Popular foodie magazine Bon Appétit today revealed that it shot all of the images for its March print issue with an iPhone. The team behind the magazine detailed the process in a post on its website, explaining that instead of using traditional DSLRs like they normally do for print issues, they used iPhones for all of the photography.
Each photographer gave their respective thoughts on the process during an interview, with many of them expressing shock when the decision was revealed to them. Some of them even had to upgrade from older generation iPhones to something more modern. “I needed to upgrade from an iPhone 5 to a 6S, and I had never used anything like it to shoot something for print, so it wasn’t just me putting faith in the phone, but also in the magazine’s idea,” photographer Matt Haas said.
Several of the photographers noted that ditching their traditional camera gear made for a much more liberating experience. Some of them purchased accessories for the iPhone camera, including various lenses, tripod adapters, and even selfie sticks.
One of the photographers, Daymon Gardner, had the following to say on the experience:
Regarding the overall experience shooting with an iPhone compared to a DSLR, Gardner noted that it kept the entire process “really conversational and loose”. Likewise, Michael Graydon expressed that shooting with an iPhone is the ultimate release of the DSLR associated ego:
While the photographers noted differing opinions on the process in the end, they generally agreed that the iPhone has a more than respectable camera. “I can’t quite accomplish the depth of field that I want, even when I do the thing where you touch the screen on the subject and move the slider up,” Gardner noted. “I still prefer to shoot with my Canon, but Mardi Gras just started here in New Orleans, and I’ll definitely have my iPhone with me.”
Haas expressed similar sentiments. “It’s not like I’m going to start doing all my projects with my cell phone, but now I definitely use it more for Instagram,” he said.
Apple has long touted the camera capabilities of the iPhone. The company launched an award-winning ad campaign focused on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus camera, and even brought the campaign back recently for the iPhone 6s. The iPhone 7 is excepted to take Apple even further ahead in the camera space, perhaps even incorporating a dual-camera setup.
