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Anyone thinking seriously about buying an iPhone?


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Buy an iPhone ?   Not on your Nellie.  I suppose they are okay for  ' happy snappers', of which Alamy, has thousands. 

 

Why the sneering, Brian? I'm a snapper for sure, and happiness can be elusive. :(

 

But I understand the fashion for a different, less formal kind of photography, and the 'snapshot' aesthetic. These pictures may here here today, gone tomorrow; it looks like they could date as fast as mullet haircuts. I don't know. But I'd planned to get an iPhone soon, and I will now have a valid reason to use its camera. Maybe free myself up to new ideas.

 

My qualms about this new Alamy direction have more to do with having two very different means of acceptance/rejection for contributors' pix, and the fact that all the pix seem to be ending up in the same collection. So most of the Alamy pix will have passed QC, suggesting they've passed a technical benchmark. And now they're being joined by pix which are being hand-picked on aesthetic grounds alone. Sounds rather confusing to me...

 

True, happiness is elusive. But why can't we be both happy and creative snappers with our existing cameras? Is an iPhone really necessary to find aesthetic bliss?

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I'm not going to invest a pile of money in a phone I don't need just to use it as a camera. I have a perfectly good BB Z10 that runs BB and Android. I don't think the ROI would be there to justify the expense. If they never do an Android app, well so be it.  I submit my phone shots on another site and that's fine for now. I don't like Apple products (I hate the closed ecosystem) so the only way I would get an iiPhone is if I could get a broken one with a working camera cheap.

 

Jill

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I'm not going to invest a pile of money in a phone I don't need just to use it as a camera. I have a perfectly good BB Z10 that runs BB and Android. I don't think the ROI would be there to justify the expense. If they never do an Android app, well so be it.  I submit my phone shots on another site and that's fine for now. I don't like Apple products (I hate the closed ecosystem) so the only way I would get an iiPhone is if I could get a broken one with a working camera cheap.

 

Jill

It will be interesting to see what the ROI for Stockimo contributors actually turns out to be. Currently, I don't own an iAnything (sorry, Steve J., wherever you are), but I could possibly be lured into the ecosystem if things look encouraging. I'd rather just learn to be more "creative" with the equipment I already have, though. 

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Had my iPhone a couple of weeks now. Used it to upload to Stockimo at first, but I've grown into really liking it. Sold my Android phone on Ebay (HTC ONE). 

 

Now that the excitement of Stockimo has calmed down in my mind, I'm still glad I bought the phone. I'm maybe just not as creative as some folk having run out of ideas that won't get rejected. 

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I suppose the box brownie will be the next camera on the list. It is such a change from the Hasselblad, D800e and RX100 and F100 that I am used to. So easy to operate. I was wondering if Kodak would provide an app so I can upload the images somehow. The results are very arty, but in my opinion art is not what this business is all about. 'what's art got to do it?'

Ok Ok.... my age is showing, so what.... I channel Ansel Adams while I am scanning and previsualizing  I am so busy that I run out of time to send up my art to Alamy

 

Oh dear. I must get that 405 number up. Maybe I will get a smartphone, but my Box Brownie is very smart for its age.

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I have just bought an iphone 5S, but I was in the market for a new phone anyway. I uploaded a couple of images on Tuesday and had one accepted, and the other rejected. The few others I have uploaded have been rejected. The images get votes from judges based on their personal preferences and a quick look at the collection seems to suggest they are looking for manipulated images rather than straight out of the camera shots. I'm still learning how to use the iphone and the apps. What puzzles me is that if I do use a filter of some sort and try to upload the image, I get a message saying the image must ne 600 pixels, etc. etc., so I have not been able to upload a manipulated one!  I have an iphone 5S which creates the largest images of all the iphones, so I have no idea why using an app makes the imge shrink! Any thoughts?

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Diane,  

 

Look at the export method used by the app that was used to manipulate the photo. They sometimes reduce the size for web use on social media. I save the new image to Camera Roll and upload from that location using the Stockimo app on an iPad. The phone is fine for upload, too, but the iPad gives me a better look at the image. With Photostream enabled on both devices, images appear on both automatically.

