I’ve noticed something spreading through a lot of websites recently. It’s spreading across the pages of my potential clients’ sites. It’s even crawled across the websites of some of my clients.
So many businesses are turning to iPhone photography for their websites now. People are starting to wonder and ask: is iPhone photography good enough? Can an iPhone image provide the quality I need?
My answer is yes and no.
iPhones can be awesome. A quick Google search will reveal some absolutely amazing images taken on iPhones. There’s no question that an iPhone can be used for quality photography when used by someone who understands how to set up photos and capture images using a variety of composition techniques.
Here’s the problem: most of the people I come across don’t really know how to use their phone for this. They’re not photographers. They don’t have the practice, understanding, and experience that professional photographers have. So while they get an ok image, they miss out on truly being able to get the results they want from their iPhone.
Tools are not the same as experience. For example, take a world-class musician. With either a world-class instrument or a crappy instrument, they have the knowledge and skills to play pretty well. The crappy instrument might not sound as good as their $2,000 instrument, but they’re going to be able to play it because they have experience and practice on their side.
On the flip side, if you take any person at random off the street and give them the $2,000 instrument and ask them to play it, they’re going to struggle. They won’t be able to live up to even the quality of the world-class musician playing on a crappy instrument. Even if they have the nicest instrument in the world, they don’t have the experience to produce the results that a trained musician could.
It’s the same with photography. Give anyone an iPhone, and they can take a photo. I know I can produce some pretty good images with one. But this tool alone in the hands of an amateur won’t compare to what a professional photographer can do.
And when you want images of the very best quality, you need both a professional photographer and the best tools. I’m going to get much better images on my camera than on an iPhone every time. They’re going to be better for printing and for larger-scale work. Overall I can do so much more with my camera than an iPhone.
The moral of the story is that iPhone photography can be ok, depending on your skills. If you’re a photographer or have an eye for it, you may be able to get some decent images out of it. But if you’re not getting the results you want, do yourself a favour. Consider hiring a pro photographer.
They’ll make sure you have some awesome images on your website that really communicate the exact message you want your clients and customers to take in.