I would like to get better though, and that, arguably, is half the battle!
Up until my last trip (Sri Lanka, Feb 2017), I traveled exclusively with my iPhone, taking probably thousands of pictures that satisfied my need to preserve and remember my trip, were just fine for family and friends back home, and found their way to social media sites, mostly just as a way to keep track of my own travels, sights I saw, delicious meals, new friends and experiences, etc.
Then I realized that sometimes, I wasn’t thrilled with the photos I was getting. The details that I saw were blurry in the photos. The colours weren’t quite right. I wanted to capture exactly what I remembered seeing. And forget about zoom. Basically it didn’t exist.
But the additional weight of my dslr plus another lens and batteries and storage…it just didn’t seem to be worth it in my carry-on existence. In 20 lbs or less of luggage, how do you justify 7lbs of camera?
Then I read about these new cameras that were coming out. A mirror-less camera, with the power of some of the best dslr cameras on the market, but at half or less of the weight. When a decent camera and lens can be brought with you weighing only 3lbs, the thought of bringing it was a lot more justifiable.
When I booked my trip to Sri Lanka, I decided that the safaris I’d be going on, plus the short length of the trip, would be a great test to see if bringing a real camera while traveling was actual feasible.
And wouldn’t you know. All of a sudden, I was really, really happy with how my pictures looked. I used my iPhone camera to capture quick, every day shots. But when I saw elephants and birds on Safari, my zoom lens picked up sights not even my eyes could.
All of a sudden, my subjects were in crisp focus, the background was beautifully blurred and the colours were accurate, from vibrate birds to muted fog, everything showed up how I remembered it.
And finally, the camera I chose (Sony a6000), was able to connect to my phone and share the photos, to be uploaded promptly and shared with anyone!
The first photo I saw in my phone, I uploaded it to Snapseed to do any minor tweaking, and here was the moment I waited for. The photo needed no editing! No, I didn’t magically become a photographer-extraordinare. But with the accurate colours, the sharp focus and the beautiful background…nothing needed tweaking.
Will my camera accompany me on every trip? Unlikely. But whenever I have plans to do some serious camera work (hello upcoming safari in the Serengeti!), it will definitely have a place in my bag. And in my heart!
As a lovely comparison of my new favourite camera, the top photo was taken with my iPhone 6, and the bottom was wit my Sony a6000. Both were taken about 3 feet from the monkey. 😮
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