A closer view, literally

I think the saying goes, “the best camera is the one you have in your hand.” For must of us, it’s now our phone. Paired up with the Internet, smart phones have forever changed picture sharing.

Over the 30 years we’ve been in the media, field production tools have evolved … a lot. Nothing compares to the shift that took place in just the last five years.

For blog images and YouTube videos we use a combination of DSLR and iPhone. This month the phones got updated and that gave us a much better camera. To this we’ve also added lenses specifically designed for smart phones.

Moment is a Seattle based company that started as app developers and their focus on mobile production tools brought about the development of a set of lenses. Three different focal lengths, wide angle, telephoto and macro.

It’s the macro lens that has really captured our attention. The shift in subject scale is a dramatic change to prospective. We are starting to look for photo ops a bit differently.

JQ started with plants and flower images and I put it to use on some aquatic insects. You’ll never look at a river quite the same after watching a caddis nymph harass a mayfly.