Capturing the Everyday: Rediscovering Street Photography on my Commute with the Google Pixel 8 Pro

11/01/2023

Today’s blog post is eery. its a little over 13 years ago, with a simple iPhone 4 smartphone in my hand, that I started to document my daily commute to London. The primary objective was to avoid the mundane and avoid the negativity of the other commuters ‘getting my day off to a bad start’.

By 2012, I then started a theme of covering the 2012 London olympics, it was at this time that I received an unsolicited email from Nokia, asking me to use their then new Nokia Pureview 808 smartphone, to post to my twitter account.

One thing led to another, and it ultimately led to me +1 being given hospitality tickets by Nokia, to cover the V Festival with the Nokia Pureview, in the summer of 2012. This was the event where The Stone Roses headlined.

This video is my blogpost at the time, uploaded to my tumblr account, reviewing the smartphone:

Today, I find myself turning full circle, if you will. I now use full frame digital cameras and a selection of film cameras, to take images to sell on my website and Etsy Store. However, now that the pandemic is a distant memory, and I have to be back in the office 2 days a week, I’m back to the ‘bump and grind’ of a weekly commute.

I’ve been an android user for 10 years now, and have normally elected for a budget to mid range smartphone, which is generally coupled with a crap (read substandard) camera. After much debate and consideration, I decided to upgrade my phone to …………

………… the incredibly powerful Google Pixel 8 Pro smartphone, equipped with a camera that rivals many prosumer DSLRs. It's time to rediscover the artistic adventure that first sparked my love for photography and capture the essence of my surroundings in ways I couldn't have imagined back then.

A Journey Through Time

Commuting to work can be monotonous, but I've always been fascinated by the stories the streets can tell. From the bustling crowds to the unexpected moments of beauty and serendipity, street photography allows me to capture the essence of the world outside my window. With the Google Pixel 8 Pro's advanced camera capabilities, I'm sure I will be rekindling my passion again for the mundanely perculiar.

The Power of the Google Pixel 8 Pro Camera

The Google Pixel 8 Pro boasts a powerful 16-megapixel camera with an f/1.8 aperture and advanced computational photography features. This combination will enable me to capture stunning images in even the most challenging lighting conditions, perfect for the ever-changing environment of my daily commute, as we enter winter, here in the UK. The phone's Night Sight mode, for instance, will allow me to capture the essence of the city streets after hours, embracing the captivating play of lights and shadows. Whether it's a dimly lit street corner or a colorful neon sign contrasted against the darkness, the Google Pixel 8 Pro should have me covered.

A Full Circle Journey

As I find myself once again immersed in the world of street photography during my daily commute, armed with the Google Pixel 8 Pro smartphone, I can't help but feel a sense of nostalgia and gratitude. It's a testament to how far technology has come, enabling us to capture extraordinary moments with a device that fits in our pocket.
With the Google Pixel 8 Pro's exceptional camera capabilities, I've turned full circle and rediscovered the joy of street photography on the go. As I continue to explore the dynamic world outside my window, I'm excited to see where this journey takes me and the stories I'll be able to preserve through the lens of my smartphone.