually doing this because it was the best time to capture the right light and it was the calmest time of the day in front of my house. Not as many cars drove by or where my neighbors were walking in front of the house.

This momma dove really did like Chateau Chin because she stayed for the entire summer and did not mind me taking photos of her and her two sets of baby doves. Being less than 3 feet from her with my Samsung, she never once raised her feathers or blinked at me.

What I learned that summer . . .

Taking photos up close of this “beauty of life” gave me the courage to use my phone more and to try different angles to get more of the finite details of an object, such as my recent flower photography using now my iPhone 8 Plus.

I also find I am not afraid to try take photos of birds when they catch my attention with my iPhone too. For example, here on Kauai, one of the 8 major islands of Hawaii, wild chickens have free rein on the island. They can be found everywhere, including in hotel and condo resorts, the car rental agency at the airport, etc. This particular rooster was one of many running around at the place I stayed last year during the Holidays. For more of my Google Maps review, read this.

Check out my less than 2-minute video (and not to bore you with a ton of photos - I took at least one photo a day during the summer of 2016 as I witness the “beauty of life” twice.)

Are you a phone or DSLR photographer? What do you prefer? Have you ever had the opportunity to photograph the stages of life, whether animal, insect, or floral?

Cheers,

Karen

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Thank you @KarenVChin for remembering to everyone (included myself, of course) that the new design of Google Maps is oriented to the phone users.

This seems a bit unnatural to me, as I grew up with a camera in my hand, with film in the past, and digital now, but I have to admit that a phone is a perfect tool for most of the photos that we take. Your post is great, in showing to us how this is really possible, exploring one of the field (birds photo) that everyone consider an exclusive area for powerful photographers.

Thank you for sharing also the great post written by @Christina-NYC . I suggest to scroll the long list of “how to” post she wrote (well, she still writing), for helping us in using our phone for taking photos. I don’t have a personal preference, but I want to add here the one that I find more challenging: How to step outside your normal routine as a photographer

I am tagging here @AntonellaGr , as I know (I wonder why) how much she love to use a phone for taking photos

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@KarenVChin This is such an nice experience. To see the dove chicks grow up and all.

Some time back some birds were making their nest up the pillar just outside my door, and I would place a small pot of seeds and water nearby. That went on for quite some time, and was happy the chick grew up and after that, they didn’t come back. Maybe the next time. :slight_smile:

Didn’t manage to take any photos though. Was too high up.

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Hola @KarenVChin , me encanta tu post ya que reivindica el uso del móvil como una poderosa herramienta de registro de la naturaleza, más en la actualidad con sus poderosas lentes que bajo determinadas condiciones y el tipo de foto a realizar superan ampliamente a las DSLR.

Creo que el secreto tambien es poder estar en el momento justo y nuestra vista de Local Guides agudiza eso, permitiendo pasar por la naturaleza de una manera más inquisitiva que contemplativa.

La oportunidad casi única de que tus palomas escogieran tu jardín y en especial tú maceta, casi a la mano tuya, es casi único, felicitaciones por las imágenes que logradas.

En mi caso puedo decir que el 80% de mis fotos son realizadas con mi móvil incluso llegué a la conclusión de que las Fotos 360 son más vividas y soportan mejor el zoom que tomadas con la Theta V, que generalmente no conecta bien con el móvil, (es otro tema para un post exclusivo de eso).

En geneal los temas que me gustan son los paisajes, la comida y la naturaleza, la Fotos con mucho acercamiento, por ejemplo un insecto una hoja etc, el móvil lo hace muy bien y otro punto sobre el cual estoy comenzando a tenerle mucho cariño al móvil es en los videos. Con todo esto, hace que deje de lado llevar tantas cámaras extras, como la réflex y los lentes.

Por supuesto si deseo hacer una Fotos de un ave volando o un animal a la distancia o la cara de una persona a 100 lo realizo con la reflex.

Graciasnpor comosrtir y darnos la excusa para contar como cada uno de nosotros utiliza su móvil.

Farid

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Dear @KarenVChin

You were lucky to take pictures (and beautiful ones!) of birds in your garden. I use a phone too, not in my garden It is impossible for me with my 3 cats :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

Here is a picture of a stork (I thnk it is a stork)

Cheers

Antonella

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@KarenVChin Awe! Nothing in the world touches the heart like baby animals! They are beautiful. Thanks for capturing.

