Misty morning camera crisis

I always say to myself, “don’t forget the camera“. You never know when you may come across a great landscape scene, newsworthy event, or chance upon something really photogenic. Today was one of those frantic mornings – getting the kids ready for school and dashing off for work – and of course I forgot my camera. It turned out to be a stunning morning in rural Oxfordshire. A heavy ground mist clung to the rolling hills and sunk to the languid and frigid River Thames, despite the winter sun burning brightly.

As I was kicking myself I remembered the phone in my pocket. Now, I’m not a great phone camera fan but when needs must… So with my iPhone 3GS, which has a 3.2mp camera, I parked the car and took a quick walk across a meadow down to the river. I tried to compose the shots carefully to make the most of the low angle of the sun. For one shot of a solitary pine tree I used the tree’s shadow to lead the eye into the shot, while using the tree’s canopy to carefully reduce the amount of flare from the sun.

Back at base I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the images. They’re not scalable for printing in large sizes but they captured the beauty of this December morning perfectly. I may remain a bit of a camera snob but next time I may not be so distraught when I leave my camera behind … as long as I remember my phone!

Gabriel Hemery

Here are some of the shots taken with my iPhone

Autumn oak and Abbey. I loved how the early morning sun set the grass on fire, and the oak tree’s winter coat matched the distant red roof of the ancient Abbey. Taken with an iPhone 3GS