My GPS Camera Phone

While I’ve had some success in the past with taking camera phone photos of the moon, it doesn’t mean I really knew what I was doing. Hard to believe, I know. This time around, however, I think I can say with a slight bit of conviction that the best time to shoot the moon is dusk on a semi-clear evening while the sky is still blue. Having a polarizing filter, as seen in Dan’s example, would eliminate the glow around the moon, but we’re talking about a camera phone here. Instead of agonizing over the inability to get a “perfect” photo, work with what you have and be positive about the potential results.

It goes without saying that a little bit of Photoshop surgery is still going to be required to remove the dreaded camera phone jpeg artifacts that will likely arise from this low-light photo. A little application of the “Reduce Noise” filter and the image is less pixellated, resulting in a smoother blue sky.

I think that the biggest point to remember is to not move. It’s a no-brainer, but seriously, don’t move. If you have to freehand the shot, exhale before the snap and relax. If at all possible, brace yourself against something solid to reduce body movement. In a best case, try to use something as a camera mount, like a wall, fence, car, newspaper stand or anything else. Motion is not the enemy, but it certainly doesn’t help us in this scenario.

Just remember to keep trying and to keep a positive attitude on your results. There’s no film to develop, so delete the bad photos and try again! Before you realize it, you will have captured your subject. Happy shooting!

Its time for another round of new photos with a new phone. The Nokia team at WOM World hooked me up once again, this time with the GPS-enabled Nokia 6650. While it only sports a 2 mega-pixel camera, the quality of the shots are not too bad, at least when compared to the the Nokia 3555.

This shot was taken in the morning at my nature hangout on US441, Paynes Prairie. The exposure color is off a bit and it has quite a lot of noise, but again, not bad for a low-end camera. I would think, though, that a phone with so many features would have at least a 3 mega-pixel camera.

I’m also uploading photos and video clips at the Nokia Chronicles website for their 6650 promotion. Unfortunately, the site doesn’t appear to be fully operational, but keep checking back.