The video has drawn both positive and critical reviews.  While Dove’s primary audience for the video were female, the main message that we are much more beautiful than we think we are should be extended to everyone.   The real beauty isn’t in the appearance of a person or an object.  Real beauty is in the raw, unadulterated soul of everyone and everything.  Real beauty comes from courage, the courage to begin and to see things through.  The soul of the person is defined and revealed through this process.  This is what makes a person great.  It is all within ourselves, regardless of whatever soap or beauty products we use. It burns like a fire, flows like water and permeates like air (or atoms if we want to get semantical).  We are much greater and we can achieve much more than we believe we can.

The image quality from the phone cameras nowadays are much better than dedicated digital cameras of yesteryear.  I am particularly pedantic about image quality so I’ve resisted using the mobile phone for years.  Recently, I decided to put these reservations aside and try using the camera on the iPhone 4S.  I was rather impressed by the quality of the images during the day and it has made shooting on the street and capturing the human condition much easier.  After all, everyone has a phone these days and it’s considered normal to be holding a phone in hand in a crowd.

After shooting for a few days, I started thinking about whether it was possible to print the images out as photos and at print quality.  Checking the image information, it’s possible to print up to 27cm at 300dpi.  Most labs print photos at 200dpi.  Though on paper, pun unintended, it’s possible to print mobile phone photos as large format prints, there is still a reservation about the final output and whether the image quality will be adequate for commercial usage. For personal uses such as small prints for gifts, it will certainly meet the needs.

At the end of the day, there is a different camera for a different purpose and the best camera is the one you have with you.  Use whichever camera you have with you, keep up the vision and have fun with it.

Prague, Czech Republic
December 2012

Wishing all a safe and happy holiday season! Celebrate and be merry.