Do These Cellphone Photos Look Professional? CTC Ep 67

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Can a cell phone take professional photographs? Check out these 20 images from our latest Critique the Community and see how we rate images taken on a smart phone. If you want to enter your own images for the critique, click on the link above to submit your best panoramic image.
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[@AndreaPatruno]

I've shot the skier in b&w. As I sad in the comment of the photo, I was skiing with my friends and I came up to that amazing spot and some random skier passed by, backlit by the sun shining through the floating snow. It was an amazing moment and I wanted to capture the wonderful lighting. I only had why iPhone with me so I took the shot. I edited in Darkroom, directly on my iPhone. I imagined from the start a b&w with a red filter on the lens, that's why on Darkroom I slightly pushed down the blues, trying to give the dramatic mood I saw in the shot. Yes, maybe the skier isn't in the most interesting pose, but it was all natural and in a blink of an eye. I love the shot because not only it has a crazy cool mood, but it's also a real moment, not some posed shot.

[@boudewijnj.m.kegels5198]

The real shots are never 'perfect' like the posed ones, but that makes them Perfect

[@michaelt8682]

youre absolutely right

[@user-mb7jj1op1d]

That picture was amazing i love it so much

[@AndreaPatruno]

@@user-mb7jj1op1d Thank you very much! I really appreciate it

[@asifvirk953]

Brother that photo was fucking awesome these guys can't c beyond the photo. Your image I'll give it 5 🌟. Don't listen what these asshole say well done keep it up bro.

[@christophev3388]

Thanks a lot for the critique :) (I'm the author of the one with the "serial killer" lol at 20:00) For those interested it was taken in France in Bordeaux. And yes the guy is creepy, facing the familly, that is the purpose of the pic to me. Thanks for the advice on the crop by the way, will definitely look into it (but I will keep the creepy guy ^^)

[@jeremymolinari6597]

Fantastic shot! Creepy guy is definitely necessary, hahahaha.

[@jarleearllv-kjeldas9953]

Hi guys and thank you for the critique on my umbrella shot at 37.28, very much appreciated. There is no lighting here but the sun, but enabled the HDR in iPhone. Shot 10 of july at 11.23am, so the sun was almost at it's highest. Laying on my back shooting straight up. Was a bit of a struggle to find the right composition of the combination of umbrellas. Shot with a iPhone XR in a park in Drammen, Norway.

[@DarrinHowells]

Glad you commented, because I agree with them, the lighting was strange. I wonder if it's due to your latitude. I'm in southern California and I just wouldn't see this kind of light. Plus, I wonder if the latitude has an effect on the sky color. I was in Minnesota over Christmas (northern USA), and their sunsets DEFINITELY had a different tonality than what I see in southern California. Much more pinkish light at sunset. Great shot, btw.

[@jarleearllv-kjeldas9953]

Darrin Villa-Howells Thank you very much for the comment. The light here midsummer is very harsh and bright and I think the sunlight bounces of the ground. The umbrellas was about 11-15 feet over the ground. I have another pic that show how the umbrellas are set up: fstoppers.com/photo/409595

[@BeardyDarryl]

Dude in red is wearing his polo inside out...

[@mrdev9843]

Dude's Name is Patrick, and he has a couple of Health issues.

[@witsch94]

@@mrdev9843 Still inside out..

[@BeardyDarryl]

@@mrdev9843 If Patrick can critique people's photographs without knowing them, I can critique his clothes without knowing him. I give him 2 stars.

[@BomJimmy]

@@BeardyDarryl These photographers submits their photos here to be criticized and rated by whole community, where as Patrick is NOT here to get criticized, that too for such trivial issue. Live and let live others.

[@harrypoderskis2608]

@@BomJimmy He still has a shirt that is indeed inside out.

[@David_Glazebrook]

Let the image do the taking! It doesn't matter what device the image was taken with. What matters is how the image makes me/you feel. HCB, Capa, Adams had cameras nothing like a etc and yet we hold their image making skills up on high. So why does it matter if it were a cellphone or a 150mp Phase? Again, let the image do the taking!

[@ilovethismightyfineplace]

Thanks for the advice on my image at 17:30 guys. You’re right. I tried to minimize the cropping because I’d lose too much resolution being only a 12mp image to start with. After seeing your crops, I see that a stronger image is more important than keeping the pixels. By the way, I actually burned the boardwalk. It was super bright to start with in the B&W conversion. I preordered the new iPhone 11 Pro Max midnight green. 👍🏻

[@ilovethismightyfineplace]

MillillioN Thanks! I appreciate that, If anyone is interested in checking out my Instagram, it’s @scott_dance with an underscore between my name.

[@mattcrossley6944]

Enters and wins his own contest...…….ya

[@chrisprivate2202]

The best camera is the one you have with you. Great pictures.

