My iPhone Photography Setup and Workflow

I’ve written earlier than about why my telephone is at all times the digital camera in my pocket. It’s at all times there. It doesn’t get in the way in which. For working, for scouting, for these moments that simply seem once I don’t have a digital camera with me or can’t be bothered to drag it from my bag. But I’ve by no means actually talked about what I really do with it as soon as I’ve bought it out. The apps I exploit to shoot, and the way I edit. So this week, that’s what I wish to cowl.

I’ve dotted a couple of images taken within the final week all through this text, as illustrative examples of the output from my workflow.

Now, a lot of what I’m going to speak about might be relevant to most cellphones. My telephone of alternative is the iPhone, the 17 Pro to be extra particular. I’m not one for Android vs iPhone arguments. Both have nice cameras however I identical to the iPhone, have used one for years and am comfy in that ecosystem.

The native digital camera app is genuinely good. Apple have put critical engineering into it, and for most individuals, more often than not, it’s all you’ll ever want. It’s quick, it’s dependable, and if you happen to’ve bought a more recent mannequin, the computational images behind it’s quietly spectacular.

I at all times shoot RAW. The native app does assist Apple ProRAW, which captures much more info than a JPEG and provides you actual flexibility in submit. I additionally are inclined to underexpose by round a cease, as I discover this offers me higher recordsdata to play with and fits my type of images and processing. Any telephone sensor is small, and consequently, highlights captured by them are fragile issues. Once they’re blown, they’re gone. Pulling element again from the shadows is way simpler than recovering a washed-out sky. Underexposing simply provides you extra to work with, and RAW enables you to try this with out the picture falling aside.

I’ve the devoted telephone button set to launch the digital camera with a double press and still have a button on my lockscreen as effectively, so it’s only a quick press away. I’ve the slider gesture on the digital camera button set to publicity compensation, so I can simply alter it with out having to the touch the display. That mentioned, I nonetheless use the shutter button on the display to take the shot. Muscle reminiscence is a tough factor to interrupt.

One limitation of the native digital camera app that began to hassle me is that you just’re not likely in cost. Apple’s processing pipeline is doing quite a lot of work behind the scenes, even when taking pictures ProRAW. Computational images is sensible till it decides you didn’t need it to make.

That’s what led me to begin experimenting with third-party digital camera apps that provide you with extra guide management. I’ve tried many through the years however none have caught, till very lately. Now, there are three that I’m more and more reaching for.

Leica Lux is Leica’s try to copy the picture high quality and really feel you expertise by means of their lens and pictured profiles on their very own cameras. As you’d anticipate from a Leica product, the interface has a clear, thought-about really feel, and it places guide controls entrance and centre. Shutter velocity, ISO, focus are all accessible with out digging by means of menus. For city and panorama work, the place I’m usually taking my time over a shot reasonably than reacting shortly, having that tactile management genuinely issues. There’s additionally a movie simulation mode that features quite a lot of black and whites, my present choice when taking pictures on this app. While the guide controls are nice, I’ll sometimes be present in right here with a 28mm lens, utilizing publicity compensation as I do with the native digital camera to finesse my shot. This is a premium app, with a sizeable annual subscription however I’ve been extraordinarily happy with the taking pictures expertise and has began to type part of my workflow.

XP4N (pronounced “Xpan”) takes a special strategy. If you’ve learn my earlier piece on panoramic images, you’ll know I’ve developed a tender spot for this crop. It’s constructed particularly across the Hasselblad XPan look, a large, cinematic crop that feels completely totally different to how most individuals shoot on a telephone. The Fens are nearly made for this format. Long, flat landscapes with a strip of sky and a thread of element working by means of the center. XP4N makes it stupidly simple to border that manner constantly, and the outcomes have that film-adjacent high quality that I discover laborious to copy some other manner. Again there are a few okay black and white presets however I choose to take the RAW output and edit it to my style. You can even simply change the publicity by sliding your finger over the display when framing the shot. While increasingly more apps are beginning to assist the crop, XP4N is my device of alternative in the case of capturing panoramic pictures.

Most lately, I’ve began utilizing No Fusion, and it’s change into the app I preserve reaching for. The purpose is straightforward: it combines quite a lot of what I used to be getting from each Leica Lux and XP4N, however in a single place. Many due to Paul Jenkin for pointing me in direction of the app 👍🏻

The guide controls are there, correct entry to shutter, ISO and focus. The movie simulations are genuinely pretty, not garish Instagram-filter territory however delicate, thought-about tones that you just’d need to really use. They even embrace a few Lecia black and white ones. Crucially it pulls the picture out of the Apple picture pipeline and due to this fact avoids quite a lot of the computational images that will get baked into the recordsdata. Overall I’ve been actually happy with the output and within the final week have most likely taken nearly all of my telephone pictures utilizing this app. You can even shoot an analogous crop to the Xpan. It shouldn’t be fairly the identical however shut sufficient.

I’m unsure but whether or not this app fully replaces the others. Leica Lux nonetheless will get used once I need that very particular aesthetic, and XP4N once I know I’m going to be taking pictures in panoramic format from the off. But for common iPhone images with a bit extra inventive management? No Fusion is at present successful.

With all these taking pictures choices at my disposal, having a constant modifying workflow turns into much more essential.

For a very long time, Lightroom Mobile has been my go-to for post-processing. I’ve developed my very own set of presets through the years and these are loaded in there, so I can get a constant start line shortly. It’s highly effective, it syncs throughout gadgets, backs as much as the Adobe cloud and for many modifying duties it does precisely what I would like.

Another notable point out is Darkroom, which I have a tendency to make use of if I need to put frames round pictures, though it’s more and more a uncommon incidence. While Lightroom Mobile is a premium app and plenty of complain in regards to the “Adobe Tax”, I discover it really works effectively for me. If I’m solely ever going to make use of one modifying app on my telephone, Lightroom Mobile might be it.

My workflow appears like this in apply. I shoot underexposed by a cease, normally in No Fusion or the native app, relying on how a lot time I’ve and what I’m taking pictures. At a later date I’ll use Lightroom Mobile to browse my picture library and edit those who I’m drawn in direction of. This is just like choosing pictures, because it implies that the keepers routinely find yourself in my Adobe Cloud. Once I’m pleased with the edits I’ll delete all of the originals in Apple Photos and export copies again into the library for simple searching and sharing as wanted.

The edits themselves are sometimes fast and can use certainly one of my presets as the idea, with minor tweaks primarily based upon the sunshine on the day. I could alter publicity again up, work the shadows, tweak the tone curve and apply some easy native changes. I nonetheless discover myself modifying the black and white recordsdata out of each Leica Lux and No Fusion. I plan to create my very own LUT for No Fusion, to see if I can bake my presets instantly into the seize course of.

Here’s what I’ve discovered after making an attempt numerous digital camera apps: the device issues far lower than the intention behind utilizing it. The native app is sensible for many conditions, however these third-party choices exist for if you need to reclaim inventive choices from Apple’s computational pipeline.

Whether you stick to the native digital camera or enterprise into third-party territory, what issues is discovering a workflow that retains you engaged and taking pictures. For me, that at present means No Fusion stays in my dock as a prepared various to the native app, with occasional visits to Leica Lux and XP4N once I need one thing particular.

What’s your iPhone images setup? Do you stick to the native app or have you ever discovered third-party instruments that give you the results you want? I’m at all times curious to listen to what others are utilizing.