Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Alex is phoning it in today and posting a cat. And you'd be right. Sort of.
I have reasons for featuring Cupcake on Thrifty Thursday, though. This photograph could not have been taken with my big SLR camera.
First, the dramatic paws-forward composition is the normal bugs-eye perspective of a phone camera lens. Paws are a lot more impressive when seen from a small lens than from a big one. Second, I simply can't drop an SLR low enough. Not without cutting a hole in the floor. Look at how much lower the iPhone lens sits than the Canon 100mm f/2.8 lens! The extra few centimeters makes a difference.
Phone cameras have their strengths. If you play to them, you'll take memorable photographs.
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Alex Wild is Curator of Entomology at the University of Texas at Austin, where he studies the evolutionary history of ants. In 2003 he founded a photography business as an aesthetic complement to his scientific work, and his natural history photographs appear in numerous museums, books and media outlets. Follow Alex Wild on Twitter
