We were absolutely dumbfounded by the quality of the calendar photography entries this year. We’ve had some stunning calendar entries in the past, but this year the quantity and quality of the photography was simply off the charts.
Having met thousands of fellow truck campers, we have long understood the passionate connection this community has with photography. Just look at the hundreds of lifestyle stories we have published and you’ll see how each and every one of the interviewees enjoyed taking pictures as part of their truck camping experience. Put simply, photography is an important element of truck camping.
And it’s changed – considerably. When we held the first Truck Camper Magazine Calendar Contest contest in 2007, only a handful of entries were taken with cell phone cameras. Most of these photographs were low quality, a problem largely created by the after-thought cameras that cell phone manufacturers installed back then.
Cell phone cameras started to improve with the introduction of the Apple iPhone in mid-2007. Year after year we received more and better cell phone pictures – mostly from this new generation of smartphones. Keeping with this trend, it was amazing to see some of the better calendar entries this year were taken with smartphones.
That said, photography captured with Nikon, Canon, or Sony cameras and lenses (just to name the majors) are generally going to surpass the quality of the best smartphones, especially in the hands of someone who knows their camera. This is as it should be given the considerable investment these cameras and lenses represent, not to mention the time and effort it takes to truly master them.
What I’m trying to get at is this; after looking at the calendar entries this year, I am achingly curious about your cameras and interest in photography.
This week’s Question of the Week is two fold. First, “What smartphone, DSLR, or mirrorless camera do you use while truck camping?” And second, “What do you enjoy photographing on the road?”
This QOTW is now closed. Click here to read the Choice Camera Systems for Truck Camping.
