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Entire March issue of Bon Appétit magazine shot exclusively on iPhones

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:

“We found an adapter that would click the iPhone onto a tripod. Then, because the iPhone lens is approximately equivalent to a 35 mm lens on a DSLR, we bought a few accessory lenses, one of which made the camera more like a normal lens of around 50 mm. Another was a wide-angle and the third was so good for close-up shots, it would’ve been better suited for taking photos of ants.”

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:

“I’ve been a photographer for about 20 years, and I’ve been through 8×10 cameras, film—you name it. In the past, the bigger and scarier-looking the camera you pulled out, the more intense and professional you looked. Now, you have to let go of the ego you attach to the tool, and the iPhone is the ultimate expression of that.”

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.

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Comments

  1. srgmac - 8 years ago

    OMG that looks delicious! Dinner time ^_^

  2. pdixon1986 - 8 years ago

    I guess it’s about knowing your equipment… certain ‘professionals’ think that by going out and buying the most expensive equipment means you get the best of the best — many will claim that you ‘must’ buy a Nikon or Canon… But every camera has limitations…

    Sure, if you are shooting in nature and trying to get animal shots – then an iphone wont be great to zoom in on a flying bird… the same with night shots etc.

    BUT for most kinds of photography, especially portraits, landscapes, and in this case magazine shots – phone cameras work just as well.

    Professionals need to make a living – if they start switching over to camera phones, rather than pulling out the big guns, then people will start to click “why am i paying all this money to bring in a professional when i could just use the phone in my pocket? — in fact, many companies are doing this… you can buy fold up white boxes – you shine the light where you want it, the box reduces the shadows, and you can get a really crisp shot from most cameras…

    Plus, for people like me who just wants to quickly shoot a photo instead of messing around with settings, lenses, etc etc – an iphone works well…

    I often find it funny when my friend whips out her camera and is struggling to decide which lens she should use for the day and ends up packing 2 or 3 lenses and carrying them around with her… she then has to mess around with filters, remember to white balance it, etc etc — sometimes she misses stuff…
    Granted, once she has it set up she can get some pretty darn good shots — but you can also get some pretty darn good shots, without a lot of the hassle, on an iphone :-P

    (of course, other camera phones are also good… but remember to take the plastic film off the lens on a new phone – my mother was complaining of blurry photos on her sony phone until my sister realised my mum forgot the small plastic film…lol)

  3. nicklewis - 8 years ago

    Splendid stuff makes me want to upgrade my 5s to the 6s with all of this talk!

Author

Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

Tips, questions, typos to chance@9to5mac.com