Wildlife Photography...with a Phone

You might remember (from this recent comment) that our friend John Camp is no great fan of phone cameras. However, look what he managed to "capture" (not literally!) with his the other day:

John writes: "Okay, cell phones aren’t completely useless. I was out walking my German Shepherd, Scout, today, when I felt a strange set of eyes upon us. This was a block from my very urban house in Santa Fe. Taken with my iPhone."

Mike
(Thanks to John)

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Peter Nigos: "Nice capture—but not wildlife. This is a serval, an African cat just a little bigger than a domestic tabby, and kept as an exotic pet. Very agile; they often escape."

John Yuda: "I don't think that's a serval—they don't tend to have the beard-like whiskers hanging down from their cheeks. That looks like a good ol' North American bobcat to me."

[Ed. Note: Serval; bobcat.]

John Camp replies: "It's not a serval, it's a regular old New Mexican bobcat, of which there are quite a few around, although I've not have seen one that close up (I was about 10 feet away.) The cat never moved, but kept his eyes on my dog the whole time. As for size, I would say maybe 15–20 pounds, although they look bigger because of their fluffy fur, and if walking, would be about knee-high.

There are four members of the lynx family, according to the San Diego Zoo site, of which bobcats are one."

Comments

[Winwalloe]

While the phone provided the possibility to get a photo, is it objectively a good photograph of a feline?

[Ed]

Just provides credit to the saying that the best camera is the one you have with you.

[Ken Tanaka]

Mike & John: Thanks ever so much for helping me start my day by blowing coffee through my nose. It's great for the sinuses.

[brian]

The video embedded in this story shows that cellphones can be useful for wildlife video, too:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/09/i-dont-really-like-this-hikers-film-their-dangerous-encounter-with-mountain-lion/

[D. Hufford]

No, not useless at all, I'd say. A pretty good photo of a bobcat when a pretty good photo of a bobcat ain't easy to get.

I haven't an iPhone, but as it seems I am gonna have to get a smartphone of some type, I have to admit I am becoming more and more curious about it. Not as a full camera replacement, but as a supplement to my other cameras. Hell, I am used to slow---I had one of the original quirky faux rangefinder cameras from 2011.

But it seems lots of folks are finding the iPhone of some use in photography. David Alan Harvey, for example http://leicaphilia.com/david-alan-harveys-take-on-what-camera-you-should-use/ and even the author of Leicaphilia has been spending some time with it. http://leicaphilia.com/forget-the-m10-the-iphone-is-the-real-digital-leica-part-one/

Imagine in a few more years.

[JG]

Earlier this year, I didn't have to leave my house to take a photo of this one.

I live just a few blocks from several thousand acres of open desert (aka the Salt River Indian Reservation), so wildlife of all types has a habit of wandering through my neighborhood occasionally.

You'd think the mountain lions are the worst, but in my experience, it's the javelina. They have lousy eyesight and are very protective of their young, especially when there's a dog nearby. I have been charged by them twice now while out photographing with my dog in tow and it's not a fun experience, believe me!

IMO, the most interesting are the hawks and the occasional bald eagle, who think nothing of stalking their prey -- usually a rabbit -- killing it, and then eating it in my front yard, all while I stand there and watch them.

Pretty much every other animal will run away and hide when they spot a human, but not these bad-ass birds! 8^O

[Peter Nigos]

Impressive photograph, but not likely a wild animal. The head appears more like that of a serval, an African species often kept as an exotic pet. About the size of a large domestic cat, they are very agile and often escape.

[Omer]

Beautiful bobcat. Wildlife, one of the delights of Southwest living. Bobcats are wonderful and have taken to living within suburbs that adjoin open country and though small, hearing one growl I realized they are absolutely wild animals.

Obviously behind the safety of a double pane window:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/36420001636/in/dateposted-public/

[Mark Kinsman]

So,....it's cat and food pictures...after all is said and done.
;-)

[Manuel]

Nice kitty. It totally changed my mind about the iPhone. Really. I admit to having been quite sceptical about its image quality, but the only minor problems seem to be the faded colours, blown highlights, an overall lack of sharpness and definition and an inability to distract from the fore- and background. Other than that it's perfect for wildlife shooting, as long as your concept of 'wildlife' is a trip to the city zoo. (Which won't even be necessary if you happen to be stalked by feral cats very often.)

[Paul]

As they say, the best camera is often simply the camera you happen to have with you...

[Chris Y.]

Probably on his way over to Counterculture for coffee and a sweet roll.

[Chris]

So, for those non-Americans, what is it? Not your usual moggie... (I was going to guess Lynx, but the ears look wrong.)

[Dave in NM]

My daughter and I just got back from a couple days at Mesa Verde. I brought a bag full of lenses and my D800, but when I realized that we'd have to be climbing ladders and crawling on our hands and knees through tiny tunnels, I left the camera in the car and enjoyed the tours with my iPhone.

Since all I was really after were "I was here" shots, with no intention of ever printing or displaying them anywhere other than on my iPad or Mac, it worked out just fine. In fact, in the close quarters of the cliff dwellings, the iPhone turned out to be a better documentary tool than the camera would have been. The panorama mode gave me a far wider field of view than even my 14-24 would have afforded without stitching multiple exposures in Photoshop or Lightroom.

I learned a valuable lesson. On future trips, where the aim is not specifically photography, the camera will stay at home.

And by the way John, that's a very handsome bobcat. Nice job, especially considering that you probably had the phone in one hand and a leash in the other...

[mark jennings]

The serval has a bigger ear and and a slighter, more rangy build.