IPhone Photography

Why Your Phone's Portrait Lighting Is Lying to You (And What Real Studio Light Actually Does)
Video Tutorials

Why Your Phone's Portrait Lighting Is Lying to You (And What Real Studio Light Actually Does)

I’ve been shooting commercial portraits in my Los Angeles studio long enough to know that the word “revolutionary” gets thrown around the moment any company wants to charge you more for something. So when Apple rolled out the iPhone X’s Portrait Lighting mode and started using phrases like “studio lighting” to describe what their software was doing, I had questions. Fortunately, Karl Taylor had already asked them louder than I would have.

Your Camera Doesn't Make the Shot. Your Light Does.
Video Tutorials

Your Camera Doesn't Make the Shot. Your Light Does.

Clients ask me about my camera constantly. At commercial shoots, someone from the brand’s marketing team almost always wanders over and says something like, “Is that a Hasselblad? That must be why the shots look so good.” I’ve stopped arguing about it. But the truth is, the camera is the last thing determining whether your studio image succeeds or falls apart. The first thing is always the light. That’s why a recent Visual Education tutorial stopped me mid-scroll.