In December 2024 we retired the Stockimo app, but we’re still accepting Smartphone photos. You can read the latest update here.If you’re looking to upload your mobile phone photos to 窪圖勛蹋you can sign up here.
This blog article from 2014 has been kept live for archival purposes.
Film Vs Digital, Canon Vs Nikon, Mac Vs PC, Amateur Vs Pro In the world of stock photography theres always been conflicting arguments along the lines of mines better than yours with heated opinions in both camps and one of the latest in the long line of topics is: Camera Vs Phone.
To start out lets get one thing clear; 窪圖勛蹋loves photography and photographers and we like to think of ourselves as the Switzerland metaphor for all these arguments.
We also like to keep an eye on new emerging and future technologies, photography trends and customer needs; step forward Stockimo, our iPhone app for smart phone photography. And no sooner do we launch, we are embroiled in iOS Vs Android arguments (to clarify, developing an app was a new thing for us and it made more sense to concentrate on a single operating system whilst we learn. Android will be coming, once were fully up to speed).
One of our initial briefs for Stockimo was to try and open up the door to a new style of photographer with a new style of photography, but what is it about a smart phone that makes the style of photography different?
Sure theres the Instagram effect where even a fairly simplistic subject can be transformed into a work of wonder by using one of the many filter apps now available. But apart from the immediacy of using an app, this has been all possible to do with a camera and Photoshop (Photoshop Vs Lightroom?) and yet largely the mainstream hasnt pushed too much beyond corrections in levels and dust spotting.
We see a large number of long time 窪圖勛蹋contributors now also submitting photos through Stockimo, but interestingly the majority have differing approaches and styles of photography with clear distinctions between camera and phone submissions. Is it just a mindset thing; Ive got my camera and tripod so Im doing serious work, whereas with my phone Im just having a bit of fun?
A few other possibilities for a divide are: ease, immediacy, and risk and cost.
Styles such as reportage and street photography have seen a massive surge in popularity as with a phone in hand youre now pretty much camouflaged within society and are relatively free to snap away without being intrusive. This results in more freedom and, without alerting subjects to the camera, a more natural look and feel to the imagery.
How many of us getting ready for a night out and with intentions of documenting the evening, faced with the prospect of lugging around an SLR, flash and maybe alternative lens, put all back in the cupboard and just pick up our phone along with our dancing shoes?
The same can be said for risk and cost; sure iPhones arent cheap, but then a decent SLR, lens and flash set up can be way more expensive and more delicate. So you want to get an action shot of your kid splashing though a puddle and you stoop down to water level, do you really put your SLR on the floor? Or do you wipe the muddy water off your iPhone as you put it back in your pocket?
There are plenty of customers that still largely can only be served by good SLR photography and so were in no way saying phone is better than camera, but there are plenty of customers out there that are just looking for good creative photography irrespective of the device that captured it.
We did actually have a picture needs request from a customer that specified 她f a Stockimo style, but what is that exactly?
Were on course to take on board more new photography this year than ever before; so to reiterate, we love photography and we want more both from SLRs and from smart phones although currently at 窪圖勛蹋there is a clear divide between the two in terms of upload, acceptance and seemingly styles. Stockimo Vs Alamy?