 

I had been curious about the iPhone 4s for years, but had no need for one. Got a used one through Ebay after Stockimo was introduced and love it. Quite affordable without the phone service and the camera is great. Probably overkill if software filters are used. I had some rejections but now know what they're looking for, I think. The app is wonderful; easy to use even on the small iphone screen and brilliantly streamlined to do only what is needed. This has given me a new way of making photos and new energy to get out and do it. Red Snapper (km) hit the nail on the head in his post above.  

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  • 3 months later...

It does seem some are saying that by using an iPhone your work will become more creative, more cutting-edge . . . balderdash imo . . . imo . . . hang on . . . StockIMO . . . hmmmm????

 

dd

 

Studies shows that people that have an apple sign on their computer/divise think that they are "creative"...

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I agree the quality is not what you would get from a "proper" camera but then people like Sarah Moon have had a very successful multi-decade career with what many would regard as low quality (too much grain, lack of shaprness) using serious cameras. It is all about the effect needed to get the response that is desired - not everyone will get it or like it; that's art for you.

 

And to answer the original question: No I will not be buying an iPhone anytime soon but I will be practicing with my 5 month old Galaxy S4 Android phone ready for when the Android App becomes available or there is an alternative way of uploading to Stockimo. Quite comfortable with the idea of submitting opportunistic pics that I would not get with a proper camera (which I will be keeping)

 

Sarah Moon didn't had, in her time, much more where to "improve the quality" of her images. keep in mind that, until Edward Weston, most of the portraitist did embraced a pictorial style...

 

I find your approach (star taking the sort of images Stockimo is looking for, but with your Android devise) wise. The images I'm uploading now were taken with my previous phones (Windows phone, first HTC HD7 and now Lumia 925) in the last 3 years or more. I got an "old" iPhone 4S that I use only for the apps (not as a phone, and the camera is broken). I thought for about 2 minutes about buying a newer iPhone, but actually is less expensive a I'm getting better quality by using the Sony QX10 camera: 16 MP that some apps like Pixlr can process at full resolution. Other apps offer you to reduce the image size to 9MP in order to avoid crashes.

 

I guess Alamy start Stockimo on iPhone moslty because the iPhone camera, that is quite good for a phone camera, offers consistency, while the wider amount of android devises can not guarantee a similar image quality. In that regard, I think we will be able to see Stockimo app on Windows phone (the Nokia Lumia series had all good cameras) or the Android version only avialable for some models.

 

Pako

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It does seem some are saying that by using an iPhone your work will become more creative, more cutting-edge . . . balderdash imo . . . imo . . . hang on . . . StockIMO . . . hmmmm????

 

dd

 

Studies shows that people that have an apple sign on their computer/divise think that they are "creative"...

 

 

On this whole subject, I (and many others) have simply given up asking the obvious question for lack of an answer that can stand even mild scrutiny.

 

dd

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I have an iPhone . . . sort of. It's an older model, and then I took it into AT&T and changed the SIM card and changed my monthly support deal. Yes, I turned my smart phone into a basic dumb phone. It can still take pictures, but I wonder if it would work with Stockimo?  In fact I wonder if I could download the Stockimo app onto this tricked-up iPhone?   :huh:

Yes you can trick your phone.You'll still be able to use wifi so you can upload your photos thru that.Years ago I canceled my iPhone plan and had a dumb phone like yours.I also got an APP that allowed me to make phone calls over wifi. Pretty nifty.Reminds me maye I should put that APP on my iPad which just has wifi and no telephone plan to go with it. I may wait until September or so.Rumour has it the new iPhone 6 will be out and be 13MP with a lot of better camera features.Now I have a lowly iPhone 4. I'm really invested in APPS so as much as I'd like to change brands,I doubt I will.

 

L

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It does seem some are saying that by using an iPhone your work will become more creative, more cutting-edge . . . balderdash imo . . . imo . . . hang on . . . StockIMO . . . hmmmm????

