Apple Teams Up With 100cameras to Teach Chicago Students iPhone Photography Using iPhone 11

[Lalatoon]

"Unfortunately I don't think anyone can become a good photographer using an iPhone."

I've seen many who have.

"A great photographer can make great pictures with an iPhone, but he surely didn't learn his craft on a point & shoot smartphone"

Ditto my above response.

Making strong photographs has very little to do with the camera or gear. It's about the person behind the camera, his/her life experiences, curiosity, imagination, creativity, desire to express, vision, and quickly making a dozen or two technical decisions that in the end produces an image that has the power to stir a viewer's imagination, release narrative, ultimately evoking an emotional response.
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I think simple cameras, ie phone cameras, are ideal for teaching photography. Making good photographs is about seeing, not gear.

Yes, gear is just half of what makes a good photograph the other half is what you called seeing or for me observation. A point and shoot camera is good enough to capture a good image.

However, learning photography using a smartphone like an iPhone that does a lot of post processing is not very helpful at all. It will deprive of you of understanding about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, metering and other techinical things like that. And this things is a must learn if you really want to learn photography. Imagine the confusement of those kids after being confident in practicing photography using a smartphone that does heavy post processing on images are given a point and shoot camera or even a dslr because the picture they have taken are not the same with the smartphone. They will have to learn how to use the new "gear" again. If they only learn from a dslr then it wouldnt be a problem for them moving from one camera to another even if the new gear does a lot of post processing because they will now be equip with the experience and knowledge on how to use shutter speed, aperture, exposure and ISO to take a good photo.

Photography is an art and for me those post processing technology takes away some art part of photography.

 

[citysnaps]

Yes, gear is just half of what makes a good photograph the other half is what you called seeing or for me observation. A point and shoot camera is good enough to capture a good image.

However, learning photography using a smartphone like an iPhone that does a lot of post processing is not very helpful at all. It will deprive of you of understanding about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, metering and other techinical things like that. And this things is a must learn if you really want to learn photography. Imagine the confusement of those kids after being confident in practicing photography using a smartphone that does heavy post processing on images are given a point and shoot camera or even a dslr because the picture they have taken are not the same with the smartphone. They will have to learn how to use the new "gear" again. If they only learn from a dslr then it wouldnt be a problem for them moving from one camera to another even if the new gear does a lot of post processing because they will now be equip with the experience and knowledge on how to use shutter speed, aperture, exposure and ISO to take a good photo.

Photography is an art and for me those post processing technology takes away some art part of photography.

When I meet a photographer when out and about I always ask, "What do you shoot?"

If the answer is something like, 'I shoot a 5DMII and a 24-70 zoom," that tells me something.

If instead, the answer is something like, "I shoot in underserved urban areas experiencing gentrification and am documenting the consequences," that tells me something very different. That's someone I'd want to have a few beers with and talk about making photographs.

Nine times out of ten, people I run into who are into gear produce not very interesting photographs that lack power and are generally forgettable.

Good photography is about seeing.

I've been shooting solely with a phone for the last five years. And have produced some of my best photographs.

 

[Lalatoon]

When I meet a photographer when out and about I always ask, "What do you shoot?"

If the answer is something like, 'I shoot a 5DMII and a 24-70 zoom," that tells me something.

If instead, the answer is something like, "I shoot in underserved urban areas experiencing gentrification and am documenting the consequences," that tells me something very different. That's someone I'd want to have a few beers with and talk about making photographs.

Nine times out of ten, people I run into who are into gear produce not very interesting photographs that lack power and are generally forgettable.

Good photography is about seeing.

I've been shooting solely with a phone for the last five years. And have produced some of my best photographs.

I am with you about good photography is about seeing and good observation about the things around you.

But when you are on the learning stage it is more productive and effective if you learn through proper tools and knowledge.

For me, taking a good picture without post processing technology of smartphones gives me a contentment because it reminds me of how i am progressing with respect to photography. It shows my strength and weakness in the art.

 

[citysnaps]

I am with you about good photography is about seeing and good observation about the things around you.

