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Language of the long lens:

Subhead
Cell phones get the job done, but a Canon commands respect
Lead Summary
By
Lori Sorenson, editor

I stood at the bottom of the inflatable water slide with my cell phone camera pointed at the kids tumbling through the spray and landing in a laughing heap in a puddle at the bottom.
I was there on official business as the Star Herald photographer covering Hills Friendship Days, but the kids didn’t know this.
A few of them looked sideways at me as they pivoted their bare feet in the muddy grass to climb the stairs for another go.
A few parents also noticed the grownup with a cell phone camera.
Thankfully, one of them recognized me as legit and greeted me with conversation. It was the sort of exchange you’d have with a familiar friend or colleague.
And it was the sort of social interaction that likely reassured nearby parents I wouldn’t abduct their children.
But the kids weren’t reassured. Most of them didn’t care; they were having a great time cooling off in the hot midday sun.
But when I captured an image I believed would work for the paper, I attempted to get the subjects’ names for the photo caption.
“Who are you?” I asked the kid in the gray swim trunks.
“Who are you?” was the look he gave me.
After he glanced nervously at the line of grownups standing in the shade, I apologized and clarified that I was with Star Herald and could I use his photo in the paper.
He either understood my introduction or got the nod from his mom, but I got the kid’s name and his friends were a little less bothered by my presence.
I felt a bit irrelevant, longing for the day when the “newspaper lady” was welcome at local functions.
She’s no longer a big deal for more reasons than her equipment (that’s a topic for another column), but it occurred to me that I don’t have this problem when I’m using my Canon Rebel XT with a 105 mm lens attached.
A bulky camera with a long lens at a community celebration somehow identifies a photojournalist on official business.
A random person with a cell phone in the midst of innocent children — not so much. (By the way, kudos to the kids who were smart enough to question the stranger.)
I like my good ol’ Canon, but I’ve increasingly had more success with my 2019 iPhone 11 Pro than with my 2005 Canon EOS digital camera. The iPhone does better in low light and with wide angles, captures more vibrant colors and I don’t have to remove an SD card or connect a cord to “airdrop” the files to my iMac.
Plus, I can share the images to our Star Herald Facebook page while still on assignment.
I still carry my Canon and its zoom lens for the long shots and sports plays, but now anymore, I just wear it around my neck to command respect.
“Yes, I’m here on official business,” it tells people, even though I’m shooting with my iPhone. “No, I’m not creeping on your children.”
 

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