Humbly Corrected

Give the right person the proper equipment and they’ll give you art. Give Greg Schmigel an iphone…and he’ll give you nothing less. He’s got talent and a keen eye, not to mention he’s just a tremendous guy.

I think it’s an interesting new direction…trying to find emotional resonance with a lens more appropriate for drunken frat parties. His ability to create an aesthetic image with a cell phone certainly challenged my preconceptions of “art”.

I’ll let him tell you what he’s about…

First and foremost why an iphone? Why not a dslr or even a simple point and click?

The iPhone give me ultimate freedom in shooting due to it’s size and the ability to be quite discreet when using it. It’s always with me, so the opportunity to shoot is so much more immediate.

Most of the images I shoot are uploaded immediately to my Web site via the iPhone. Occassionally, I will do a simple conversion to black and white in Photoshop. But, for the most part, I prefer to post my images raw…as soon as I click.

What kind of background do you have in photography? Do you ever shoot with anything else?

I consider myself an amateur photographer, and probably always will. It gives me the drive to continually strive to shoot better and more intriguing shots. I don’t have a much of a background in photography. I finished college at the University of Maryland with a degree in Radio, Television and Film. I am pretty much self taught in my shooting.

Actually, I do have a Canon 40D and a pocket-sized Leica D Lux-3 in my closet. But since I picked up the iPhone, they have been collecting a bit of dust. Actually, I still shoot portraits with my DSLR, but I have been shooting my daily images with the iPhone exclusively.

What do you enjoy most about photography?

What has always amazed me about shooting – especially on the street – is that it gives a person the opportunity to capture an image or a moment that will probably no longer exist after you shoot it. Photography gives me the chance to capture and stop a moment in time.

So what’s the most interesting moment you’ve had

Well it’s always fun to catch a known personality…but I got over that pretty quickly. I had an interesting experience while tagging along with a good friend who works for the Washington Post. He let me come along and shoot the IMF World Bank Protest last year. Needless to say, when the riot police arrived, it was quite a memorable experience. Sometimes you have to really watch your back when you’re shooting street photography…whether you’re with the press or not!

Do you dedicate time for your photography or are most your images taken during any regular day?

Fortunately, I have an amazing wife (hi Suzy!), who loves to spend our weekends together adventuring in the city. Whether we drive into DC, or whether we run up to NYC, we love wandering and exploring what’s out there. So I will say that I do try and get out whenever I can. But I shoot daily, whether it’s a couple shots or 100.

My Web site, Just What I See, is a collection of images that I shoot at any given moment. That was the reason for the name of the site…images of what i see…at any given time.

gotta respect a guy that’s gonna shout out to his wife