Your next camera is your phone

September 27, 2017

iPhone 6 (Panoramic Mode) – View of the Holbox beach, just after dark clouds passed on the horizon (sky was rarely clear during our time there with daily showers)

Two full weeks in Mexico, 3 cameras with us. Our GoPro 4 with a Dome for underwater photography, our Canon 5DMkIII with the 70-200mm and my iPhone6 – which unfortunately did not survive the holidays – and died in a “presumed” Decathlon waterproof bag which wasn’t.

Our yearly holidays are usually the time where we do more serious photography, when time and mindset is openly creative. We have been using the Canon/iPhone/GoPro for a few years each now so we know the tools pretty well. I think it would be interested to share a few numbers.

GoPro4 + Dome. Obviously for all the underwater stuff, you can’t beat the GoPro. One of the few top rated pictures though – lots of average shots unfortunately. Lack of skills 😉

When we got back all the pictures from 3 cameras were put together in Lightroom and sorted/ranked/modified independently from the camera it was taken from – so all was done in fairness – and on a small computer screen. The finding are pretty astonishing – the Canon is clearly a much better camera/sensor/lens …. but when we look at the final number it’s very surprising !

Number of 3* (Three Stars), 4* and 5* pictures from our Mexico holidays. Five starts pictures are the best.

Basically the iPhone is matching the Canon 5D on number of 3* and 4* pictures – with around 20 each ! Some pictures are shared in this post and it’s due to a few factors. The best camera is always the one we carry with us – and it’s possible I’m getting lazy and use the iPhone more and more. To add to it it’s a pretty decent camera anyway for landscape and casual shots, excellent for panoramic shots. Finally the tooling available on phones to tweak shots now with row mode is getting pretty mature.

Canon EOD 5D Mk III – Playing with depth of field is where SLR still excel. Raw image is easier to work with, zoom in and color tweaking.

So while people generally buy the most expensive phone they can afford – for me it will be buying the best camera available on a phone … and make sure it’s waterproof as well 😉

The Italian Escape

June 11, 2017

iPhone Panoramic picture from Capri Island – after a 1h hour very pleasant evening walk.

First time in Italy for Chiara and Olivier. They could not really believe a country where you could eat pizza, pasta and ice cream all day long under a sunny sky could exist. So they asked us pretty much every day before we got there. We did not want to bring any sort of deception so they realized such a diet (for one week only obviously) was possible – and we have all been blown away by the rest.

Our first stop for two nights was the Island of Capri – a photographer paradise and no car which is really appreciated. A few walks, a boat tour, a memorable and scary cliff jumping session and it was time to go already.

: Marina Grande, or more simply the harbour of Capri – where our hotel was. Picturesque and very busy with tourists.

: Our room was yellow, the bathroom was super yellow – so much Olivier and Chiara wanted a picture in it.

: Stairs climbing was the flavor of the day.

: Nice walk in Capri city chasing lizards and finding secret passages – I took this picture from above, as always one out of two is picture conscious …

: The entrance to the grotto is very tight – and it’s organise Italian-style, who shout the most gets first. Chiara witnessed an argument between captain – and she realised their parents fights was soft in comparison.

: Inside the blue grotto. It’s blue, very touristy and very expensive per minute inside.

Food. We only stayed one week in Italy but we could have made a whole book about it. Needless to say we took a few KG but had a blast, Chiara confirmed this was the best country in the world for food. This is likely an over-reaction but they loved it. They averages one pizza, one pasta and one ice-creams per day. Obviously some days were specials, two ice-creams were not uncommon.

: This is a pizza Margherita from the Napoli region. You can check in Chiara’s eyes, this is special, very special.

: Good tomatoes, good cheese and tasty Olive oil – my evening meal ready to enjoy the next day morning run.

View from our room in the Amalfi Cost. Luckily they had both stairs and lift to get down to the beach.

The next step was a few days on the coast Amalfi – close to Praiano. A very picturesque coastline with steep cliffs, narrow roads and very challenging driving conditions. It was difficult to stop to take pictures, town centers and pretty much only accessible by bus and getting down to the sea is usually privatized by hotels or restaurants. However it is stunning with those houses built on cliffs for kilometers.

: Rare enough family picture, with the camera laying down on the floor (Can’t trust anyone ;-))

: Ravello’s town center. Not sure if they put this on purpose. Nature morte.

: This is the stairs going down to the sea from our hotel. The view was phenomenal – only two our us ever tried to climb them – guess who ?

: Olivier is continuing making efforts to pause – her sister following him this time.

: One of the very pretty restaurant of Ravello, with the view and the Oliviers.

: Chiara and JP’s snorkeling finishing on a rock – amazing experience for Chiara who is more and more comfortable in the sea.

: Olivier pointing at the dog’s warning sign – he had seen a larger representation in Pompei the day before and he will bring one back to put on his bedroom door.

: One of Ravello’s house gated entrance.

: Villa Rufolo – very picturesque, photographer paradise. Drones forbidden !

Now we are coming to the main purpose of our trip – Pompei and the Vesuvio. We kept it for the end of the trip as a highlight and make sure we build up the expectation ! We had an amazing time, it was way too short. We knew Italy was a kids-friendly destination and that has been confirmed. Buona Notte.

In Vulcano Solfatara – bad smell, smoke and various examples and volcanic activities.

: Pompei. We had a funny french-speaking guide who has been aggressed by questions from Chiara and Olivier for all the tour. Difficult to find a street without tourists, here is the best attempt.

: Chiara using the zebra-crossing as they were two thousands years ago.

Gulf of Naples seen from the top of the Vesuvio !

The Kew Autumn Post

November 19, 2016

Leaves – no HDR trickery. Sometimes nature is more inspiring than kids – and definitely easier to capture. This image made the shortlist for our autumn desktop background.

Our annual – autumn in Kew tree photography was again amazing this year. Saturday being kids-frenzy day – the only slot is a Sunday morning around late October/early November. We’ve been lucky this year to have one slot – and as every year it’s one of the most beautiful day one could spend in Kew Gardens. Colors are just stunning.

This tree in the Japanese garden section of Key was particularly photogenic with all the ranges of leaves colors from green to dark red.

The tree-climbing crew

We do not regularly use our wide-angle on the 5D. This picture made the day, with a little HDR and lens correction help obviously 🙂

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