iPhone·tography 2023: Local light, AI, and fun

I’ve not created an end-of-year review of favorite images before. I’m generally working on images one-at-a-time in an ongoing and continuous process. The current image becomes my new favorite, and I don’t often look back at what was processed earlier. This year was a little different for several reasons. 

• It was the first time in decades that I didn’t take any pictures with a “real” camera. All images were shot with my now-ancient first-gen iPhone SE. I didn’t use a tripod either. Everything was hand-held. For a guy that used to lug over 30 pounds of large-format gear to Coyote Buttes, I feel both lazy and liberated at the same time.
• All the pictures were local light, many from walks around the neighborhood. I added less than 5,000 miles to my car’s odometer this year, very little of it dedicated to photography. I simply took pictures wherever I happened to be and included some photo outings in trips for other purposes. I love photography but am trying to keep a low-carbon profile in everything I do. 
• Artificial intelligence (AI) came onto the scene in a big way. It made me think about photography a little differently. I still want to take pictures like I always have but am more open to interpreting them in ways that don’t necessarily look photographic. Generative Fill in Photoshop was an exciting new choice, but I also explored other Photoshop plugins, like Topaz filters, to see what they might offer in terms of interpreting light in new ways.

So, this was a year of changes both in how I take pictures and how they were processed. I still used the TK9 plugin and luminosity masks extensively in processing, but there was more experimentation at all stages of the workflow. I thought it would be interesting to compile some of my favorite images into a blog to look at the themes and the progression that came from trying new things.

It was a good year for wildflowers in Arizona, and Picacho Peak State Park, which often has a good display, is a short drive from my home. Unfortunately, everyone else wanted to see the flowers, just like me, and it was an hour’s wait just to get into the park. Sorry, that wasn’t going to be fun, so I parked outside the gate and just walked along a service road knowing I would be content with whatever I found compared to dealing with overcrowded trails and parking lots. This is an image taken on this hike. A Topaz filter was used to simplify the image’s details.

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Barrio Viejo is a historic part of Tucson. It has several photography galleries and is currently undergoing quite a bit of renovation/gentrification. I visit frequently to see what’s new in the galleries. While there, I usually stroll around to look at what’s changed and how the restorations bring new color and texture to these old facades. This image was processed with the Color Sketch action in the TK9 plugin to help enhance edge detail. 

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Stairwells were definitely a theme this year. The little iPhone camera seems to like them. The fixed 29-mm equivalent focal length lens works well with architectural subjects in general, and the f/2.2 aperture provides better depth-of-field than newer smartphone cameras.

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This is the same stairwell. Just looking up instead of looking down.

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And still more stairs. This time the entrance to a parking garage. Like with all images, processing in Photoshop was a vital step in creating the final image, but places like this remind me that the raw material for photography (light) is endless and everywhere.

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Cactus flowers are plentiful in Tucson, though this one is from a non-native species known as the Argentine Giant. This specimen is on the roadside where I walk several mornings each week, and I kept tabs on it knowing I wanted to be there when it finally decided to bloom. This is a 3.7-megapixel crop from a 12-megapixel capture, but it’s still a single exposure. Backing up a little and cropping provides excellent depth-of-field so focus-stacking is unnecessary.

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Another plant along my walking route was this large agave that succumbed to the hot, dry summer. Patterns and textures have long been a favorite theme. They seem to show up quite randomly wherever I go but are always welcome. The black and white sketch action in TK9 helped add lines and texture to enhance the pattern of the leaves.

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Another cactus flower, this time from my driveway. This is a barrel cactus, and its flowers bloom after the summer monsoon rains start. This was a very chaotic composition, but Topaz Studio 2 offers a large variety of “looks” to help simplify the details and bring the flower into strong visual focus, which was the intent when the image was taken. Previously, I might not have bothered to photograph or process such a disorganized subject, but by broadening the processing alternatives increases the likelihood of producing a final image that is true to the original visualization.

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Another driveway cactus picture. These are the fruits of the Santa Rita cactus. It was another scene loaded with chaotic details, but the arrangement of fruits and their contrasting color compared to the blue-green cactus pads definitely offered potential. This time Photoshop’s new Generative Fill was tapped to provide the simplification. I used the TK Gen Fill plugin and the description “drawing, cactus pads with cactus fruits” as the prompt. I also set the generative fill opacity to just 35%. This kept much of the reference image’s composition intact, but allowed the AI to remove most of the distracting details.

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This is a storm over the Catalina Mountains on the north side of Tucson. I was watching from a safe distance as lightning struck the mountains followed by rolling thunder. Rain poured from the clouds, and sunset lit the western sky. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), I wasn’t fast fast enough to capture the lightning in any of my exposures. However, AI once again came to my rescue. It took several iterations, but I finally was able to add a bolt that captured both the beauty and the drama of the event. 

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One of the best discoveries about using the iPhone for photography is how easy it is to to take architecture pictures with it. Pointing a regular camera upward to take a picture requires either takes a very tall tripod or strong arms and a neck brace. The smartphone camera is so small and light that it actually invites exploring light from different angles, and looking up with the camera is no problem at all. I also like how architecture images lend themselves to a wide variety of interpretation. There is a sense of reality in the buildings that is retained even when other elements in the scene are obviously processed to look unreal.

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Same building, same day, same time, same light, same camera. Different composition, different processing.

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The nearby University of Arizona campus is a favorite location to search for interesting light. I prefer to go when classes are on break as it provides a sense of solitude similar to what one can find on many nature trails. This is an image where the black and white sketch action in TK9 helped define the edges better to provide a crisper looking image.

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Another thing that amazes me about iPhone images is the amount of detail that comes through in a print from such a tiny camera. Individual leaves, light poles in the distance, and more texture than you could see with the naked are are all clearly visible in the 12 x 16 print of this image. Is it as good as a 61-megapixel image from a Sony A7R-IV? Probably not, but at 12 x 16, the images are at least as sharp and detailed as those from my 24-megapixel APS-C camera. The iPhone is also a lot easier to carry up five flights of stairs to take this picture, and the 12-megapixel images are a breeze to develop even for complex adjustments. Photography is a lot more fun . . . when it’s actually fun.

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It’s amazing how the rest of the world disappears when I’m making pictures. Whether it’s traipsing around the University of Arizona campus looking for unique angles or in front of the computer searching for a unique interpretation, the creative moment takes hold, and I happily check out from the real world, following the light wherever it wants to go. And just like how the computer allows me to be more spontaneous with trying new processing techniques, the iPhone is a great tool for experimentation in the field. It finds pictures in places where I might not have bothered to take my “real” camera out of the bag. Looking back through favorite photos of 2023 gets me excited for 2024. Hopefully more fun ahead.