It's nice to be able to buy fresh fruit in your local supermarket, isn't it?

I recently came into possession of an iPhone 4 after my Palm Pre, which was an okay but not particularly brilliant device came to a smashy end whilst I was on holiday. Let’s just skip past the whole “you should have bought an Android phone” thing right now. I didn’t, for a whole bunch of reasons, none of which – I’m guessing – matter all that much to you.

Anyway.

Chase Jarvis is fond of saying “the best camera is the one that’s with you,” and it’s becoming an oft-echoed phrase across the industry. He even produced a book of iPhone-shot images based on – and named after – that principle. And the book spawned an iPhone app, which I’m now trying out (along with Camera Plus Pro, which belongs in a post of its own).

Sunflower at night

The great thing about the Best Camera app is that it lets me produce an image that’s close to the one in my head. It might not always be the exact image that I wanted, but – rather like my experiment in shooting film (which I need to blog about sooner rather than later) – the restriction helps to free me from the need to try and perfect something – and the frustration that comes with not being able to get something perfect in camera.

All of which is bringing me in a rather rambly fashion to a simple but crucial point: I’m not shooting enough. Seriously, I’m not. Since I came back from holiday three weeks ago I’ve barely shot a frame with an SLR of any sort. And that’s not a nice feeling. It itches, a bit like when I’ve let my beard grow too long. I need to be shooting; it’s what I do.