I don’t know when I started the ‘view from the office’ series on Facebook, but I do remember why!  I was trying to poke a little fun at my many friends who are still working, sitting at a desk or on a job site or somewhere every day.  More bluntly, I was rubbing their noses in it!!  I hope no one takes offense at this revelation – it’s all in good-natured fun and I love sharing my passion for photography with you.

One of my rules for the ‘view’ is that all the pictures and videos are taken with my mobile phone camera.  They are frequently taken from the same vantage point as pictures with my DSLR cameras, but not always.  I post them on Facebook at the earliest opportunity, since I am often in places with limited or no signal.

I must confess that I took a long time before embracing the multi-media device we all carry to do anything but transmit and receive voice communication.  I thought a mobile phone was for making phone calls and nothing else.  I started looking at mobile phones differently when I carried a PDA (don’t ask me what it stands for, something like personal assistant) in one of my last professional positions many, many years ago.  When I finally bought a smart phone and I worked my way through apps and having my email at my fingertips, I still resisted using the camera.  Then I began using the camera, but I avoided video.  Last February, I finally touched the little movie icon on the camera screen and recorded the snow falling in my back yard through my breakfast nook window.  Since then, I’ve been making lots of short videos with my mobile phone.  The next step is to engage the video function on my ‘big boy’ camera, but I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let’s get back to mobile phones.

The December 2016 issue of Shutterbug magazine has several articles on photokina 2016, the biannual event showcasing the future of imaging technology.  The future is apparently perplexing -Editor Dan Havlik says as much in the issue’s Editor’s Notes.  In addition to interesting developments by major photo equipment companies, Havlik laments that there were “…tons of – too many, actually – new Virtual Reality (VR) products at photokina…”  A friend of mine received a VR device for his birthday recently, and he tells me his mobile phone provides the operating system to bring the VR media to the device.  That’s a long way from making phone calls.

An article by Seth Shostak tells us what a camera of the future might look like, and how we might use and view the images it will make.

Joe Farace writes articles for Shutterbug’s ‘Geared Up’ column, which provides a discussion of new photo equipment.  In an article titled ‘9 Trends That Will Change Photography Next Year,’ Joe gives his take on photokina and the future.  Joe writes that cellphone photography is adversely impacting the point-and-shoot camera market, and that “…thanks to the smartphone boom the worldwide population of photographers has grown by a factor of eight over the past 10 years.”  He continues, “…while smartphones represent the primary camera for a growing number of people…the opportunity for users to step up to a digital camera grows with every new photographer this trend produces.”

I hope I haven’t lost any of you by now – I have a point – really!  I began taking pictures as a boy using the point-and-shoot technology of the time, my trusty Kodak 110 camera.  I graduated up to a single lens reflex (SLR) camera just before our first son was born and carried that camera for decades.  Almost 8 years ago, I bought an entry level digital SLR (DSLR) and have upgraded twice.  The mobile phone is a much more advanced version of the point-and-shoot film cameras that my generation grew up with (it makes phone calls and connects to the internet, too).

For now, we have to be content with the tools we have and put them to their best use.  For me, my mobile phone allows me to have the advantages of point-and-shoot technology.  Further, it allows me to quickly and easily share with my friends and rub my retirement fun in their noses!  Mostly, it allows me to quickly and easily share – that’s my story!  Whatever your equipment or skill set, I encourage you to take pictures and share them, but mostly have fun.

Here’s a few examples of a view from the office compared with the image from the big camera.

I posted this image from Mormon Station State Park on November 29, 2016. I put my mobile phone on top of my DSLR camera for this picture.

This is the same shot from the DSLR and enhanced on the computer.

The Carson River on November 1, 2016.

From the big camera – love the sky much better!

Remember this image from October 27, 2016. The south shore of Lake Tahoe on a stormy day.

From the big boy camera and enhanced on the computer. Much better composition and drama.

There are some images that are fun to make, but are not deserving of getting out the big camera. This is the Welcome sign in Vernal UT. Mobile phone all the way.

Rocky Mountain National Park with the mobile phone, August 16, 2016.

Same view with the big camera. I shot multiple images and stitched this panorama.

Eden Vale Pond, October 3, 2016. One of the fun things about shooting with the mobile phone is that I can include the big camera in the image.

Same pond, big camera.

While this was not a ‘view from the office’ post, I include it because of the comparison between my mobile phone camera and my DSLR.

I haven’t mastered the art of the mobile phone selfie, hence I make very few and show even fewer.

I vastly prefer the DSLR selfie – I can make a good one that I’m willing to share. Thanks to my lovely bride for being seen with me in public!

That’s the behind the scenes look at ‘A View from the Office.’  I hope you’ve enjoyed the view on Facebook and now see the difference between the view and the final image.

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR