Seattle 2018
I was with the Oregon State University Athletic Bands (if you already got that question popping in your head, I played Clarinet, also Bass Clarinet when in classic concert mode).
But I was in Seattle because the OSU Women's Basketball team was headed towards playoffs and I was fortunate enough to travel with a small, but elite group of musicians. This group of musicians we call them the "Rhythm & Beavs." You had to audition get in, and not everyone gets in (I was one of two to make it into one of the two groups: the Black Band; the other group is known as the Orange Band).
Either way, I took this opportunity to test drive my Google Pixel (of which is alleged to have the best camera tech of its time). I shot all these in raw DNG format and did all the color-grading myself. My color grading style is largely inspired by the modern cinematic filmography aesthetic, intended to instill some kind of suspense, drama, or portray some kind of mood. I'm a firm believer that how you grade your images will dictate a part of the story your work will tell.
For Fun (ca. 2018 to present)
I have a lot more of these in my collection that I would have liked to share, but these are some of the ones that stand out to me. They stand out because these were photos NOT shot with the Google Pixel. Instead, I took these with the Samsung Galaxy S7 (a phone I bought from a former co-worker out of necessity). The S7 clearly shoots better DNG's than the Pixel, in my opinion. It just has more dynamic range. You can color grade two images (one from the Pixel and one from the S7, the S7 is going to allow for a cleaner compression of the shadows than the Pixel).
Low Light
These are all... the title speaks for itself. Again, all from the S7. Low light performance is absolutely stellar for a mobile camera sensor. With the appropriate color grading techniques, you can achieve some magnificent images.
Speaking of which, I just wish that smartphones can support shooting video in uncompressed or lossless 10+ bit format because this would open the door to a truly mobile filmographic experience. If only mobile processing technology can keep up with performance demands...
Really Pro (2024)
These last six photos were actually shot with an SLR (digital). No lossy work here... I shot all these in Canon RAW with a mix of lenses. My favorite seems to be the 55mm telephoto lens because you can get the shallow depth of field that can't be achieved using a kit or wide-angle lens (however, to each of their own... those lens have their own purposes).
I really liked how these turned out: quite cinematic, filmographic, and kind of telling of a potential story. As you would expect, not only do I like the teal-orange-mossy tones of cinema aesthetic, I also find the 2.39 AR to be sugary as well!
