Daily Inspiration #212 by Danny Zhang

OK, how about some more DAILY INSPIRATION! Today some great shots by Danny Zhang! To submit your Daily Inspiration photos, just email no more than 3 shots to me HERE with a brief intro and explanation!

Hello Steve,

Your website is truly inspirational. (Thank you Danny! – Steve)

The photos I submitted were inspired by the style of Contemporary Photography. I am a first year business student at the University of Windsor. Personally, it’s really hard for me to invest money in cameras and lenses on top of tuition and cost of living.

Luckily, technological advancement really brings up the camera into different aspects of everyday life such as the cellphone with built-in camera. I do own a Sony NEX5; however, compared to the cellphones I usually use (LG NEON, BlackBerry bold 9700), cellphones – in my opinion – can sometimes capture even greater photographic truth than professional cameras.

These photographs were taken in Toronto, Canada. (LG Neon/Downtown streets and TTC subway) And yes, these photos had been retouched by Adobe Photoshop like many other digital photography. What I enjoy about this kind of photography is its lack of quality in terms of mega pixel which really brings back some of the aspects of early film photography. It’s altered, yet simple. And due to that, I believe cellphone photography puts more emphasis on image’s composition and its moment of the action.

“The best camera is the one you have with you.” I always believe in that.

Hope you enjoy them,

Danny Yvson Zhang

http://www.flickr.com/photos/snyu245/

12 Comments

  1. Great shots, Danny! I enjoy “the dynamic of looks” between us as viewers, and the view of object in the second image. And I totally agree with you about the photographic truth. The cell phone has much more power in today’s media culture in terms of projecting certain images of truth. It’s funny that more people seems to prefer the lower quality video/picture than the higher quality one in the news today.

    Keep up the good work! 🙂

  2. Hey!

    Great captures, full of “flesh” and emotion, one can see through your eyes. Photography is not only about perfect sharpness and ideal lighting conditions.
    Keep that spirit, like it.

    cheers

  3. Great job! In fact I have yearned for a ‘professional grade quality camera on a phone (hopefully on an iPhone)’ for years now. Not only because my phone’s with my most of the time, also that it is much less intrusive. Oh I can dream….

  4. I’m sorry, but these are just very average snapshots, with a little bit of Potatoshop magic added to make them look “artsy”.

    • the first two are pretty good in my opinion… keep in mind they were taken with a cell phone camera! 🙂

    • I think there’s nothing wrong by using a little bit of “Photoshop magic” to edit a photo. Because that’s one of the beauties of digital photography. And I do agree with you Jay that there’re lots of snapshots today have been overdone by those “magics” to make them look “artsy”. However, I don’t see those issues at here. I am absolutely fascinated by the second image. You definitely captured that moment Danny!

      This type of photography almost reminds me of how 135 film became popular.

      Good job young man!

      • See that’s the problem nowadays. You can pretty much shoot ANYTHING, make it black and white, add some grain, make it blurry, and voila. You have some supposedly “great” shots. And if in doubt, just say it’s street photography, that seems to legitimize any and all pictures these days.

    • Nothing wrong with adding photoshop magic 🙂 We are in the digital age and if it enhances the photo or “vision”, more power to it!

  5. Great job! I really love the magical nature of #1! An awesome shot!
    I totally agree with the greatness of mobile phone photography. Many of my best/most interesting photos are definitely ones taken with my iPhone! 🙂

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