What’s it like to take travel photos with a smartphone? I tested the iPhone X camera on a recent trip to Vietnam. Rather than use the dedicated iPhone camera, I mostly shot with the free Adobe Lightroom CC app camera. Here is a photo essay of my trip, along with a look at how I took the pictures.
Psychedelic Saigon
This is not your father’s Nam. On Ho Chi Minh’s (in)famous Pham Ngu Lao Street, Saigonese revel in an oriental dolce vita, albeit with thumping music, neon lights, and plenty of bottles bia Saigon. / I shot this with the native iPhone camera app. The quality of the JPEG file is quite low at night but good enough when viewed small on a phone.
Hoi An Street Photography
After leading a weekend cityscape photography workshop in Ho Chi Minh, I took a short flight to Hoi An. I met Etienne Bossot to finalize the details of our Vietnam tour this April. / I used the long exposure function of the Lightroom app (iPhone only) to take this handheld faux 5-second exposure.Hoi An really lives up to its name, “peaceful meeting place”, at night. / Shooting in RAW (DNG) with the Lightroom app allows you to recover much more detail in the shadows and highlights.The ubiquitous conical hat, essential head gear for any tourist exploring Hoi An’s old quarter. / I took this while exploring the old town with fine art & travel photographer Peter Stewart who lives in Hoi An. He shot in hight contrast B&W, so I did the same!
Fishing Village Photo Walk
A few days later, Etienne (far right), Peter (second to left), and I drove up the coast to a small off-the-beaten-track coastal village. We shot sunrise, explored alleyways, talked about finding the light over a bowl of noodles for breakfast, then ended up in this shipyard. / The iPhone produces photos at a 4:3 ratio. But if you crop your image to a 16:9 ratio, like I did for this photo above, you can fake a wide angle or panoramic shot.
Kids on battery-powered bicycles said hello to us as they rode to school. Many of the locals, like this fisherman, were surprisingly happy to see foreigners and open to having their picture taken. / I think I used one of the Lightroom ‘film-look’ profiles when editing this shot.
Storming The Citadel in Hue
The next day I took off on my own for Hue, the former capital of Vietnam and current UNESCO World Heritage site. I arrived just in time to watch the sun set behind the Meridian Gate of the Imperial City. / For this photo, I used the HDR mode in the Lightroom app (iPhone only) to keep the sun from blowing out and recover detail in the shadows.When I told my dad I was going to Hue, he said, “A lot of guys my age got killed there in 68′.” Once inside the Imperial walls, I researched The Battle (Siege) of Hue, part of the Tet Offensive and one of the bloodiest of the Vietnam War. According to Wikipedia: 5,000 civilians were killed (2,800 of them executed by the PAVN and Viet Cong, according to the South Vietnamese government). The communist forces lost an estimated 2,400 to 8,000 killed, while Allied forces lost 668 dead and 3,707 wounded. Photo by Ray Wilkonson. “From time to time, as if from nowhere, civilians would emerge from their hiding places and dash down the street toward us, running a gauntlet of fire. Here a father holds a baby while his wife struggles to keep up.” Photo and words by H.D.S. Greenway from the NYT article: The Battle for Hue, 1968
“We have to walk in a way that we only print peace and serenity on the Earth. Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh: Buddhist monk, peace activist, Zen master, and native of Hue, Vietnam.
Over the Hai Van Pass by Train
A short walk from the Hue train station is La Gare, one of the best cafes in Vietnam. They serve salt coffee (a Hue specialty) and highly addictive coconut affogatos. Check out photographer Alla Ponamerava’s review of La Gare here. / The iPhone’s native Portrait Mode works pretty well for blurring the background. The bokeh is not as cappuccino creamy as with a DSLR though.After my coffee fix, I hopped the train to Da Nang. It’s part of the same 1,600 km (990 mi) line that runs from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. The metre-gauge (narrow-gage) railway was built in the 1880s during French colonial rule.I felt like I was invited to eat at someone’s house when the food cart came by.
The lumbering train clickty-clacked over the Hai Van Pass. I took the slow road. And that made all the difference.
Final Thoughts on The iPhone X Camera
After traveling for 10 days through Vietnam with the iPhone X, I’m convinced the future of photography is a smart one.
Computational photography allows you to create images once limited to professional cameras. For instance, you can now blur the background, take HDR photos, and long exposures.
Also, the DSLR-killer feature for me is simplicity. During my trip, it was refreshing to not carry my gear or think about settings.
When I want to get the best shot possible I still use my pro camera. But I don’t believe that will be the case for much longer.
*Do you find yourself using your smartphone more often to take photos? What will the future of photography look like? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments
6 responses to “Postcard From Vietnam: Shot On iPhone”
Satish Addanki
Have seen many of my friends take fantabulous pictures from a smartphone! All of them were great when there’s ample amount of proper light. On certain conditions like low light, moving subject, panning, etc I feel smartphone cannot replace the DSLR. And of course te sensor in a DSLR cannot be matched by its smartphone counterpart!
Hey Satish, I absolutely agree with you. I do believe though that some of these limitations – like poor image quality in low light, panning, etc. – will be possible on a smartphone in the near future. For me, the argument is not so much about DSLRs being better than smartphones. What I’m trying to say is that the smartphone is now a more than capable image capturing device for many situations. And if you adapt your style to the device, a whole new way of photography opens up. Thanks for your comment.
Absolutely agree on that Pete! In fact my affinity for photography happened thanks to the smartphone. I extensively use my phone for photography. But need to hone up my skills on that front for a more refined picture quality!
Thanks for the pingback, Pete. Decided to check out your article, because I find myself using my phone to photograph more and more (especially since upgrading recently form Iphone 5 to 7, hehe refusing to spend any more money than I have to.) Still, I’m pretty blown away in the upgrade in picture capabilities from 5 to 6 and 7, I bet 10 must be something very special!
Hey, no problem Alla. Thanks for the wicked cafe tip! Yeah, I think there is a significant jump in quality from the the 5 to 7. And there’s a notable difference with the 10 as well. Try shooting in RAW (DNG) with the free LR app. The editing capability is much better than a JPEG with the native camera app. HDR mode is fantastic too!
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