 

dd

 

Studies shows that people that have an apple sign on their computer/divise think that they are "creative"...

 

 

On this whole subject, I (and many others) have simply given up asking the obvious question for lack of an answer that can stand even mild scrutiny.

 

dd

 

 

Not sure what your question is, but a possible answer might be that an iPhone might allow someone to experience what it would be like to be creative.

 

A visual equivalent of Karaoke.

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I guess the attraction of the smart phone camera is it being unobtrusive and a camera that you will always have with you. We never know when we are running errands of an out of the blue photo op.

 

I have a photog friend that teaches iPhoneography,travels all over the world teaching it and has had exhibits around the world as well.

His work is really nice.

 

Sometimes having the simplest tools is the most inspiring and when you don't feel like you are in work mode,creativity  often flows easier when you are 'just having fun.'

 

L

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It does seem some are saying that by using an iPhone your work will become more creative, more cutting-edge . . . balderdash imo . . . imo . . . hang on . . . StockIMO . . . hmmmm????

 

dd

 

Studies shows that people that have an apple sign on their computer/divise think that they are "creative"...

 

 

On this whole subject, I (and many others) have simply given up asking the obvious question for lack of an answer that can stand even mild scrutiny.

 

dd

 

 

Not sure what your question is, but a possible answer might be that an iPhone might allow someone to experience what it would be like to be creative.

 

A visual equivalent of Karaoke.

 

 

Not expecting an answer :) , but: "if I take an edgy, creatively filtered, creatively composed , 4 out of 4 image with a phone (that makes the mark for stockimo but not of course for "normal" Alamy QC due to noise, then take an identical image with my D4, why is the D4 image rejected?"

 

I believe the root of the question is: why is the tool suddenly more important than the image?

 

Like I said, not actually asking (again) for an answer, just answering Robert's question :-)

 

dd

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Not expecting an answer :) , but: "if I take an edgy, creatively filtered, creatively composed , 4 out of 4 image with a phone (that makes the mark for stockimo but not of course for "normal" Alamy QC due to noise, then take an identical image with my D4, why is the D4 image rejected?"

 

Just submit the D4 image through normal route. End of story...

 

-Jason

 

(p.s. just playing devil's advocate here.)

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Am seriously thinking of ditching my iphone when contract finishes in a few months - I was quite devastated that I became no more creative when I changed my phone.

 

This whole sorry state of affairs was confirmed my my other half who unexpectedly stated on recent holiday that she was going to get a Samsung phone after problems with her iphone 5. So now, even if I do get a suddenly flash of inspiration, I will have no mechanism to fulfil my dream of creativity.

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Not expecting an answer :) , but: "if I take an edgy, creatively filtered, creatively composed , 4 out of 4 image with a phone (that makes the mark for stockimo but not of course for "normal" Alamy QC due to noise, then take an identical image with my D4, why is the D4 image rejected?"

 

I believe the root of the question is: why is the tool suddenly more important than the image?

 

 

The tool has always been more important.  Alamy emerged at the same time as the DSLR and web search algorithms, without which it would have been nothing.  It would not have been able to offer more for less.

 

Sadly 'more for less' has a bad habit of biting it's instigators in the bottom.  And this came to pass.

 

But, as the editorial market collapses in on itself, a new tool has arisen to save the day.

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Not expecting an answer :) , but: "if I take an edgy, creatively filtered, creatively composed , 4 out of 4 image with a phone (that makes the mark for stockimo but not of course for "normal" Alamy QC due to noise, then take an identical image with my D4, why is the D4 image rejected?"

Just submit the D4 image through normal route. End of story...

 

-Jason

 

(p.s. just playing devil's advocate here.)

Perhaps I need to repeat "that makes the mark for stockimo but not of course for "normal" Alamy QC due to noise":

 

I've yet to read anything close to explaining to me why "what took the image" is more important than the image itself.

 

Couldn't be reverse snobbery of course, we are photographers after all . . .

 

dd

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I was quite devastated that I became no more creative when I changed my phone.

 

I feel your pain. Perhaps a new strap will help?

 

dd

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