iPhonography

In case you haven’t seen the latest Apple commercial—and Apple is pretty renown for commercials—the computer and phone giant claims, “everyday, more photos are taken with an iPhone than with any other camera.” That’s not hard to believe. Counting all six generations, there are somewhere near 200 million iPhones on the street worldwide. Unlike DSLRs and point-and-shoot cameras, we always seem to have our phones with us. That convenience has equated to billions of photos.

Search for “photography” in the iTunes app store and you will get over 8,500 results. “Cameras” will find 4,700 hits and there are over 1,200 “photo editing” apps. But amongst the Apple hype and the iPhones held aloft at every event and landmark, how many compelling artistic images are taken on phones?

Recently, I attended a conference at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. Jekyll Island and the club and mansions now making up the hotel were once an enclave for the richest families in America—Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Morgans, and Pulitzers among them—once made this their private retreat. In fact, the members of the club accounted for one sixth of the U.S.’s total wealth by World War II.

But despite the beauty and history here, I was without a camera. Except for my iPhone 5. Sometimes, you just get tired lugging around a thirty pound camera bag. So for three days, I set out to determine if I could take great photos, images becoming of a professional photographer, with an 8 MP iPhone camera. I’ve included a few samples.

I’m convinced that iPhones, and phone cameras in general, have reached a point where snapshots can transcend to art. Obviously, many photogs agree. Adhering to the same rules of composition, exposure, and light are really no different. Controlling shutter speed seems impossible until you realize—well, there’s an app for that.

I must admit that a couple of my images were tweaked a bit using East Coast Pixel’s Photo Toaster.  I’m a big fan of this app. From subtle sharpening or exposure adjustments to radical photo manipulations, this app has a lot to offer.

Ghosts of Another Century

I spent the last three days at an economic development conference and stayed at the Jekyll Island Inn. This century old historic hotel was once the Jekyll Island Club, a millionaire’s retreat on a private island. The club was started in 1888. Names like Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Pulitzer, and Morgan fill the rolls of the 100 members who paid $600 each to join this ultra-exclusive club. But thanks to the Great Depression, World War II, a condemnation by the state of Georgia, and a conference rate, I stayed there for just $139 a night and didn't have to join anything.

There is something special about staying here. The Queen Anne architecture and turreted tower make the buildings distinctive. And you’re not apt to find a crocket court on the front lawn of a Motel 6, but that’s what greets you as you pull beneath the Spanish moss draped oaks lining the driveway of this one-of-a-kind destination.

Jekyll Island is one of Georgia’s twelve barrier islands, four of which you can drive to by car (St. Simons, Sea Island, and Tybee). But as the current head of the Jekyll Island Authority put it, this Island is different from the others. Since being purchased by the state of Georgia from the club’s remaining members for $675,000, Jekyll has been an accessible and largely undeveloped place.
The Jekyll Island Inn just oozes history. The club was a place of significance. The U.S. Federal Reserve was supposedly created during a meeting here in 1910. If you close your eyes and use just the slightest bit of imagination, you can see and hear the great industrialists, politicians, publishers, and financiers of a bygone century, strolling these grounds. And according to legend, some of them apparently remain. The main hotel and the Sans Souci building are reputed to be haunted. In fact, the San Souci building, which was built in 1897 as America’s first condominium, is said to be haunted by J.P. Morgan, the industrialist who created U.S. Steel.

I didn’t see any ghosts during my Jekyll Island stay—instead I had a chance to catch up with friends, some way-too-distant, and drink in the atmosphere of this great hotel. But I’ll be back, hopefully with my Nikon. Maybe I’ll reserve Mr. Morgan’s suite and together we’ll watch the sun rise over the river together.