"The best camera is the one thats with you" - Chase Jarvis, Photographer

How often do you find yourself out on an adventure and all of a sudden an amazing moment appears out of nowhere? The sunlight peaks through the trees perfectly, a mountain goat strolls by a herd of wild cows runs across the road… You take off your bag, grab your camera, turn it on and look up to shoot this moment, but it is already gone. These fleeting moments are hard to capture but often they are the most interesting to include in our videos! I call these the "in-between" moments. They aren't planned, posed or set up which is what makes them real. A lot of the time we are so focused on capturing epic shots that we forget about all the interesting moments in between.

Sometimes the moments that are the most relatable and interesting for the audience to watch are the spontaneous ones. The problem with these "in-between moments" is that they are hard to capture! By the time you've opened your bag, taken out your expensive camera, turned it on, and focused it… the moment is gone. This is where your phone comes into play! In this blog we are going to talk about social media trending away from "posed" content, creating more relatable videos and how your phone will help you do this.

Using Your Smartphone to Capture Candid Moments

If you have a smart phone you are essentially walking around with a HD, slow motion, auto-focus, and auto-exposure beast of a camera in your pocket at all times. Your phone is ready to go at all times… it is always on and usually easily accessible. You don't need to think about settings, lenses, focus you simply point and shoot - use this to your advantage! Get in the habit of reaching for your smartphone anytime one of these spontaneous moments pops up to ensure that you don't miss it.

In addition to big cameras being slower, taking out your big fancy camera often startles people and puts them on edge. Having a big lens and camera body can make people feel self-conscious and ultimately can ruin or change the moment. Whenever I am in an environment or moment that I think might be altered by taking out a big expensive camera, I shoot it on my smartphone. You want to capture these moments as close to reality as possible and without altering them. Your phone is the perfect tool to quickly and discreetly capture any interesting moments that might pop up.

What are The Candid Moments?

Let's talk more about in-between moments and why they matter. As social media becomes more popular there has been a trend to viewers wanting to see less "posed" content. We've all seen a million posed photos or videos of someone sitting on a rock looking out to sea or doing a backflip into a pool. These posed shots just seem kind of fake and don't tell a great story as we are all aware of how much behind-the-scenes effort went into it. We are desensitized to these planned and scripted scenes and most social media consumers are starting to crave more "authentic" scenes.

Authentic is a word that gets tossed around an absurd amount these days but ultimately people want to see more "natural" moments. Rather than just capturing the perfectly posed shot of someone on the top of a mountain, why not include the journey. Get the real shots of them trudging through the mud, tired, cold and sipping water from the stream. Someone's hair is not perfect? Good. The lighting is not perfect? Good. People want to see some of these raw and natural moments and your smartphone is the PERFECT tool to capture them. These moments allow people to relate to your videos more because it reminds them of their life. In their life things aren't PERFECT all the time and that's okay - show the struggle, show the reality of what you are capturing.

In Summary

Your life is full of amazing moments whether you notice them or not. You don't always need to focus on getting that one EPIC shot with perfect lighting, using your drone or expensive camera in some insane location. Don't forget about that amazing filmmaking tool that's in your pocket 24/7. If you are not convinced that your phone can capture high-quality video check out our other blog post with professional iPhone filmmaking examples. I will wrap up this post by sharing professional Photographer Chase Jarvis' quote "The best camera is the one that's with you" Share more of those real moments, the "in-between moments'' that come out of nowhere.

These moments are relatable, more authentic and best of all you have the perfect tool in your pocket to capture them - your phone!