[@airraid23]

Love the Jim Halpert glance at the camera at 28:20.

[@Knucklerzz]

picture: exists Fstoppers: crop it

[@abe_world]

27:45 "no.. It would be nothing" lmaooo

[@chris_gun]

A silhouette critique would be cool

[@mirahgirl01]

I like the lone guy. It adds a element of two total strangers and how different their day is at the same location! A lonely man next to a man who has it all! Idk the contrast i kind of enjoy! Great shot nonetheless

[@heycarrieann]

I'm one of the weird mushroom photographers! My favorite subject!!!

[@sonyabadass]

i want to know, what's your 5 star picture?

[@khuigandui]

"What's Android????" Hahahahaha. Pixel and P30 pro... still the kings of smartphone photography.

[@sergekills]

Have you heard iPhone 11 Pro is out?

[@khuigandui]

Huawei Mate 30 pro is also launched today...

[@ankurranjankakoty8382]

Ya bruh...You are right!! these guys doesn't know about those incredible android devices..!😂

[@khuigandui]

I'm using both Android and Iphone. I love and enjoy their uniqueness.. There are people who just can't admit the truth.. better to send them to Mars to have their seperate lives... 🤣

[@ankurranjankakoty8382]

@@khuigandui 😂😂😂🔥🔥 Damn..!

[@thearchive64]

@26:47 it's Peter McKinnon's video, you're welcome.

[@lalanunu]

I totally get their point of view being professional photographers but I would love to see some of these images rated and then explain the rating by amateur photographers and or just normal people. Feel like a LOT of these would be getting WAY higher star counts.

[@DaCarnival]

The second image (horse-wrangling silhouette) would be superb as a movie poster, lot's of pretty space for text.

[@rogdanago5894]

to answer your question at 33:42, I just recently bought my first camera and I honestly don't know how to use flash or lighting. However, I don't see the point of buying that light when I could get two Falcon F7 for the price of one AND I get RGB features.

[@charlesbooker5140]

Your next photography challenge should be Lee vs Patrick and you are only allowed to use your phones to shoot and edit the photo. 🤓

[@simianinc]

Re: the cave shot. As Sean Tucker says, don’t be afraid to crush the blacks. I think it’s. 4 stars. The best of the submissions to this point IMHO

[@poolboyinla]

That's racist.

[@Lysander-Spooner]

Profoto C1 Plus is $499! Holy crop! That is a lot cash for a tiny LED. The Godox A1 Wireless Flash for IOS Smartphones is only $60...

[@sbrenden]

24:40 That is impressive, Patrick!

[@hesselfolkertsma116]

Look up Godox A1, it was possible to sync your phone with all the Godox X system flashunits.

[@davideastham]

I see that 2nd image as a movie poster all day long....

[@michaelt8682]

you are not artists, you are technicians.

[@csebastian71]

Love hearing the feedback of those photos. Time to get some panos!!

[@MunirRahool]

Years ago, when iPhone became iPhone, it was still the first generation. I took a photo on my PDA from Sony Ericsson at that time (can safely call them smartphone as well but the term wasn't all in), and that ended up on a cover of magazine. It was random, I am no photographer, I take tons of street photographs yes and at that particular day I was under heavy fever and went out just to be out. Compare to that time, we have far far better equipment available.

[@TuhinShukla]

@38:22 best mobile photography is by Google Pixel hands down, you are loaded with biases

[@xdgamestudios2660]

@Fstoppers what is the iPhone version used for the first photo?

[@mikhaillastname8719]

Where does this shooting with the sun cream come from? 32:30

[@teona4279]

Fstoppers: Send us your best cellphone pics Also Fstoppers: Your pics suck.

[@googleit1131]

I'm confused when they started talking about LEDs burning out. I've worked with people who design LEDs in architecture (I'm an architectural designer). Unless you're using ungodly cheap diodes, or have a mechanical or software failure, LED shouldn't burn out. At worst, they should lose a little bit of light (most LED light fixtures are rated at over 26 years of use, but in reality they could last literally hundreds of years). The life span of most LED light is measured by how long it take to get to 70% of it's initial lumen output (basically how long before it loses 30% of it's maximum light output). Baring all random mechanical failures, any half-decent LED with a half-decent heat sink shouldn't "burn itself out" after 30 seconds. If a light could burn itself out in 30 seconds, than it is ether poorly designed or uses incredibly cheap parts, at least from my experience. Just wanted to share my thoughts on what they said.

[@himalaYAK1983]

4.00 for that photo at 4:30? Guys, what is wrong with you? This is a mere snapshot.

[@Houdini_2013]

You're talking about Android like it's 2012. My Samsung note 8 has never crashed. I'm sure other brands are equally as smooth and take phenomenal photos for smart phones. How about branching out and trying something other than Apple and then let us know what you think. Are these all iPhone photos? Would be cool to know what phone each photo was taken from.