But when you are on the learning stage it is more productive and effective if you learn through proper tools and knowledge.

For me, taking a good picture without post processing technology of smartphones gives me a contentment because it reminds me of how i am progressing with respect to photography. It shows my strength and weakness in the art.

"But when you are on the learning stage it is more productive and effective if you learn through proper tools and knowledge."

Proper tools? I disagree. A point-n-shoot is all you need. If people would learn to make photos with a point-n-shoot through being coached on how to see, they would start off much better.

One isn't required to use smartphone processing. Making photographs certainly doesn't require that.

There's a difference between taking photos and making photos. And that starts with seeing, developing curiosity, stimulating one's imagination, and some basic principles. And is why when discussing photography I always say I make photographs rather than I take photographs.

 

[Lalatoon]

"But when you are on the learning stage it is more productive and effective if you learn through proper tools and knowledge."

Proper tools? I disagree. A point-n-shoot is all you need. If people would learn to make photos with a point-n-shoot through being coached on how to see, they would start off much better.

One isn't required to use smartphone processing. Making photographs certainly doesn't require that.

There's a difference between taking photos and making photos. And that starts with seeing, developing curiosity, stimulating one's imagination, and some basic principles. And is why when discussing photography I always say I make photographs rather than I take photographs.

Once again I agree with you that a point-in-shoot camera is good enough but learning photography on smartphones that does a lot of AI post processing on the final result is not the best approach. If you are in the process of learning aside from seeing, developing curiosity, stimulating one's imagination you must also learn the basic technical things. Unfortunately using a smartphone that uses a lot of AI post processing will deprive you of learning those basic technical things. If you want to be serious about the art of photography aside from being creative you must have technical knowledge also.

Its like developing a website, we have WordPress for that but if you really want to create a beautiful and very detailed website then you don't stop at using templates but you have to understand and learn CSS and HTML to some degree.

 

[citysnaps]

Once again I agree with you that a point-in-shoot camera is good enough but learning photography on smartphones that does a lot of AI post processing on the final result is not the best approach. If you are in the process of learning aside from seeing, developing curiosity, stimulating one's imagination you must also learn the basic technical things. Unfortunately using a smartphone that uses a lot of AI post processing will deprive you of learning those basic technical things. If you want to be serious about the art of photography aside from being creative you must have technical knowledge also.

Its like developing a website, we have WordPress for that but if you really want to create a beautiful and very detailed website then you don't stop at using templates but you have to understand and learn CSS and HTML to some degree.

"Unfortunately using a smartphone that uses a lot of AI post processing will deprive you of learning those basic technical things."

No, it won't deprive you of anything.

Acquiring technical knowledge comes along with and a result of learning to see towards creating a compelling composition that stirs a viewer's imagination, ultimately releasing narrative. There's no amount of "AI" post-processing that can do that. Learning "technical" knowledge is rather easy in photography. Learning to see and express is much more difficult. Unless one is happy with photographs that don't communicate and ultimately not very interesting.

People that get hung up on gear, I've found, often do not produce compelling photographs.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

we have WordPress for that but if you really want to create a beautiful and very detailed website then you don't stop at using templates but you have to understand and learn CSS

Just like you describe starting with WordPress templates and then learning CSS, I see the smartphone/point and shoot/instant cameras as the “easy template” that gets new folks excited about photography.

 

[CarlJ]

Just like you describe starting with WordPress templates and then learning CSS, I see the smartphone/point and shoot/instant cameras as the “easy template” that gets new folks excited about photography.

This. To get a large group of people interested in and started in software development, you don't just hand them all the volumes of Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming and tell them to start reading. If you did, you might get one or two people interested, if you're lucky - most will wander off, thinking "programming is boring, hard, and pointless". Instead, you start them off with something much simpler, like Swift Playgrounds, or Python (with a lot of handholding), show them that programming is a fascinating form of puzzle-solving, and give them a series of interesting puzzles to solve. In a few years, you may end up with more than a couple of them who are interested in reading Knuth's tome, because now they have a basis for appreciating it.

