Evgenia Tiplyashina

Last week, we ran a poll on smartphone usage by photographers. If you haven’t voted, we’d love to hear your opinion (click here). We’re trying to better understand how photographers view smartphones.

The Results So Far

The results so far are quite interesting (people were allowed to vote on multiple choices, but only one time total). Here’s where it breaks down (with my editorial analysis included).

  • I Use It If It’s The Only Camera I Have 31.17% No surprises here. A photographer will not let the moment escape. If a tool exists within their reach, then a smartphone will be used.
  • I Use My Phone For Planning And Photo Utilities 15.8% This number is much lower than I thought it would be. I find my phone indispensable (as to most of the Photofocus writers). There are so many apps I use to track the sun, research locations, and even organize my shoot. We’re definitely going to increase coverage of these.
  • I Like To Share Photos Right Away 14.07% Im guilty on this front. Sometimes you’re so happy with a shot that you want to get it out to the world quickly.
  • I Like To Post Process Photos On My Phone 11.47% No surprises here. I have my favorite like Snapseed and ALayer, but mobile phone post processing has a long way to go to catch up with Desktop workflows.
  • I Shoot Behind The Scenes Photos 11.04% With terms of service getting more and more onerous, this is an area that more people should consider. Plus its just good marketing to show your big projects as they come together.
  • Phones Should Be Used For Calls, Texts, And Email 7.36% We always include the “cranky” answer because sometimes we’re right there with you. I personally shake my head every time I see someone holding up a full-size tablet to take a photo. With that said, I’d choose getting the shot over missing it any day.
  • My Smartphone Is My Primary Camera 4% This number is only going to get bigger as time goes on. Welcome, we embrace you. There are times this is a great solution, but we encourage you to be open-minded about other gear options (just as we’ll encourage traditional photographers to be openminded about phones).

Your Thoughts?

If you haven’t voted, please do so in the poll below. You can also comment on this post. We’d also really appreciate if you can share this post with others on your social networks so we can get a better idea on how photographers view smartphones.

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