iPhone Photography: Capturing the Beauty of This Morning

It’s still early morning in the picturesque village of Burgh-Haamstede, nestled between the wetlands, dunes, forests, and beaches on one of the islands in the Dutch province of Zeeland. The blue sky beckons everyone outdoors, and since it is not too warm, it’s the perfect day for a walk.

I’m not the only one out; tourists from Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands flocked to Zeeland for the Pentecost weekend, drawn by the exceptional weather that caused traffic jams on the island’s narrow roads yesterday afternoon.

While I split my time between Burgh-Haamstede in the Netherlands and Ottawa in Canada, I’m fortunate to be here this lovely morning. Seizing the opportunity, I make a first walk after last night’s flight over the Atlantic Ocean. After a few minutes, I reach the end of my street, where two horses in a flowery meadow create a captivating sight. I take a photo, then adjust my position and take one more before continuing my walk.

Although I possess a capable DSLR camera, my iPhone is my constant companion for capturing life’s fleeting moments. Its convenience in size, weight, durability, and especially the remarkably increased capacity, coupled with the ability to enhance photos using various apps, make it my go-to device.

Let me share with you the short journey of this photo that led to its final form. To give an idea: taking the picture (both versions) took me maybe five seconds. And then improving it on my iPhone, using two different apps, took less than two minutes.

This initial photo portrayed the horses from a slightly elevated angle, with me standing upright. However, I desired to highlight the vibrant flowers in the frame. So, I bent down and took another shot, allowing the blossoms to command attention and moving the horses more vaguely visible to the background; their recognizable shape is enough for this photo, as you can see in this version:

While taking the photo, I noticed the unsightly horizontal lines caused by the wires surrounding the meadow. I didn’t bother since we all have excellent tools available on our smartphones to remove lines and objects from a photo. Some five years ago, it would take me at least 20 minutes on a computer to do this. Now, it takes seconds on a smartphone.

So to rectify these lines, I turned to the Retouch app, which I believe is free to download, or maybe I paid a tiny amount once. It effortlessly erased the distracting lines, leaving no trace of their existence.

There was also a small vertical pole, barely noticeable in the original picture, which needed removal. And with just one tap on the screen, it vanished, blending seamlessly into the background.

Satisfied with these adjustments, I moved on to another app called Photoleap, where I subtly enhanced the photo’s structure, vibrance, and shadows. I carefully avoided overdoing the edits, ensuring the image retained its natural beauty. For example, although I attempted to increase the highlights, it became too bright. Consequently, I left the highlights untouched. I also didn’t change anything on the color because I know from experience how easily greenery can transform into a hue that doesn’t seem natural.

Finally, after perfecting the picture, I changed the format (“canvas”) to postcard size. Zooming in and moving the photo slightly within the newly defined canvas, I meticulously inspected all four borders, ensuring no essential elements were cropped out or cut in the middle. Then, adjusting the framing slightly, I positioned the subjects perfectly within the frame.

As I said, the entire process took only a couple of minutes, from capturing the initial photograph to the final adjustments. I have photographed all my life, from the early days of developing photos in a dark room with red light. I have enjoyed how technology has made good-quality photography accessible to all. It only increases my admiration for the work of the world’s top nature photographers; they face nowadays much more competition, and thus the bar for being at the top has been raised significantly.

This is the before and after version combined:

Life can be beautiful in short moments like this; a short walk, enjoying the beauty of nature right outside my doorstep in this quaint little street, drinking a cappuccino back home while working on the photo apps, and then sharing this little story with you. I hope this was either enjoyable or useful, or perhaps both.

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