PHOTOGRAPHY

These days, when people are trying to get a 'photo op', it's impossible to miss the way everyone's got their camera phones out.  It used to be easy to tell when a camera was around and if people had them on them, but now anyone with a phone could be snapping away.  Even at events that used to be all about the pro photographer, like weddings, we now see loads of people taking photos with their camera phones.

Conventional photography is a highly developed art form and profession.  Everyone knows that the equipment is super precise and that the photographers are amazing at what they do. They've been doing this for years, so it's no surprise that they're so good at what they do.  These days, anyone can become an amateur photographer, just by using their mobile phone.

We need to think about this question seriously, and not just because it's relevant to three different audiences.  Could this be the end for professional photographers?  Could digital phones make you redundant?  So, what about your future, you might ask.  Should you even bother learning to use the fancy kit that makes pro photography so much better?  What's the point in even trying if camera phones are going to make everything else redundant?  And for you, the customer, do you think you can get the same quality of photos from a camera phone as you can by hiring a photographer?

These are fair points.  It's pretty standard for the more traditional folks in a field to feel threatened when new tech starts to take over.  It happened when TV came along and everyone said radio was dead.  It happened when movies and TV got talking and then colour, and every time there was a new technology for music.  And every time someone said an industry was going to die, it just adapted and got better.

So, there are good reasons not to worry that camera phones are going to destroy photography as we know it, including…

Camera phones just can't match the same standards of quality.  There's a good reason why professional photographers invest in top-notch equipment for their studios and for when they're out on a shoot.  All that research we've done over the years has shown the problems with quality that primitive equipment just couldn't handle.  Modern photography kit has got all the gear you need to sort out the lighting, get the perfect shot and make sure the end result is top-notch, whether it's for a wedding, a portrait or any other kind of professional photography.  You can be sure that forensics, fashion and publication photography will never be happy with the poor quality of camera phone pics.

It's just a bit of fun, really.  When you see kids holding up their camera phones at a concert to take a pic, you know that device isn't going to result in a professional-quality shot.  This is especially true in a live setting like a concert, where there are loads of issues such as lighting, visual noise and other problems that have to be overcome with instrumentation that's just not available on a camera phone.  Camera phones are for amateur photography.  They'll always be a niche player.

If we did that, it would affect the standards of the final product.  The thing that makes professional photography worth it for its customers is the high standard of quality it delivers.

I'm not saying that camera phones are bad.  They're great fun and have their place.  But us pros in the photography world shouldn't worry about this tech growing.