Ayup! For yesterday’s photography adventure, I decided to leave my camera at home. Instead, I wanted to have some fun with the trusty iPhone again. I kinda fell in love with it all over again.
Part of me is getting a wee bit bored of my 50mm prime lens. Yes, the quality is unrivalled in comparison to an iPhone, but I miss having options; 0.5x (13mm), 1x (24mm), 2x (48mm), 4x (120mm) and 8x (200mm) all at the touch of a button. Yes please!
For me, the decision to use an iPhone for street photography and fine art isn’t about chasing the absolute best image quality. It’s about using a tool that fits my process. The iPhone’s strengths—low profile, lightweight, always with me, no extra gear to mess with—align perfectly with the way I shoot.
iPhone photography = convenience
The main appeal of iPhone photography is always going to be the convenience. Your camera is always with you. It’s both flexible, and super-easy to use. The quality is perfectly useable in most cases. It’s never going to beat a full-frame camera, but with the right editing, it’s certainly able to create worthy images.
Most of my top viewed photos on Unsplash were shot on an iPhone. Without zooming right in, it’s pretty hard to tell mobile shots from those taken with a camera. Furthermore, to the end user, they really don’t care what you used. A suitable photo is a suitable photo.
I’m definitely wanting to explore some wider focal lengths again. While shooting exclusively in 50mm, lots of opportunities are being missed. That was fine. I was more than happy putting the new lens through its paces. Now, though, I’m craving a bit more variety.
As somebody who loves to get creative with different lens effects, with the iPhone packing an impressive wide angle, telephoto as well as macro capabilities make it a super versatile smartphone that I love to shoot and experiment with.
Bringing the iPhone back into the mix
It was always my intention to carry on using the iPhone for anything other than 50mm. That idea went out the window when I started my two projects:
- Adventures in 50mm
- Kaleidoscopic
These will both carry on as normal, but I’m bringing back the wide and ultra-wide angles that the iPhone provides. Both are ideal for architecture and nature photography. Additionally, this means macro photography is back on the menu. Wohooo!
Of course, I was still using my DSLRs regularly for all of their strengths; more reach in terms of focal length, long exposures, better shadow separation, and better perceived image quality overall. But…it wasn’t always so obvious or easy to distinguish between the two, especially with landscapes. I regularly challenged students to identify the iPhone print when it was mixed in with my other DSLR prints, and rarely would anyone guess correctly, if ever.
Un-digitising the images
In a recent post, I wrote about the artificial, plasticky photos that mobile phones often produce. Over processed, over baked and over exposed. Granted, the conditions were a little tricky yesterday, but some of the images were just plain terrible.
That said, most of them were rescuable. I was shooting in Apple ProRAW at 48mp. Even though it’s a RAW file (sort of), it still comes with a certain amount of processing. Nothing too horrendous.
Apple ProRAW combines the information of a standard RAW format along with iPhone image processing, which gives you more flexibility when editing the exposure, colour and white balance in your photo.
I actually prefer to shoot JPG, but the iPhone keeps switching it from 48mp to 24mp. Unsure what’s going on there, but I’ll do some further investigating and experimenting.
Anyhow, in Apple Photos on desktop, the black and white adjustment includes a grain slider. This is one way to help bring your photo back down to earth. Additionally, over in Affinity, reducing the clarity slider to around -50% removes the artificial sharpness.
Turning my camera into an iPhone
What I really want, is to have the 13mm to 120mm range on my camera. I don’t think this lens exists. I’d be happy to compromise. Not that I can afford any more kit for a while, anyway. Just a potential idea for the future.
One zoom lens with all of the flexibility of an iPhone would be ideal. I think the closest I’ll get is 18mm to 110mm. That’d do nicely!
The iPhone fits in my pocket: it’s 7.4 mm thick and weighs 228 g. The 5D Mark IV is 75.9 mm thick and weighs 800 g without a lens attached! I very rarely leave the house without my iPhone, but I need to specifically pack the DSLR and a lens or two into a bag, charge batteries, and format cards before use.
Stand by for more iPhone photography
The next round of cities that I frequent will be iPhone photography missions. All of my usual hot spots, captured with a much wider focal length. Man, I’m excited! This opens up a plethora of new photo opportunities.
My self-imposed creative constraint (shooting only in 50mm) has reached its natural conclusion. I’d highly recommend setting yourself a similar challenge. I’ve learnt a heck of a lot about composition and framing. This will all filter through to the next chapter.
Any new places I visit will still be with the camera and 50mm lens. But I sort of feel like I’ve exhausted the locations I go to the most with that particular focal length. It’s time to ditch any exclusivity.
iPhone, camera, whatever, wherever. This is the set up that’ll see me through until I next get bored. Let’s do this!