If you’ve taken a vacation and been a tourist over the last few months, you’ve probably noticed the one thing tourists don’t take with them much anymore. A camera. Instead, they take out their phone, and start shooting away.

In fact people are starting to use their phones so much, there is even some question about the future of traditional cameras. Do we really need to lug around the big, SLR or point and shoot cameras anymore? Or are phones good enough?

I laughed this week when I came across an article College Offers Class On Cell Phone Photography. Really? My daughter is now starting the process of looking at colleges, and I don’t know if I want to spend that kind of money on a cell phone photography course.

Yet in some cases, I do agree with the professor and the needs for such a class not just in college, but also all the way down to the elementary level.

…the professor’s new class will focus not only the technical and artistic aspects of photography, but also the ethical responsibilities that come with having such a handy recording device with you everywhere you go. In other words, students need to understand “the full gravity of what’s at their fingertips and the power they can have…

While Flannery encourages students to grapple with issues such as privacy and voyeurism, professional photographer Hunter Martin will supplement by teaching traditional skills such as lighting, composition and editing.

Yep, there’s a definite need for that right now, as everyone in some way or another is a photographer. [Read more…]