The Magic of the iPhone (September 2024)

REGISTER: Maine Media Workshops

What goes on between your ears is more important than what is in your hands. And you (almost) always have your iPhone with you. Guided by photographer Tillman Crane, this class will help you combine the two.

Traveling lightly, we will move fast and chase the light. We will push the iPhone to its max, shooting the streets of Rockland, lighthouses, sand and rock beaches, and the setting sun.

We will create “square foot studios” to shoot unique still-life images. The group may travel by ferry to a nearby island or chase ghosts in historic Fort Knox. We may even find a shipwreck. Our cameras will fit in our back pockets, and some tripods will fit in our billfolds. We will photograph our lunches and post them to Instagram. We will create time-lapse images as well as panoramic images. This will be a fun, fast-paced class covering the many ways an iPhone is a unique and exceptional travel camera. View the schedule.

12 reasons the iPhone is a great travel camera:

1. It is always with you.
2. It is subtle; you can use it anywhere without many noticing you are using it.
3. Compared to a DSLR or mirrorless camera, it is not worth stealing. If stolen, you can find it or disable it.
4. It has a bright screen makes images easy to see in the daylight.
5. It automatically backs up to the cloud.
6. It is waterproof or at least impervious to the elements.
7. The metadata will tell you exactly where you were and when you made any photographs.
8. Images are easy to capture, edit, and post—no downloading or transferring of your files.
9. Sharing files is simple: airdrop, text, or email.
10. You can shoot RAW with most iPhones either natively or with an outside application.
11. If you already work in the Adobe world, your images can be downloaded directly into your Lightroom Library.
12. You can make images that look like anything from a tintype to a modern color print.

Expected equipment:

You will need your iPhone, charging cord, iPad, or laptop, and an external battery. The object of this class is to travel light and to use the iPhone in every way possible.

We will explore Portrait mode, Night mode, Pano mode, Live mode, and Time Lapse. We will dig into the settings that will allow us to make our iPhones work as needed. We will look at apps for taking images and apps for editing images. We will even explore apps that make images look like your father’s old slide images from the 50s and 60s and an 1860s tintype. Apps covered include Hipstamatic, Tintype, Pro Camera+, Lightroom, Snapseed, Halide, Mobile Monet, Waterlogged, and I Love Film.

There will be handouts, in-class demonstrations, working suggestions, and time to look at some of your images and edit them together.

Schedule:

Monday

• AM: Introduction to your iPhone. What it does and what it does not do. Discussions will include lens options, HEIC vs. RAW vs. JPEG, and its many shooting modes, such as Portrait Mode, Time Lapse, Live Mode, Pano Mode, and Low Light Mode.
• PM: Field trip, lighthouse, harbors, lobster buoys, and seashells.

Tuesday

• AM: Editing your images on the iPhone using Photos and Snapseed.
• PM: Field trip to St. George River and Canal, walk in the woods.

Wednesday

• All-day field trip to explore the elements of good photographs: Light, Time, Lenses, Vantage Points, and Style.

Thursday

• All-day field trip for Portraits and Landscapes.

Friday

• AM: Field trip more lighthouses, harbors, and lobster buoys.
• PM: Final editing and putting together your images.

I hope you can join me for this fun-filled dive into the great ways to use your iPhone as a travel camera! Hope to see you in June!

Tillman