Smartphones may very well be the most transformative pieces of tech for any human being for the past decade. It’s constantly improving and diverse enough in price to get people from all walks to life to be able to afford and that’s great.
I used to be someone that carries a dedicated camera to capture moments whenever I go out and it was no only a cumbersome experience but also a time consuming situation where I could not just immediately offload my media till I get home and get editing, followed by uploading. With smartphones now, you’re able to do all those things right from your pocket and not even needing to offload to another device for editing and uploading. These wonderful pocket computers have taken care of it all for you through apps and constantly improving optics.
Blurring Lines
However the more important variable between the smartphone and the camera, is the operator. I find this important as we are talking about 2 major things : Skill Factor and Intent. With the right skill through simple practice and learning, you are able to use your smartphone to take both scenic and casual type of shots with great results.
Mainstream Device
Let’s take the Galaxy S24 FE for example. It’s got great specs, a solid price range and a competent triple camera setup.
Quick Specs
| Cameras | 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.57″, 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS 8 MP, f/2.4, 75mm (telephoto), 1/4.4″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 123˚ (ultrawide), 1/3.0″, 1.12µm |
| Chipset | Exynos 2400e (4 nm) |
| Memory | 256GB 8GB RAM 512GB 8GB RAM |
| Price | 256GB 8GB RAM – RM 2999 512GB 8GB RAM – RM 3599 |
The Social Aspect
I was recently invited to attend Alice Saves Wonderland: The Immersive Journey at The Exchange TRX, giving me an opportunity to explore the social aspect of what taking photos from a smartphone means now (or to me at least). It was all about the moment, having fun and enjoying the view.
The event is a tailored journey that puts you into Alice’s shoes, where you have to save Wonderland while soaking in the view in her eyes, and by extension the Galaxy S24 FE’s, as there were plently of whimsical moments and installations to capture.
The environment was constantly changing in terms of lighting, and for the most part dark, and smartphones have gone up to a point where the implementation of AI and post processing technique had gone through such a level of improvement that you’re able to get bright images out of dark situations, with a good amount of sharpness and detail left in the mix.
Usually dark spots are an invitation to noise and poorer image quality, but you can turn it into a strength. By focusing on the where your light source is coming from and then point against it, you are able to get a dedicated light source to your subject, and thus able to catch a shot that’s both aesthetic and technically sound.
Having Fun
A big part of using a smartphone is for social media, and that entails setting yourself up for shot worth taking to show to your friends and family. This typically changes our view and our approach, as we’re focusing on moment capturing rather than catching an aesthetic piece. Makes sense right? I’m out having fun, I just want a fun shot, it doesn’t need to be in the best possible lighting and scenario.
This is where the likes of the Galaxy S24 FE shines. It’s native f/1.8 aperture is able to capture more light even when its dark, which means you don’t even need to touch the exposure slider to make its brighter. Moments require speed, and that means there’s no time to set up, just shoot shoot shoot. This falls in line with the style of One UI’s camera, which is probably one of the fastest shutters in the market.
Combine these factors with strong, disciplined post processing, the lasting impression is the fact that you only need to worry about catching shots in time, and leaving the rest to your smartphone to take care of things in the background.
Composition and Creativity
I’m not here to just go technical. I’m here to convey creativity and composition. The real fun begins when you let creativity take over. When you start considering composition, which is just a big-sounding word, you’re able to capture unique shots that are mind-bending and out of the ordinary. Part of an excellent Auto Mode experience is in the Galaxy S24 FE’s DNA, with great lens distortion correction, balanced HDR and sharpening in post. These are just little essential ways a smartphone does after you’ve caught your shot and makes results better, so to speak.
Where Does This Leave Us?
It simply leaves us with 2 lessons that are connected. 1 is the fact that you should invest time to learn more about your hardware, understand where it can perform well, and what kind of experiences it offers. 2 is learning your trust your device after you trust yourself. Though the rule of thumb for me is to always capture as many shots as possible so that you can pick the best one out of the bunch, consider additional factors such as composition and focus into your decision making. In due time, you’ll only get faster and faster with your capturing, and before you know it, you’ve mastered both actual and fun photography.
