Inside my shoes: Love to take a photograph ...

Columnist shudders to think that people will someday depend on a cell phone to take their wedding photos, senior pictures or other important events.

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By TAMMY MALGESINI

Community Editor

Published on September 1, 2015 9:35AM

I’m old school. 

Sure, I take photos with my cell phone, but those I plan enlarging, displaying in my home or give as gifts to friends are taken with my Nikon camera. 

Recently, it was World Photo Day. I’d like to think we’re meant to celebrate photos taken with real cameras.

I shudder (not shutter) to think that people will someday depend on a cell phone to take their wedding photos, senior pictures or other important events.

Oh, and I don’t make phone calls from my Nikon. I don’t even want to. When I’m out taking photos, I’m in the zone and don’t want to be interrupted by phone calls.

I’ll admit, I initially drug my feet when it came to digital cameras. However, that wasn’t such a bad thing because technology greatly improved before I shelled out the big bucks to purchase one. Luckily, my Nikon lenses are all compatible.

I recently participated in judging duties in the photography at Umatilla and Morrow county fairs. While I’m sure some of the entries originated from cell phones, the majority of the images were captured with a camera. You know, a stand-alone device you take pictures with.

And don’t even get me started about people who take photos with an iPad — too late. Seriously, this summer I was riding on the Route of the Hiawatha, a remote mountain bike trail in the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho and Montana, and people were emerging from a tunnel to take photos. 

When someone pulled their iPad out of their backpack, I thought really?!? It’s not like it can hang around your neck like a camera. Besides that, the area is so remote, you can’t immediately upload photos to the Internet.

Cameras are more convenient to pack around when hiking and biking than an iPad. In addition, they provide better quality images.

While I’m talking about cameras, I want to stress more isn’t always better. Check the settings on your camera to ensure you’re shooting at a higher resolution. While your memory card will hold more photos at low resolution, the quality isn’t as good. When you do capture that photo you want to enlarge or submit to the newspaper, it’s not going to be very good quality if you have your settings set too low.

If you need help, check with a camera shop, photography buff or maybe even take a class. Hermiston Parks & Recreation periodically offers classes that are designed to help amateur shutterbugs. The next one is coming up in November, just in time to get some tips before preserving holiday memories.

And who knows, maybe you’ll take some awesome shots and enter them in the 2016 Umatilla County Fair.

Tammy Malgesini is the community editor. Her column, Inside my Shoes, includes general musings about life. Contact her at tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4539.