Cameras

Taken with my iPhone

I didn't want to wait until the last minute to apply for my visa to India. 

(I spent most my life dreaming of the day I could write that opening line.)

In 2013, when I paid a brief visit to Mumbai, obtaining my visa was a relatively complicated procedure, requiring that I fill out an application form and mail it with my passport, a couple of passport photos (and some money, of course) to an Indian consulate.  I forget how long it took for them to mail back my passport with the visa stamp, but it was certainly not overnight.

Since then, India has simplified the procedure.  I fill out a form on-line and submit it on-line along with scanned copies of my passport and a passport photo (and money).  I will receive back an emailed authorization that I can print and take with me to India.  Upon arrival, presumably, the authorization form will allow the authorities to quickly add a visa to my passport and send me on my way to the baggage claim.

But I do need a photo.  So, today I walked a couple of miles to a nearby shopping center where I've gone before to get passport photos. There's a rather nice camera shop there, where for a small sum they will quickly photograph me and give me as many copies as I care to pay for.

Or, I should say, there was a nice camera store there. Camera stores, like bookstores, have been shutting down all over town.  Everyone's gone to, respectively, smart phones and Kindle.

Including me, of course.  When I bought my first iPhone, a mere four years ago, I doubted if I'd ever use the camera function.  I had (have) a very nice Nikon SLR digital camera that takes excellent photos, and that I'd taken all over the world -- traveling in cities, trekking in mountains.  I felt very devoted to it.

And yet, here I am, just four years later, taking virtually all my photos with my iPhone.  Not just the snapshot variety, the ones of cute kids playing with cute cats.  No, also my travel photos, even ones where one would expect to prefer the superior lens on a single lens reflex.

The problem is that the Nikon undoubtedly is superior, but it's not noticeably superior at my skill level and with most of the photos I take.  The iPhone photos are sharp and clear, and the color is true and accurate.  There is no telephoto lens, of course, but I can get the same effect (within limits) by cropping the photo either in the lens while taking it, or afterward on the camera or on my computer.   I always carry my phone, no matter what I'm doing.  Therefore, the heavy Nikon SLR seems an unnecessary burden, especially while hiking.  The phone fits in my pocket; the camera does not.  Before I got my iPhone, I joked that I had misplaced or lost cameras in virtually every nation on earth.  It wasn't really a joke.

Also, while traveling I like to leave a photo trail on Facebook, and email photos to friends back home.  I can do that with two clicks.  With an SLR, I have to wait until I get home, download the photos onto my computer, and then send a group of photos to Facebook or to individuals.  I don't claim that to be a horrific burden; it's how I handled my photography for years.  But the iPhone is simpler, and my hordes of adoring fans can watch me brag, day by day, in real time, about the fun I'm having.

So -- and no, I haven't wandered from my point -- there's a reason why I couldn't find my camera store today.  My name is legion.  Aside from serious photographers, everyone is switching from cameras to smart phones.  I have met the enemy, and he is me.

But I may now have shamed myself into taking my camera with me to India in March.  The sights of the Punjab and Kashmir are dramatic and dazzling.  I may find it worthwhile to take the highest quality photos I can.  And I'll always have my iPhone as a backup. 

For my long-suffering audience back on Facebook.