PHOTOGRAPHY. EXPERIMENT

The Surprising Photographic Skills of a Simple Phone

Experimenting with the iPhone 10 camera and some cocktails

Long gone are the days when we used our cell phones to call people. And no, I am not talking about a Skype or Zoom call. I am talking about those conversations via phone where you can’t see the other person. Only hear them.

Yes, we’ve gone far from then. We haven’t just developed countless messaging applications but we also installed cameras and lenses into these phones. Today they are more than just a phone. They are mini-computers.

While I might still be old-school by not having the latest iPhone or Samsung phone, I can actually not do more than to call and send WhatsApp texts from my phone. Right now I don’t remember the brand name either and forgot where it is lying.

I don’t put my phone on my list of valuables. I work most of the time from my tablet. It’s my computer. Together with my Canon DSLR, they are both the two electronic items most valuable to me. My phone is being neglected most of the time.

My husband in comparison is an iPhone lover but doesn’t chase the latest upgrades. Until two months ago he owned an iPhone 6 I had bought him years ago. We had replaced both, the screen and battery, several times. But the phone was still working fine.

Eventually, it got time for an upgrade and after lots of research, he decided on a refurbished phone from the German company Swappie. They only work on iPhones and you can choose the state your new phone should be in and get a 3-year warranty.

In times when resources shrink rapidly and we’re living in a throwaway society because it is cheaper to buy something new than to repair the old, I think this company is doing an amazing job.

My husband’s iPhone 10 doesn’t just look like a new one, it functions as a new phone too. And while we have it, we might as well explore its photographic skills.

It all started with these two cocktails and a sundowner on the beach. Yes, we’re on a tropical island in Thailand and are enjoying life.

Meanwhile, my husband scrolls through all the photography settings of his phone and accidentally shoots this picture below with the feature of “stage light”.

Quite amazing, right?

I mean sure, they did serve us amazingly decorated cocktails in the first place. I love it when restaurants do show love for details. It makes all the difference.

On the left, you see a Tequila Sunrise. On the right a Piña Colada. Served in a coconut.

And while the sun is setting above the ocean, we click some more pictures.

I always say I should shoot some more in monochrome. But here in Thailand, everything is so colorful, so it just doesn’t feel right to take the color away. But these cocktails still look great. Even without color. The contrast does it.

This is what the two beauties actually look like. Without enhancing colors and adding light features.

And because I can’t just have one cocktail, I ordered a “Mai Tai” served in a pineapple.

By the way, the flowers used to decorate the cocktails aren’t plastic flowers. They just picked them off some tree in the backyard.

This was it for now. I’m sure we’ll do some more experimenting with the iPhone 10 camera in the future. Let me know what you think of the first results in the comments below.

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