Every Time
When should one use their phone to take a picture of an interesting object?
Every time.
Because, why not? There’s no downside.
Even a plant store display can be a worthy still-life photograph.
This advice is based on a little league baseball coach I know. It pertains to sliding. Coach Slatin tells his players to slide every time. The only dissenters to that wisdom are those that have to wash the uniforms.
About the author: I am Stephen Kennedy, an experienced photographer with more than 2500 completed sessions in all 50 US states.