I love shooting snapshots with my Iphone and Hipstamatic which I raved about here: http://nateparkerphotography.com/blog/2012/8/why-phone-cameras-hipstamatic-and-instagram-etc-are-totally-awesome it really puts the fun back into funtography. Ouch. 

Of course we're all going to go out tomorrow and set up our sticks and shine on our filters and say that we're going to make a really important picture, like along the lines of the Eisenstadt Times Square VJ day kiss or something like that, but I would submit (getting off the track here a little bit) that the most important images that we as photographers will produce will be the one's of our loved ones. It's our job as photographers to shoot pictures, but sometimes when we (more properly reads: "I") get into the super serious mindset of making only "fine-art" imagery- only "important" images then I don't make enough pictures- pictures for fun like. So that's where your super cool cell phone camera comes in- I mean these mobile phone cams are arguably if not definitely better then the first "pro" model digital cameras that were on the market 12 years ago, they're ridiculously good! And throw into it the super awesome apps that give you a look, whatever it is, which does a better job at developing or post processing your images then the guy at the one-hour-photo did, then we should all be firing off as many shots as we can with these things! No tripod- no filter cleaning, plugging in the shutter release- settings -focussing, none of that: just making photos for fun. I can't even begin to imagine how good these little cameras are going to be another ten years from now. Holograms, tactile reference points, smell, sound, 4 dimensions- will all be passe' by then! Embrace the now people! Before it's too late!

Oh and one more thing- there's never any sensor dust! Yeah!! Here's some of my favorites from a week ago when I went to Boston and the Cape and Martha's Vineyard to see family and my buddy Garsh for Thanksgiving. 

"Boston Jet"

"Threegulls"

"Boston"

"A Weird East Boston Version of Stonehendge or Something?"

"Rotten Piers, East Boston"

"140 ft Tall Gigantic Towers of Effluent at the Deer Isle Sewerage Treatment Facility in Boston Harbor"

"Boston Fuel Trans"

"Late For Martha's Vineyard Ferry"

"Ferry Bow Wave"

"My Buddy Fargarshio Is Like "I Can Do That.""

"The Infamous Chappaquiddick Bridge"

"Chappaquiddick Sunburst"

"My Buddy Fargarshio Making Like This Was All His Idea"

"Accidental Self Portrait"

"Chappaquiddick Lady With Dog" Here's where this whole thing get's palpable because I set about making "real" images of this boardwalk with my "real" camera and the results weren't close to how much I like this shot- which is just about my favorite image of the whole week- ! Who's laughing now? And what does that expression mean anyway?

"I win the biggest and heaviest tripod contest"

"Martha's Vineyard Beach Path Over the Dunes"

"Sky Flier"

"Vineyard Dunes"

"Nameplate of The Ferry Home"

"Just In Case"

"Why Do They Call It A Wake Anyways"

"Toll Booth Willy" -I've been making photograph's of the interesting looking toll booth takers on the interstate occasionally for the past few years, getting my monies worth and all, it's not really fair though- I mean I ask them before doing it but they are just sitting ducks there- not quite like the perfect decisive moment kind of street photography thing- but there sometimes are some pretty cool looking folk in those little boothies.

"The School I Grew Up In" -formative moments.

"Old Orchard Beach Kid And Birds"

"You Do Not Want To See This In Your Rearview Mirror. Ever." And he wouldn't even let me make a picture of him! He laughed though after he said "No!" and I did too- there's that.

And there we have it. Here's another thing I just thought of: ego motive:: if you really like one of your cell phone pictures then someone else says it's sucks- you just say "hey man, it's just an Iphone picture"! Yeah! That one's for free.

I almost feel like my work is done for this year. That I should just let brown-stick-season be and wait for winter to come and feel good about what I've made this year and not stress about finding and making my next "serious" picture. Maybe I'll go to Bangor and shoot the local color there or something for fun (which could be really pretty interesting!...), or go shoot more of the old abandoned military bases scattered around Maine. The whole time though I won't be far from my Hipstamatic and the Claunch 72 monochrome "film"- love that!

How do you guys use your phone camera's and do you think that important imagery can be made on a cell phone camera? Comment me your opinions if you got one- 

Have a good one and thanks for stopping by -Nate!