Blood on the Streets...

First off, it's not really blood, so relax... it's just paint on the streets. It just seems like blood. This is part of the organized lying I was talking about some time ago.

This is not what this post is about, though. Today, I was talking with some friends over lunch. The talk wasmostly about photography. We talked a lot, about film, about digital and we came up with the beaten down maxim: "it's just a tool, it doesn't really matter what you shoot with".

Now, my personal belief is that photography is not really like other arts. "Sometimes, to get the results the pros get, you need to buy the stuff the pros buy" (quote by a personal favorite, Scott Kelby - seems like a great guy, really love his books. If you're starting into photography, buy his stuff, it's GREAT).

By this, I don't mean to say that you can give the best camera in the market to a guy that knows nothing about photography, and just by holding this thousand Euro camera, every shot will be perfect. Quite the contrary, actually. "Pro" cameras are more difficult to use properly than point and shoot cameras.

But, it the opposite true? Can you give a phone camera to a good photographer and he will take the best picture ever?

I took this photograph with and iPhone (and I'm NOT by any stretch of the imagination saying I'm a good photographer) and I really like it. It's dark, its color is off, technically it's a mess. However, you can take pretty nice pictures with which you can impress your friends.

I really am a snob, I really like to shoot with great equipment, but sometimes, it's more about the shot itself, than the equipment. Try this: focus on the shot, instead of on the equipment. Get the lamest camera you have and shoot with it. Shoot anything, let go... I'll do the same.

This shot was taken in Lisbon at night, with an iPhone camera. No sidewalks were harmed in taking this picture...