The great iphone 6 photography experiment

Re-wind two years ago and I used to rave about my iphone camera - all of my blog photos were taken on my iphone (some were better than others) as I didn't know any different. However buying my Nikon D3200 last year was a real game changer for me and I now use this for about 90% of all of the photos you see on this blog. My Nikon produces beautiful images that are far superior to anything my iphone can take, however it does have it's draw backs  - the main one being that it is big and heavy to carry around so I don't always have it on me meaning that photos at the park don't usually feature on my blog unless I have specifically taken my Nikon with me. I do ALWAYS have my iphone with me though, so when Mandy Charlton Photography selected us to take part in her great iphone experiment I was intrigued to see the results (Disclaimer - Mandy does not normally take portrait photographs with her iphone - this was simply an experiment to see what her phone could do).

We met Mandy at Heaton Park one hour before sunset (Mandy is a professional photographer and photographs children for a living - I was kind of hanging off her every word! Tip 1 - The hour before sunset is recommended as a good time to photograph children as the light will usually be good).

Mandy was prepared and arrived with her brand new iphone 6 and selfie stick. I sat back and let her do her stuff! Mandy is a natural with children - getting them on her side and making them naturally laugh which is something I wish I could do! (Tip 2 - Don't ask children to pose, simply talk to them and make them smile as you snap away)

iPhone Photographs

The above two shots were taken with an iphone - they are perfectly acceptable to print and shock horror I would even use them on my blog!

We then decided to put the iphone's burst mode to the test - this is perfect for taking photographs of children who like to run about and those all important action shots. The iphone 6 takes an impressive 10 frames per second in burst mode. Here are the results:-

I love this photo - it is just  shame Heidi's face ended up blurred - to be fair, this happens when I use my Nikon in sports mode a lot too, I imagine if we tried a few attempts, the iphone 6 would eventually get a shot where all of their faces are in focus.

I also love these black and white images and I can't believe they were taken on an iphone! In fairness a lot of this is down to Mandy's wonderful editing skills (Tip 3 - Lightroom and Photoshop are what the pro's use to edit their photographs).

Professional Photographs

The following photographs were taken with Mandy's professional Fuji X-pro1 and I can honestly see a huge difference. The X-pro just seems to capture a sparkle in my children's eyes that you just don't get from iphone photography and the clarity and depth of field in much more apparant. I just love these photographs of my children. Although I have a professional camera myself, and take a lot of photographs of my children myself, I am not a professional photographer (and always use my camera on auto mode?) and I just don't have the ability to capture my children the way Mandy can. I think Heidi looks like an Angel!

Mandy has really captured our children's personalities. Harry's nick-name is Mr.Sensible:-

Jack is the known as the crazy child which again has been perfectly captured:-

Mandy then used the 'burst' mode on her X-Pro which actually shoots less frames per second but I think the results are crisper than the iphone and all of our children's faces are in focus this time:-

Conclusion

I'll be upgrading to an iphone 6 next month and when I do I am certainly going to try and take more 'everyday' photographs with it. I think the iphone has now got to the point where it can produce quality images that with a bit of editing would be fine to upload to instagram or print and frame. However I think you really can see the difference between what the iphone can do and a professional camera can do so I won't be hanging up my Nikon for blog photos anytime soon!

Special offer with Mandy Charlton Photography

Book a 30 minute session with Mandy at either Jesmond Dene, Heaton Park, Saltwell Park or Tynemouth Longsands for only £25 and receive a 12x8 print of your choice for free. You will also have access to a web gallery for 30 days and 15% off any orders in your first week. Offer valid until 30/4/15.

Contact Mandy Charlton here and quote North East Family Fun to book.

I would not hesitate in recommending working with Mandy. She is professional yet informal and fun and will be happy to chat through some basic photography tips with you during your shoot.