Image by Petar Milošević, via Wikimedia Commons
In case you missed it, our Deputy Editor recently made the incredible discovery of a man taking a photo of London’s Big Ben with his iPhone while a £5,300+ Hasselblad Lunar dangled around his neck.
Incredible he may be, but this mystery stranger is far from alone. Here are a few more examples of photographers who’ve ditched their high-end cameras in favour of Apple’s little gadget.
1. National Geographic takes an iPhone 5S out for a spin
They say it’s always good to try new things, and when you’re a photographer with the pedigree of National Geographic, that can mean leaving your DSLR at home in favour of something your employers would never normally let you shoot on – an iPhone.
Dan Richardson did just that on a tour of the Scottish highlands, ditching his trusty Nikon in favour of his iPhone 5S. As you’d expect, he took some pretty fantastic shots too:
His verdict? He liked it! Well, eventually.
‘With intense use (I’ve made about 4,000 pictures in the last four days) I’ve discovered that the iPhone 5S is a very capable camera. The color and exposures are amazingly good, the HDR exposure feature does a stunningly good job in touch situations, the panorama feature is nothing short of amazing-seeing a panorama sweeping across the screen in real time is just intoxicating. Best of all it shoots square pictures natively, a real plus for me since I wanted to shoot for Instagram posting.’
2. Emmy-winning photojournalist falls in love with iPhone photography
Even with an Emmy award, two Pultizer prize nominations and 15 years of work for San Jose Mercury News under his belt, Richard ‘Koci’ Hernandez took no time at all to become hooked on mobile photography.
‘This tool has changed my entire process,’ he says, regarding his iPhone.
‘First, it has accelerated my output. Not only is it the camera in my hand, but it’s the printing press in my pocket and more importantly, with the rise of social networks like Instagram, it’s become my satellite dish in order to instantly transmit, globally.’
‘I can share my vision at the touch of a button and receive instant feedback and sometimes, intelligent conversation about the photographic process. It’s a thrilling time for photographers.’
3. Kevin Russ earns his living entirely with iPhone photos
You might have assumed that you can’t really make a living on Instagram (even if you can do plenty of other weird things on there…), however pro iPhone photographer Kevin Russ is doing just that.
His self-made job is travelling from location to location, iPhone in tow, and producing dynamic, high-quality images that he can have on a print and on stock websites like Stocksy before the sun goes down.
Kevin had originally started taking photography trips around the States with a DSLR in tow, however something in his photos failed to connect. When, in frustration, he pulled out his iPhone, took a shot and quickly processed it, he found it had started selling within the hour. That just goes to show… something. We guess.
4. War photographer makes history with iPhone and Hipstamatic
Image: Self-portrait by Ben Lowy, via Wikimedia Commons
People can become pioneers in the unlikeliest ways. Photographer Benjamin Lowy made history in conflicts in Libya and Afghanistan in 2010 when he took his images on his iPhone and the Hipstamatic app.
As Ben told it in his interview with EyeEm, it all started when a client asked him to shoot chrome film, something he hadn’t done for a decade. While wrestling with the panoramic camera, Ben also took a few images with his iPhone and Hipstamatic and sent them through. To his surprise, the client loved them.
Since then, Ben has become a passionate advocate for mobile photography in photojournalism, and has received multiple awards for his work, including World Press Photo, the Magnum Foundation Emergency fund and the ICP Infinity Award for Photojournalism.
5. Guardian’s Dan Chung uses his iPhone to shoot the London Olympics
While the press pits for the London Olympics were packed with some of the fastest DSLRs and sharpest telephoto lenses money could buy, Dan Chung for the Guardian was capturing the entire affair just fine on his iPhone 4S.
With nothing more than a Schneider lens attachment, the popular Snapseed editing app and, naturally, buckets of skill and experience, Chung captured some truly fantastic images from the Games. You can see how he got on over at the Guardian.
Taken any great shots on your iPhone recently? Why not upload them to our new AP Flickr group?
- Check out the best phone tripods.