Almost a year ago I was on the sidelines of a CHS varsity football game with my DSLR camera in hand. Halftime had just ended and the game was starting to pick up again with the Greyhounds just ahead. No one would have ever guessed that during the start of the third quarter it would be the first snowfall of the year. Within a couple of minutes, the field was dusted with a layer of snow with more falling. Looking around, I started focusing not only on the game, but also the fans and the rest of the team on the sidelines. I heard the roar of the crowd, signaling that the Greyhounds had made the dash up the snow covered field into the endzone. At that moment I captured the joy of a group of spectators on the sidelines. That photo has now given me a nomination for the NSPA Picture of the Year. I don’t believe I would have been able to capture that same photo with my smartphone. Quite a few Americans now are owners of a smartphone, which has given them the ability to do multiple activities that originally required multiple devices to accomplish a task. One of the more commonly used features, in my opinion, has been the use of the camera. The convenience of the smartphone camera has caused many to drop other traditional options of taking photos. However, I still believe there is a place and a bright future for the DSLR and the profession of photography.

The smartphone cameras of our time do produce quality photos, but this is at a price. For example, there is no current smartphone on the market that, out of the box, allows the option of changeable lenses at a high enough quality to match a DSLR camera. There are other limitations too, such as storage space and the resolution lost with a digital zoom, along with others. Certainly smartphone cameras do their job well to replace the personal camera, but they lack in options that are still activity upheld with DSLR cameras. The DSLR camera has none of the limitations mentioned above, making it the smarter option for anyone who wants to have more control over their photos. With the introduction of the first personal digital camera, convenient cameras became reality just like the smartphone you hold now. Not everyone wants, or more likely needs, a camera that can do it all, and frequently that’s the market smartphones tap into.

The profession of photography is one that will continue to stay around for a long time. The reason is that, as any profession, those who are in the practice are more experienced than the average person. There will always be situations where someone who uses his smartphone camera regularly will want a more technical piece of equipment to capture the situation.  Every situation requires the right tool, and in this case the smartphone really isn’t the answer to everything.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Kyle Crawford at [email protected].