This line of reasoning saying, "no! you must start learning photography by having to deal with f-stops and focal lengths and such", seems much like throwing Knuth at potential software developers - it's possible to get someone started that way, but nowhere near ideal. (And if you're going to start by teaching them about f-stops on the first day, "because that's how we used to have to learn it", you should probably also be teaching them that first day about developer, stop bath, enlargers, and burning and dodging technique - because knowledge of working in a darkroom also used to be among the necessary parts of photography).

Decades ago, you had to start someone that way on photography, because cameras were manual - they couldn't handle those adjustments themselves. These days, you no longer need to start people off that way, just as you no longer need to start potential programmers off by teaching them assembly language - we have more accessible programming languages now. Let the machine architecture lessons wait until they get a feel for programming itself.

Teach photography the same way - guide potential students to develop an eye for composing a shot, then, after they develop some skill in that, take the ones who show an real eye for photography and start them on the advanced course, teaching about the mechanics and cameras and optics. They'll be able to understand it better and appreciate how it helps them take good photographs.

 

[Lalatoon]

This. To get a large group of people interested in and started in software development, you don't just hand them all the volumes of Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming and tell them to start reading. If you did, you might get one or two people interested, if you're lucky - most will wander off, thinking "programming is boring, hard, and pointless". Instead, you start them off with something much simpler, like Swift Playgrounds, or Python (with a lot of handholding), show them that programming is a fascinating form of puzzle-solving, and give them a series of interesting puzzles to solve. In a few years, you may end up with more than a couple of them who are interested in reading Knuth's tome, because now they have a basis for appreciating it.

This line of reasoning saying, "no! you must start learning photography by having to deal with f-stops and focal lengths and such", seems much like throwing Knuth at potential software developers - it's possible to get someone started that way, but nowhere near ideal. (And if you're going to start by teaching them about f-stops on the first day, "because that's how we used to have to learn it", you should probably also be teaching them that first day about developer, stop bath, enlargers, and burning and dodging technique - because knowledge of working in a darkroom also used to be among the necessary parts of photography).

Decades ago, you had to start someone that way on photography, because cameras were manual - they couldn't handle those adjustments themselves. These days, you no longer need to start people off that way, just as you no longer need to start potential programmers off by teaching them assembly language - we have more accessible programming languages now. Let the machine architecture lessons wait until they get a feel for programming itself.

Teach photography the same way - guide potential students to develop an eye for composing a shot, then, after they develop some skill in that, take the ones who show an real eye for photography and start them on the advanced course, teaching about the mechanics and cameras and optics. They'll be able to understand it better and appreciate how it helps them take good photographs.

Perhaps you are right because I started with SLR cameras when I was younger but I still believe that getting serious with photography, learning it through a camera that is heavily assisted with AI post processing is still not the way. One should start with cheap point and shoot camera or dslr rather than with an iPhone. If ones goal is to be a "casual photographer" then I would say that learning photography with a smartphone with AI post processing is one of the best way - the best camera is the one you have with you.

Or perhaps its just my personal way of learning things. Like with my experience with drones. From the start I know that I would like to fly a drone not just for taking images but for the fun of it and the experience. And so I bought a DJI Mavic Pro because its one of the best. It is heavily computer assisted drones, it has lots of sensor for collision detection, it has one of the best auto leveling system, it follows you and has return to home feature. But with all that feature, it was a big mistake for me because in the end I learned very few things about quadcopters. So i begun from the beginning again and this time I learn how to build and fly FPV drones. Even in FPV drones there are still auto leveling but as most of the pilots suggested a beginner should start with manual flying and so I did. Now with my experience with FPV drones, I can fly any quadcopter and now flying a Mavic Pro is a no-brainier for me. If my interest is to casually fly a drone and take some pictures then the Mavic Pro is more than enough. With that experience I do suggest if you really want to learn and get serious about photography then start with a camera that is not heavily assisted by AI post processing.

At this day of age almost all with smartphone are photographers by their own right and experiences and those who have knowledge and experience with the very basic and technical aspect of photography is much better equipped than those who are not.