Self-portrait with iPhone

When I first began photoblogging with my PhotoReflect site, all the way back in December 2005, one of my first photographs involved a self-portrait with my face distorted in the curved top of a cafetiere. In the ensuing years I regularly offered self-portraits that revealed relatively little. It's something I haven't really continued in PhotoEclectica, this shot being the only such example. So, by way of correction, here is what I hope is the first of many inventive "self-portraits". It was taken in a local coffee shop.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Spectacles shadows

As we were sitting at an outdoor cafe waiting for our coffee I placed my spectacles on the slatted, wooden table. The sun threw sharp shadows and bright patches from the lenses and frames. I moved the glasses around to get a better composition then took the shot with my iPhone. Taking a photograph of a subject - whatever it is - increases our understanding of it as we give the motionless image more attention. I had never before noticed the multiple, stacked lines seen on the outer part of the left lens in this photograph. But now I have I notice I can readily position my spectacles to make it visible. What I can't do, however, is explain why it happens.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Wide angle iPhone photographs

The extreme wide angle lens on my iPhone is 13mm (35mm equivalent), 2mm wider than the widest lens on the other camera systems I use. I learned many years ago that when it comes to wide angle lenses even a small amount of width is noticeable. Recently I thought I'd try out the phone in Gloucester Cathedral. The results, though deficient in a couple of ways (including being oversharpened), are better than I expected and the extra width brings more drama to the compositions.

 

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Flags and electrolier

I remember the time when I thought that digital cameras had started to produce photographs that were technically better than those possible with 35mm film. My recent purchase of a new phone demonstrated that the digital photographs that it produces are bettter than the "compact" digital cameras of only a few years ago. Since I don't change my phone very often it could be that the date phones surpassed compacts was even earlier than I imagine. I took several shots with my phone to test its competency and show this one as an example of what it can achieve. The electrolier and flags were in the window of an antique shop, and the colours, reflections and glowing filaments made a composition that appealed to me.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone