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Apple Shares New Shot on iPhone XS Video With Portrait Tips From Photojournalist Christoper Anderson

Apple this afternoon shared a new video in its ongoing "Shot on iPhone" series, this time showcasing the work of photojournalist Christopher Anderson, who Apple says is known for "magnetic portraiture."

In the video, which is in portrait orientation and meant to be watched on an iPhone, Anderson provides some tips on what he pays attention to when creating a portrait of a person.


Anderson says he takes into account lighting conditions and interesting backgrounds when setting up to take photographs, as well as anticipating the movements of his subjects and the look of the foreground and background to get the perfect shot.

To add color and intrigue, he plays with props or an object that can create shadows of reflections to define subjects and obscure parts of the image that might be distracting. He uses things like keys, glasses, bottles and mirrors to experiment with different looks.

Post processing is also important, and be says that he uses a lot of Apple's built-in tools for adjusting contrast and lighting.

Apple has shared multiple videos in its Shot on iPhone series, including several longer-form videos created by various artists, including the recent Maldives video and a series of nature scenes called "Don't Mess With Mother."

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Top Rated Comments

91 months ago
REALLY? A vertical video to promote better photography techniques...

Just say no to vertical videos!
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
91 months ago
Who do you think this campaign is for? Serious question. Do you think the cost / benefit ratio is worth it in the end?
General public. It's marketing for the worlds most popular camera that people would use for Instagram and other social media platforms.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Elyzien Avatar
91 months ago
I never understand why Apple posts 480p videos!!?>!?! Where is the 1080 or 4k? WTF?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ErikGrim Avatar
91 months ago
Some really cool, playful, things to experiment with when taking portraits here. I especially liked the wire.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
91 months ago
Does Apple has any advantage for the camera?
Highly doubt!
There are a couple of advantages. The screen is simply excellent, which can help with composition. The iPhone is also very fast, both in autofocus and image capture. Connectivity is also excellent, meaning you can get an image into Lightroom, Photos or social media easily.

In terms of things like resolution, dynamic range, lens selection and not least ergonomics it is pretty horrible. In my opinion the tradeoff is not worth it, and the iPhone is still not good enough to be your only camera for travel or every day carry.

If the native camera app shot RAW or had some options for the JPEG processor it would help quite a bit.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
91 months ago
I liked the videos content, but why shoot video in portrait!
Especially when he is shooting in vertical the whole time (as he is shooting portraits) why not also shoot the video in vertical, rather than horizontal and have most of the frame empty of content??
Also, millions of people watching this video on their phones (obviously...)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)