#707. Rebooting DS

By pascaljappy | News

Apr 01

A long time coming, night terrors, sweaty palms, constant fear. But it’s been worth it.

I hope.

Those of you who are faithful readers will know that DearSusan is a collaborative blog and that 10 of us take turns at writing fresh articles about topics that are dear to us individually. And that, lately, I have been unusually quiet. Time to explain why.

 

 

It will come as no surprise to you that I want to steer DearSusan towards a more modern style of photography. I no longer believe in the supremacy of expensive gear in the hands of wealthy silver foxes. Their time has passed. The future belongs to the young, to the more inquisitive, to the mobile.

 

This post ushers in the age of mobile photography for DearSusan.

 

And I’m not talking about an occasional section devoted to camera phones but about a complete overhaul of the blog to accommodate nothing but mobile-photo related posts :

  • Techniques for stabilising your hands at arm’s length
  • Reviews of selfie sticks
  • AF speed comparisons on moving targets
  • Review of filters and presets
  • Tagging and creative editing techniques

Now I realise this will scare away some readers, and some of my co-authors – who are not aware of this sudden change of direction, but I hope you and them realise it is for the best. Photography went from a messy chemical process to an elegant digital one and some people grumbled. The same will inevitably happen with mobile photography, which I will call MOFO from now on. But think deeply about the endless new possibilities available to you in only a few taps and you’ll soon see the rationale behind all this.

 

To hell with conventions

 

So this is the last post in this format. From #708 onwards, DS will be mobile only. No phone, no read. You need to do your part to benefit from all this pocket goodness.

 

Freeing your art forever

 

Consequently, I am selling all my gear. Starting tomorrow, you’ll find my Zeiss & Leica lenses and Sony cameras up for grabs on the Sales page of this blog. Great opportunities for you and a lightweight Galaxy S9 for me. The revolution of photography is mine !

The pictures on this page were made with this new phone. Astounding, right ? Early days yet, but the future is looking bright. So, you too,grab your phone now and send us your best shots !

 

Goodbye ol’ DS

Yo, new DeeEss !

 

NB: For those reading this post after its publication date, that date was 01/04. Foolish, right 😉

 


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  • Ed Wrobel says:

    I will have two cappuccinos before I will recover from Prima Aprilis initial shock

  • Michael Demeyer says:

    April Fools! (If I could, I’d upload my S9 imogi in this comment.)

    • pascaljappy says:

      Michael, don’t do it !!!! I thought that might be fun but didn’t know the phone would generate so many from a single snap. Now, my gallery is absolutely littered with them in all sorts of weird and wonderful pauses 😀

  • Steve says:

    Bloody hell; you could have given us some warning.

    Can’t help but notice the date though…

  • Mike Ross says:

    Next you’ll be saying that tripods are a waste of time. Oh wait, Ken Rockwell already did that.

  • Andreas says:

    I shall gladly relieve you of your old school equipment. I will pick it up and it shall only cost you a few euros. But you must hurry, my offer expires today, april 1st.

  • jean pierre (pete) guaron says:

    Your final shot – “Freeing your art forever” – is photo manipulation. That’s completely unacceptable on DS.;not post processing

  • Dan says:

    Cool, i will check for your Zeiss lenses on the sales page. Do you ship to Canada? 😀

  • Scott Edwards says:

    It’s been one of those days, eh… First, you guys start with this… though, uh, I did actually take a killer image the other day with my iPhone 8 Plus… Then, the chap at The Daily Phoblographer posted an update indicating that Kodachrome was coming back according to a leak by Kodak reps… Good fun… except I believed both of you for too deep into each post. ;))

  • pascaljappy says:

    Well, I am joking, but we can’t deny phones have become pretty useful cameras thses days 😉

    What gave us away ? 😉

    • Scott Edwards says:

      Pascal – what gave you away was the IQ on the images you published versus your “real” work! ;)) Well, that and the stars, flowers and ever-so-lovely clip art you sprinkled on the last image. 🙂

    • Kristian Wannebo says:

      The: “nothing but mobile-photo”
      almost gave you away,
      and “Techniques for stabilising your hands at arm’s length, Reviews of selfie sticks”
      clinched it.
      🙂
      ( So I didn’t need to sigh the big sigh..)

      But it was a good attempt!
      😉

    • Kristian Wannebo says:

      The: “nothing but mobile-photo”
      almost gave you away,
      and “Techniques for stabilising your hands at arm’s length, Reviews of selfie sticks”
      clinched it.
      🙂
      ( So I didn’t need to sigh the big sigh..)

      But it was a good attempt!
      😉

  • Gianfranco says:

    Ciao Pascal
    What gave you away:
    Wealthy silver fox. That breed don’t take pictures, they have their picture taken. Or worse show their equipment around, so everybody goes Haw!!!!!
    The pro batters it’s equipment, he has to get the picture no matters what.
    The semi-pro wants to become pro.
    The amateur enjoys taking pictures and saves for the ultimate equipment that will get him gratification. He hopes to find Nirvana one day.

    The rest finds time to indulge in photography so they remember that ultimate moment of their life, ‘till next one. Or next phone.

    Us we have seen snow, hail, frostbites and sunburns. With our beloved cameras used and protected but always ready for that fleeing moment that we want to capture for eternity and our friends but mostly for our own eyes.

    Enjoy photography! Pascal, Philippe and everybody else on this platform (blog).
    Gelato al limon
    Espresso macchiato
    Ciao
    Gianfranco

    • pascaljappy says:

      Drat, I must dye my hair now, Gianfranco !

      More seriously, I’m not sure that the amateur enjoys making photographs. He/she should but very often, photography seems to turn into a techno contest. That’s what’s so nice about phone. They’re so bad technically that it’s all about the photograph and the photographer 🙂

      Chianti classico
      Linguine al nero di seppia
      Ciao

    • jean pierre (pete) guaron says:

      ???? – gelato al limone, con un espresso macchiato? – ma va! – lei scherza, Gianfranco!

  • Gianfranco says:

    Jean Pierre:
    Pensavo a:
    Paolo Conte! Taormina ! Espresso macchiato!

    Pascal,
    À table, mais où? Je propose chez Massimo, Erice.
    Sinon on se fait un gueuleton à Marseille en août. Philippe, Jean Pierre vous êtes invités.

    Ici à Montréal il fait -17C, au mois d’avril…..Grrrrrrr et Brrrrrrr.
    La Sony bronche un peu.

    Ciao tutti.

    Gianfranco

  • Dan Petolescu says:

    Laughing aside last year I decided to leave all cameras home and take only my iPhone8 to our yearly (short) trip to Florida. Uncharacteristically we did not have any friends or family with us.
    What I missed:
    1. Wide angle lens
    2. Color depths, especially at sunsets
    3. Low light pictures looked terrible – and I mean like pics taken on the beach at night. I guess I could use one of the better camera aps and put the phone on a tripod to get better results, but that would defeat the no camera equipment whatsoever meme
    4. Long lens

    What I did not miss:
    1. The stress of someone lifting my camera bag from the beach while I had a long and nice bath in the ocean…
    2. Built in GPS – I could actually trace my photographic journey quite nicely upon returning home and loading the pictures in Lightroom. 😀

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