Call for Work: Smartphone Snaps (Baker's Dozen)

Butters sniffing a purple onion skin.
Your shot need not include a dog.

Do you shoot with a smartphone regularly, especially a late model one, especially one you bought specifically for its camera?

My theory is that regardless of what you shoot with, sometimes you get a shot that works for you. Have you gotten a "hit" recently with your smartphone? Doesn't have to be art, just something you like. Show us something quirky or personal, something you wouldn't have shot if it weren't for your phone.

Send it to m c j o h n s t o n a t m a c d o t c o m with the subject line "bakersdozenphone" and I'll pick 13 of the most interesting ones and post them on Nov. 10th. The JPEGs should be saved in sRGB and 800 pixels wide, and please include them in the body of the email.

Let me know your name, age, and where you live, too. Any other comments welcome too, of course. Please don't forget the subject line, or I might lose it in the email stack.

Amish cauliflowers. Your shot need not be colorful.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

B&H Photo • Amazon US • Amazon UK
Amazon Germany • Amazon Canada • Adorama

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

No featured comments yet—please check back soon!

Comments

[Mark Hobson]

Must it be a "straight" picture or is monkey business - phone app "processing" - allowed?

[Anything you want. Not a contest, no rules. --Mike]

[Yoram Nevo]

Mike - you should do a print sale of that "Amish cauliflowers" photo !

[cdembrey]

When is the cut-off date? Do I have to submit the file before noon today? Before midnight Friday?

[These will be presented on Nov. 10, so anything before then could be considered. However, I've already gotten several dozen contributions and have started building the post (4 so far) so I'm guessing the post will be finished before Nov. 9th. --Mike]

[Ned Bunnell]

Mike,

I have a suggestion that’s far easier for everyone, and at the same time, adds a new dimension to the classic TOP blog,

1. Set-up a companion account on Instagram called “the online photographer”.
2. Post one of your favorite phone photos of Butters and add a caption asking everyone to post theirs to your hashtag #bakersdozenbest or whatever category you chose.
3. You can then review all the entries submitted with this hashtag with no need to ask people to send an image via email sized to 800 pixels etc.
4. You can then select the best image and repost it on your Instagram page as well as your main site.
5. Having an Instagram page (with link to your main site) will generate new followers for you...many of whom are currently not regular readers of TOP.
6. There are many examples of how folks are integrating Instagram with their web presence. Two nice examples that immediately come to mind are Magnum and Casual Photophile.
7. Having an Instagram account would allow you to easily post random photos, promote your print sales, test interest in subject matter that could then be expanded into a feature article on TOP. All with very little effort on your part. And it can all be managed holding a cup of fresh coffee in one hand and your 7 Plus in the other hand.
8. And, while I know your audience tends to skew to “graybeards” as you frequently mention, you now will likely drive a younger crowd to TOP. From my experience on Instagram, there are many folks that aren’t old enough to remember Kodachrome, but are eager to learn more about all things related to traditional photography. They would become regular readers of TOP and would truly appreciate your insightful writing and point of view.

Go for it Mike. You have nothing to lose and a lot of new followers to gain:)

[Bryce Lee]

Baker's dozen eh? in short the numeral 13 comes to mind.

Here in the remainder of the real world which recognizes metric for what it does more easily, a metric baker's dozen would probably be the numeral 11, one numeral about 10, which
is how metric functions, or should.

So does Butters eat or only just sniff red onion skin?

[hugh crawford]

You are aware that the thiosulfate in onions is toxic to doge right?

[Wasn't the doge a high official in Renaissance Venice?

Or are you talking about Shibu Inus? --Mike]

[hugh crawford]

dogs , not doge.

[Khürt L. Williams]

What does:

> please include them in the body of the email.

mean? All files are sent as attachments.

Did you see Ned Bunnell's comment?

[Richard Parkin]

+1 for Ned Bunnell’s comment.

[Kirk in PDX]

The workflow for this is somewhat broken. Exporting from Photos on an iPhone, you are presented with a size option, by KB/MB, not pixels. For a square format photo, medium is 640x640, and large is 1462 x 1462. The iOS Lightroom app doesn't have any export size options, and I don't edit at a computer much anymore.

I think Ned may be on to something.

[Richard Swearinger]

The photo of Butters with the onion skin is magnificent! The way the onion skin suggests a chalice, the symmetrical composition hinting that we're witnessing a sacred moment, the very painterly light...especially on the left side of his muzzle.
Read from left to right to me it is an allegory for humans finally acknowledging they have trashed up the planet for too long and are passing dominion to a more intelligent species.

[That's funny--I wrote a short story once in which humans had died off and dogs had become the dominant species on the planet. --Mike]

[anthony]

For "including them in the body of the email":

open a new email, put your cursor in the body, click the "insert" tab, then "picture".

Works for Outlook email anyway.