Five Stages, The Awakening Artist;or, I just realized that my phone camera doesn’t really take good photos

The photographer at last accepts that taking pictures is fun in itself and may even be, gasp, a bit of an art form.

(Image: R Crapnell)

 The Awakening Artist begins to look longingly at nice images other photographers make and begin to suspect that there may be more to photography than a phone cam can actually deliver. Loyalist Fruit- and Robot- phone using friends will say that the advancement in phone cameras makes the step up to a real camera less relevant now. But this simply isn't true and the Awakened Artist begins to figure this out when they discover that there is no way their phone cam can squeeze out that special look they are chasing for that one special shot.

The Awakening Artist will be aware that taking photos could be more than a simple act of logging social events, recording milestones and showing off their holidays and stuff to (hopefully) envious friends. Photos are more than just proof. The Awakening Artist occasionally takes a shot from a different angle, dabbles with some of the more obscure camera effects and starts being accused of getting “arty” when taking party portraits.

Eventually, the Awakening Artist will begin to realize that the photos their phone camera is taking are not actually that good after all. Some might be fantastic indeed, but it gets harder and harder to achieve the photographic vision the Awakening Artist now seeks to capture and express. For instance, when those smartphone images are looked at on anything other than a smartphone screen they lack punch and clarity, while those super saturated colours or faux sepia effects begin to just look cheesy and, well, arbitrary. The Artist begins to realize that their camera's automated idea of what looks good might be pretty in a pinch, but isn't really the vision they want to capture.

Of course, the gifted and insightful Awakening Artist will already know that the phone isn’t taking the images at all; it is the Artist taking the photos and the camera is just a tool. The Enlightened and Awakening Artist will likely start looking around for cost effective alternatives to their phone camera in order to expand their creative possibilities. Perhaps they will seek out a mentor, a more developed photographer who will guide them to finding the camera that is best for them. These lucky souls are truly blessed and may well avoid the financial perils of Gear Snobbery and the ass-hattery of the Prosumer.

The rest of us just instinctively know that we need a better camera and will likely just buy the one the retail guy says offers the most features for the dollar. It will almost certainly be a Canon or a Nikon with a kit lens and a spare battery plus a completely useless UV filter and possibly an unusable cheap tripod. We will actually think we scored a bargain. Like and expert crack dealer, the retail guy has set us up on a loss-leading deal that guarantees we will be back for more in good time. The Gear Snob beckons, but hopefully not for some time. Well, let's be honest, hopefully not for at least six weeks.

Either way, the Awakening Artist starts  loitering at the Imaging section of magazine racks, and perhaps slinking into a gallery or two before finally clicking on the Cameras and Tech link on their local daily webpage. At that point their fate is sealed as the world wide web wakes up to the fact that yet another individual is now susceptible to targeted marketing in that most visceral, unreasoning and lucrative consumer product segment; the amateur photography market.

From then until the photographer starts showing an interest in photo holidays or hair replacement, their banners, pop ups and spam will be dominated by pitches from the likes of Canon, Nikon, and Sony. Olympus will have a crack as well. The good news is that consumer level DSLRS offer amazing value for the quality of the gear on offer, and no DSLR from any of the big three will actually be a bad camera. They might not be as good as Pentax for the price but, hey, going Canikony will pay off when the photographer hits the Gear Snob and Prosumer stages.

The DSLR (or good MILC) that will hopefully result from this process of awakening will blow open the doors of creativity for the new photographer. It will likely be remembered as the best value for money ever spent on gear, and may well serve faithfully for years (against common wisdom, decent cameras don’t become obsolete quickly at all). The leap from phone camera to DSLR will be so profound, that the Awakened Artist may well feel overwhelmed at first. But in the age of the instawebz boundless support and inspiration is just a click away and the world of good photography has never been more accessible. The Awakening Artist just needs to make sure that they keep a high ratio of shutter clicks to mouse clicks at this stage.

The Awakening Artist will start photographing a wider variety of subjects, and now has the tool with which to bring subjects to life. It's a golden time, with every street a bonanza of unrealized potential and their friends will be chuffed at the really nice photos the Awakened Artist takes at social events (but that won't last long). The best bit is that the Artist will discover that a better camera does not make things easier… it actually makes photography more challenging, and so much more rewarding. Things like depth of field and composition, golden hours and blue hours, hard light and soft light, contrast and diffusion will soon become more important than sensor sizes and lens speeds. Sadly, sharpness will start to dominate the language of some.

One of the more important things the Awakening Artist will hopefully realize is that their camera is just a toolbox. Hopefully it won’t be long before the photographer discovers manual settings, or someone gently (or not so gently) suggests that they should get off Auto Mode. Then things really begin to open up as the Awakening Artist is freed from the arbitrary whims of the camera itself and deliberately starts making their own decisions on exposure and focus as well as composition. Throw in a bit of photo editing while finally shooting in raw digital formats, and the Pandora ’s Box is truly open.

From here on the Awakening Artist will have all the technical means at their disposal to take fabulous photos expand their technique and really begin to create some art. Unfortunately for many, however, as artistic ambition rises faster than technical competence, the door is also open for the entry of… The Gear Snob.

Tips for the Awakening Artist from a bloke who has been there:

Live it. Stretch it out. Love it. Record it (learn to keep your files in order!). Revisit the Awakening Artist if you can (apart from the buying new gear bit). Hold off the Gear Snob as long as possible. Most importantly, get off Green Mode as soon as you can.