I will be the first to admit that I have a strong propensity to over-think and over-pack photo gear no matter what type of shoot I go out to do.  I can’t determine if it is me being overly nervous about not having packed the right gear or overly neurotic by trying to be prepared for anything. In actuality, it’s most likely a large amount of both – so much so that I tend to burn myself out and just leave all of it at home, especially on normal workdays, days that are ripe for a stroll during a lunch hour, for example.  The problem is that when you work in a location such as South Boston, a few blocks away from the Fort Point Channel and the financial district/chinatown area, leaving your gear at home can lead to countless wasted opportunities to capture some beautiful, at-the-moment-it-happens shots.

Enter Seattle-based pro photog, Chase Jarvis, and his axiom, ‘The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You’.  It turns out the odds are extremely likely that you own a cell phone.  I do.  Still strong odds that your cell phone has a built-in camera.  Mine does.  And, it seems like the odds grow by the day that you would own an iPhone.  Got one right here.  Well, it turns out that all you really need to capture some truly beautiful moments is likely already in your pocket.  Check out this video put out by Chase introducing you to his new campaign.  It may inspire you.  I can tell you that it really inspired me.  Click the link below the video when you’re done to continue.

To say that I am impressed with this little app is clearly an understatement.  The ‘Best Camera’ iPhone app is, hands down, the best camera app that I have used (and I have tried -a lot- of iPhone camera apps).  You also have at your disposal 14 filters to give your image a more processed/polished look.  I do want to say that these filters are some of the robust that I’ve seen.  That is part of the charm of this app – it really opened my eyes to the potential that is locked within my tiny iPhone camera.  Since the app was released yesterday, I can say that I’ve been as happy with some of the 3 megapixel images produced by my iPhone as I have with my 21.1 megapixel Canon 5D Mark II.

If that would have been all to the app, I still would have been very excited.  However, Chase delivers a one-two punch with his campaign to get people capturing exposures with whatever they have on them.  He does this via the application’s companion website, TheBestCamera.com.  Because sharing your photos with the world is one of the greatest things that you can do with them, you can upload your images directly to the website, where it will become part of a live-streaming slideshow feed.  The direct link to my shared photos is here While you’re in the sharing mood, you can also directly post your images to your Facebook and Twitter accounts in one fell swoop.

The moral of the story can very well be different for all of you.  For me, I was both challenged and to spend less time looking at what gear to pack and more time seeing what is all around me.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s very reassuring to know that I can always grab my 5D Mark II, slap on some really nice glass and (hopefully) get some good shots.  But, it’s also very comforting to know that I can achieve the same satisfaction with my little iPhone.

So, I take Chase’s axiom as my lesson learned – the best camera really is the one that’s with you.

Cheers,

Brian

PS – Chase has also put out a companion book that showcases images that he was able to capture using his iPhone.  It serves as a huge source of inspiration to be able to see what one can do with some imagination and a few megapixels.