Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
One of the most popular photo seminars in the world happens every December, when hundreds of photographers flock to the tiny town of Socorro, New Mexico to document the migration of some 20,000 birds en route to Mexico.
Could I pull it off with just an iPhone?
Common sense says you pick up the iPhone, open the camera app and just start shooting. That’ll work, but there happens to be so many settings and features hidden within these phones that stump way too many people, even some of us pros sometimes.
Thus, I was inspired to jot them all down and explain them one by one, with tips on what I think are the best settings for each one of my top 13. And I’m singling out the iPhone here because A., I’m an iPhone user, B. I think the 13 Pro is far and away the best smartphone camera on the market and C. if you’d like me to do a follow-up on Android, just say the word!
To begin, let’s assume you’ve updated to iOS 15, the latest operating system. Next, open the camera app. Here’s what you’ll see, and what I recommend.
We’ve all been there. We’re trying to get great food shots in a bakery, but the brownies and cookies are hidden behind reflective glass. Our shot is ruined!
Or we’ve paid good money to go to an urban rooftop or another location for the best view in town, only we’re stuck behind glass. Foiled again! The glass seems dirty, but it’s not. Still, it’s ruining your shot by catching the daylight reflections, your image, and any other bright objects out there.
So what to do? Thanks for asking. Because we have a common-sense solution.
The new iPhone 13 Pro has some pretty cool new specs, including a macro lens. Sure, it can be of great help for us photographers, but have you ever thought that it could help a doctor in his job? An ophthalmologist Dr. Tommy Korn has recently demonstrated how the iPhone 13 Pro’s macro eye photography helps him and his patients, and it’s really fun to see (no pun intended) how phone photography can be repurposed.
Apple’s annual iPhone Photography Awards event has happened for 2021 and the winners have been announced. The competition covers seventeen categories with winners coming from all over the world including Australia, Germany, Bangladesh, China, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Israel, the Netherlands, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Mobile Photography Awards is one of those contests which prove that you can take a stunning photo even with just your smartphone. The winners of the 2020 contest have been announced, showing some of the best, most intriguing, and most interesting shots people took with their phone cameras.
They say 13 is an unlucky number, but the 2020 iPhone Photography Awards (IPPAWARDS) proves the theory wrong. The 13th annual competition winners have been announced, and they’re absolutely gorgeous. I always love seeing winners of this contest because they prove what I often say – gear doesn’t matter, it’s all about the photographer.
Before I going into this one, let me first lay a little groundwork for the background I have with Apple. A number of years back, I was in love with the iPhone 4S. I felt it was a phone made for photographers and supported it wholeheartedly, going so far as doing speeches at Apple stores about how their products catered to my workflow. As time went on, the light in which I held Apple began to fade, leading to writing the articles, “iPhone is not for Photographers” and “Microsoft: Photographers New Suitor.” In a nutshell, I was genuinely bummed since there was a certain amount of pride I took in using Apple products, for I was raised to love them by my parents, who used them as teachers.
Smartphones are getting smarter with every new generation, and so are their cameras. But when you combine a good photographer and a good smartphone, the sky is the limit. Quite literally. Zach Honig of The Points Guy recently shot magnificent Northern lights with nothing but his iPhone, handheld at a 3s exposure. He shared his experience and some photos with DIYP, so let’s see how he did it.
For the 12th year in a raw, iPhone Photography Awards (IPPAWARDS) has selected the best iPhone photographers of the year. We may argue forever (and we probably will) if gear matters or not. But these photos show us a fact that remains true: no matter what gear you use, you still need talent and knowledge to capture a great photo.
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