Mobile phone captures a magical aquatic moment

HOW did Clare Bardsley-Smith capture this magical aquatic moment?

WHEN Clare Bardsley-Smith got bitten by the photography bug 10 years ago, she would lug around her DSLR and lenses everywhere she went — on walks, to festivals, hanging out with friends, even down to the pub.

Because you never know when a tableau of interesting subject matter and perfect light will fleetingly conspire to produce something magical, right? She still looks out obsessively for those moments. Only now, she doesn’t reach for her big camera. She reaches for her iPhone.

The 35-year-old, who works in admin for Hope Street, a not-for-profit helping homeless and disadvantaged people in Sydney, took this shot at Homebush Aquatic Centre. Noticing the curious triangles of sunlight on the water, she whipped out the phone and waited for three swimmers to line up in the light pockets — a detail she knew “would make the photo sing”.

She loves the no-fuss immediacy of mobile photography. “You’re not bamboozled with all the options that a DSLR gives you,” she explains, “and that frees you up to think about composition and connecting with the subject matter quickly.” The only app she uses is ProCamera, whose spot-meter function prevented the shadows from blowing out in this shot.

The online “community spirit” among mobile snappers is another thing she loves: the thousands of pros and amateurs sharing tips, giving feedback on each other’s work. Clare, a self-confessed introvert, started posting on Instagram two and a half years ago. In all that time, though, she has put up only 286 shots; many users would do that in a month. “It’s a sushi train of mobile images fighting to get attention,” she laughs. “I think if you’re serious about mobile photography as a craft, you have to edit your stuff. There’s lots of crap out there of cats.”