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Thank you @KarenVChin for capturing these beautiful moments and sharing with us. It is a pleasure to see such things, that touches our heart and makes us feel the beauty of our planet.

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@KarenVChin Thank you for sharing. The photos are amazing. I’ve also taken some very captivating photos with my phone. Back in San Francisco, @nkwetche @ChamnanMuon , @YK1001 and myself just came out from Super Duper Burger in Mission Street and as we crossed over to Spear street, I saw this guy that sells the most beautiful and colorful flowers I’ve even seen. I was so blown away and couldn’t help but approached him and politely ask if I can take some photos of his lovely flowers and he agreed.

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@ErmesT This my friend has a very emotional attachment with his camera and has taken me some amazing shots and I don’t think Ermest is ready to switch to phone camera just yet :rofl::rofl::rofl:

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Hi @KarenVChin ,

Thank you for writing this post, I so much enjoyed reading it. It is amazing to see how the wild mourning dove trusted the tub in your front porch. Is this the first year it happens?

I remember when I was a kid I used to spend my summers in my grandparents’ house in a village. There every summer next to our front door I would see swallows creating their nest and giving birth for the next generation. What really surprised me that for many years, as spring comes swallows would always choose to go back to their “home”, the nest they created before and will remember the exact place and location. In winters they move to other warmer countries and travel long distance. I wonder how do they remember all the way and don’t choose to build up a new nest every year?

As to answer your question about DSLR versus phone cameras, for now my personal choice is to use a phone to take all of my photos. I like the quality of my phone and choosing the right DSLR camera is rather hard for me as I have never had a one before.

Last but not least, last summer while I was climbing Rila mountain with my friends and me came across horses with their fillies. It was the first time that I see a filly so close to me.

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Excellent photos @KarenVChin

Especially the birds nest with eggs and baby birds are so cute.

Thank you for sharing with us.

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@StephenAbraham , that is cool that you had birds nesting outside your house and your provided food and water.

Here we pretty much left them alone. Didn’t want to scare them off by going near the nest.

I actually had them come back in 2017, but they only laid one set of eggs.

Cheers,

Karen

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@FaridTDF , you have a great eye with your phone. I find it is so easy to use a phone (point and shoot) vs carrying a DSLR. What surprises me is how close I can get using a phone now.

Cheers,

Karen

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@AntonellaGr , thanks for your kind words. That looks like a stork to me! Or maybe an egret or heron? Are they common in your area?

Cheers,

Karen

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Thanks @brittym @ShahnewazAhmed for your kind words. Are you mainly a phone or DSLR photographer?

Cheers,

Karen

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Nice floral photos @U-royFelixA ! I believe I know where you were at with your phone - Rincon Flowers at the Rincon Center. What is your phone? You have great resolution here.

Cheers,

Karen

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@TsekoV , great question you ask. The momma dove returned to lay another set of eggs in 2017 in my front porch planter. We were surprised. The funny thing about this is that we have lived in the house for 10 years and before 2016 we never had birds nesting that close to the house. But nothing happened in 2018 = (.

As for the fillies, I have never seen such small horses. Were they miniature horses? Or just young? What kind of phone do you use?

Cheers,

Karen

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Thanks @AbdullahAM for your kind words. Do you use a phone or DSLR primarily when taking photos?

Cheers,

Karen

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Great efforts

&

Thanks for sharing

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@KarenVChin ,

I am sure that the feeling was really fascinating to be able to observe part of the life of those birds so close to your home. I feel as if this somehow is a link between our daily, fast-paced live and the nature itself.

As for the fillies, I think they were just too young. While we were hiking, we came across them. I could see both young horses and their older fellows. What I enjoyed about this moment is the touch me and my friends we had with them. The look in their eyes was so deep and I felt as if they actually understand us (I truly believe they do understand our emotions). We were bringing some vegetables and homemade sandwiches, they felt the scent of the food quite fast and insisted on giving it a try, hehe.

Most of my photos I take them with my own phone. It is a Huawei Honor 7i phone, just a normal one, nothing special. I am looking forward to choosing something great as I love taking photos, but so far I haven’t made the choice what to pick up.

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