For a photographer with a passion for street photography, I actually walk around suspiciously little with a full frame DSLR or a hip retro Fujifilm camera. I do have them, but they're in the safe almost every day of the year. And admit it, those cameras are not something you take with you when you go out. I haven't even brought a separate camera with me on vacation for the past two years. In fact, most of the pictures I take these days are from my iPhone. Since I switched from a Nokia to the iPhone 3GS (3.2 mp) in 2009, I have increasingly left the expensive and heavy equipment at home.
Bologna, Italy, 2017 - iPhone 7 Plus, Edits in VSCO and Instagram
My photography is not an art
I don't consider my street photos to be art, and they certainly don't need to hang in a gallery. They come and go and I would prefer to call them snapshots. The technical details of a camera do not interest me much; photography for me is much more about the moment than about the medium. As a street photographer, I like to work intuitively and not be hampered by the many limitations of a large camera, which often slow down my speed of action. The iPhone is the camera for me because it is light and compact, and you need very little to take good pictures. And that under the most diverse conditions.
Amsterdam, Netherlands, October 2016 - iPhone 6, Edits in VSCO, Camera+ and Instagram
Permanently connected to the rest of the world
With the advent of the iPhone, all kinds of photography apps also appeared on the market. Often free or for less than a euro. Another plus: there had never before been a camera made with a touch screen and a permanent connection to the outside world. With the advent of the Internet and social media, I began eagerly sharing my photos via the very first photo community platform Flickr, among others.
In November 2009, I posted my first iPhone photo on Flickr, during a final presentation of the optional design course at the Hanze University Groningen. The photo was taken and edited with an iPhone 3GS.
Le Moment Décisif
An iPhone fits easily in your pocket, and works so fast these days that you won't miss a moment. As long as you look around carefully. That doesn't just apply to taking photos, by the way: with these tips, you can shoot great videos with your phone, too.
But the biggest advantage is that nobody is surprised anymore by "just another tourist" with a smartphone. As a photographer, you don't get noticed at all anymore and you don't have to bend over backwards and forwards to take the pictures where everything comes together and what wasn't there half a second earlier.
London City, England, 2011 - iPhone 4, Edits in Camera+ and Adobe Photoshop
Cologne, Germany, 2014 iPhone 5, Edits in Snapseed
Apple's ecosystem supports my work optimally, and by far most photography apps are of very high quality. Moreover, I can instantly select, edit and share all photos on the go on a social medium of my choice.
Atrium, Hanzehogeschool Shot and edited in 2009 with the iPhone 3GS and put together with the Pano App. At the time, it was an eye-opener to be able to create a panorama with a smartphone. But the software wasn't at its best back then. Just note the double lighting at the top.
Therapeutic photo editing
There are many reasons why I select and edit my photos directly on my iPhone. As a main reason, I can say that the process of editing photos has a therapeutic effect on me. At home on the couch, on the road in the train or in the lobby of a hotel; wherever and whenever I want, I can edit my photos. And that feels particularly relaxing. In moments like these, I don't have to think about anything but the end result on my screen. I am focused, working towards a concrete result and having fun while doing it. Tell me, pretty therapeutic right?
Post-processing: which app works?
There are quite different opinions about post-processing. I'm not much of a purist when it comes to street photos. To me they are just snapshots and if I want to put drama in them, or exaggerate the colors I just do that. Every photo is entitled to its own post-processing and couleur locale.
The shelf life of a photograph is also a lot more limited these days. Very different from the days when I stood in a smelly darkroom for a barite print that would last 100 years and into which I had put all my heart and soul. Back then there was no trash can on my camera either.
Zuiderwoude, North Holland, Netherlands, March 2017, Iphone 7 Plus. Edits in Snapseed and Instagram
Incidentally, if I am going to do a larger series as a commissioned photographer, I do take a very consistent approach and also a consistent flow when finishing. But in the case of single photos, almost never. This is because editing the photographs I have made also keeps me flexible to keep testing and experimenting with the medium.
The 5 photography Apps I use a lot
Over the past few years, I have used dozens of photography apps and spent capitals testing "Best iPhone Photo Apps of the Year." The bulk of them have long since disappeared from my screen. In this blog, I will limit myself to the most cool apps. Apps that I'm still using right now.
Cortex Cam - Recordings with maximum detail and no noise in low light
Most of the time I just use Apple's standard camera. But when I have more time or if the photo is shot in poor lighting conditions I use Cortex Cam. You will see a big difference in sharpness and especially much less noise if you take the photos with Cortex Cam. Moreover, with this app you can shoot in RAW format, and save the photos as a TIFF file which means that you will suffer less loss of quality, as for example with a .jpg file. Note: You need a very steady hand for Cortex Cam, as the app takes 3-second shots, to compose the optimal final result in 100 frames.
Snapseed - Selective edits and perspective corrections
I usually use Snapseed for more specific image edits, such as selectively editing a particular color, or adjusting something small with the "Healing tool.
Snapseed lets you use tools on your iPhone that you can normally only use with larger apps, such as Adobe Lightroom.
When lines or perspective are important in a photograph, such as buildings, I like to have control over the distortion. Snapseed works well to correct lens distortion or perspective. This is helpful because you will always struggle with lens distortion, especially when using the wide angle.
VSCO - Who doesn't know this App?
VSCO has a terrible interface and certainly does not know the concept of ease of use. Still, the filters that come with VSCO are phenomenal. I use VSCO mainly for enhancing colors and applying image effects. I have purchased all available filters but nevertheless can give few tips on the best filter. I have almost 200 of them and in all honesty: the abundance of choice drives me crazy. Try a few out on a lazy Sunday afternoon and keep the best one as a "recipe" in your VSCO library. By the way, it has recently become possible to use VSCO to color grade your videos, resulting in a very nice effect.
Camera+ - The Evergreen
My edits gained qualitative momentum only when I learned about Camera+. It was one of the first apps with full support for advanced camera settings. Camera+ has more than 10 million users worldwide. And despite all the innovations, the 'Clarity filter' is still one of my favorites. Especially since the arrival of the 'Lab' feature, which allows you to fully edit this famous filter yourself.
Darkroom - Light at the end of the tunnel
One of the best newcomers of the past two years is Darkroom, developed by Bergen. The interface is incredibly intuitive, the filters are well put together and easy to customize. Like Apple, the guys at Bergen have thought carefully about creating an app for photographers who need to work quickly and don't want a confusing interface.
There are no winners
Despite the innumerable advantages of all the different apps, there is no one winner. Often I use the features of different apps interchangeably to achieve the desired result. As I said at the beginning, I like to work intuitively on the street. That's why I don't have a set pattern for my edits. It may well be that I suddenly switch to another app while editing. The choice in this strongly depends on my own whim, and how I envision the end result.
With this blog, I don't want to tell you what you should do. I can show you the way, but I won't tell you where to turn. Every creative adventure is a very personal journey. During that journey, everyone is entitled to their own route.
If you still have questions you can find me on Twitter or just send me an email.
Happy editing!
Peter van der Steege