[@ilovethismightyfineplace]

Houdini2013 My shot at 17:30 was taken on iPhone 7+.

[@xcaliber6002]

just spent $3000 on a new Canon DSLR yet I have my Samsung S10 with me ALL the time so I take more pictures with it. go figure.

[@thewongtim]

a phone is great for landscapes but very lacking in portraits

[@mterveen1]

I just ran into this. My main job is 8 hours away from home and I didn't bring either my 5div nor my 1dc and all I had was my s10+ with me, but i got 3 pretty decent images while I was working...

[@xcaliber6002]

@@thewongtim for me the phone is fine for social media but rarely would i ever use that photo anywhere else.

[@mterveen1]

I created a Facebook group for s10/s10+ photography... post some images there.

[@xcaliber6002]

@@mterveen1 Can I post pics from my S10 5G? lol, I am not sure if anyone else has this phone, doesn't seem to exist

[@Jdikmen]

Mama Monkey... "What have I done with my life?" Same look on my face as I watch photo critiques on KZbin!

[@FStoppers]

Ha, that made me laugh! -P

[@rafaelaoki9220]

22:15 the left guy is like the heisenberg looking and thinking.... "what a nice family"

[@brandonohmie4370]

Dang it. I was really hoping to see my shot this week! Nonetheless, great video. I look forward to the next.

[@brian.walker]

Same here

[@cr8momentsldn51]

I think the images should have been rated as strictly mobile phone images. What you expect from a mobile phone vs. What was submitted.

[@Valleedbrume]

Photographs are content,not equipment.

[@stan3132]

This is not a cellphone critic.! This is iphone critic.

[@diegolomac]

Where the hell is that building with the colored doors that shows up at the 48:00 mark located? I've seen it over and over again in SO many photos

[@ObedSamudio]

Diego Lomac is a hotel in Japan

[@tune_smith]

This is The Soho Obaida in Tokyo.

[@RN-gh6lc]

When did you come to Cambodia?

[@davidmichael8880]

I feel like the insta type photo of minute 45 is just boring. It feels like a holiday snapshot. But no question the quality is really good for a smartphone

[@greggoodenough5607]

You can fire a godox strobe from your phone. Look at the godox A1

[@FStoppers]

Greg Goodenough but your phone can’t capture a flash pop...the sensor isn’t global. That’s why these companies are making constant lights. -P

[@sandipmakhal1317]

Your thoughts on mi mix alpha!

[@lylestavast7652]

21:40 - make it 2 shots - crop to the left of the center building and remove the guy in one, and crop to the right of the building and have him totally alone...

[@RestyleCafee]

27:10 I can recognize that the shoot is taken from "Cappelle Medicee" in Florence

[@SirDrAdamB]

Lets critique cell phone shots and rate them based on how they compare to professional cameras. What's the point of this? And you rated your own shots a 3-4. Anyone in that location could have taken that shot.

[@mrdev9843]

loose the "leading line" fence at 4:00 minutes

[@mrpedroleal90]

In the fog photo, why not crop the guy on the left to be by himself...and take the family out...it make it more mysterious.

[@SmartdogYT]

What the heck happened with the Episode 66??? You were to critique $2000+ licensed photos. Did I miss something?

[@khuigandui]

One of most interesting critic in 2019

[@discopotato675]

Pretty bummed. I kept getting an error when I was attempting to get a confirmation email when I registered. Oh well.

[@tessm3420]

I have the S10 and I can say this the S5 took better pictures..just sayin it was also a 16 mp camera but it took some fantastic photos.

[@natfingerboard]

I don't know if that is truly the case, but I do remember my friend buying the s5 when it came out and taking some pictures and I thought at the time that they looked amazing, same with the s6.

[@bigbrownmab189]

Speaking of photographing the world, are we going to see a #5 ever?

[@davidy87]

26:15 that look of disgust :'D

[@johnakos23]

don't get an s10, wait for the pixel 4 because that's going to be a far more interesting comparison plus it's going to have the level of refinement an apple device has.

[@lamarshealey3332]

I want to see a compilation of all 5 star images in your opponents

[@samisharif87]

haha they assume every picture is taken with an Iphone. Fun critique!!

[@ilovethismightyfineplace]

Mine were on the iPhone 7+. 😂 One of them made the video at 17:30.

[@samisharif87]

@@ilovethismightyfineplace Awesome Picture!

[@ilovethismightyfineplace]

Sami Sharif Thanks! 👍🏻

[@senbilverglate9638]

8:17 yeah the skier looks like a Jerry lmao

[@senbilverglate9638]

10:17 eh jerry... 😂😂

[@SunMaximus]

The larger the picture less the quality, looking on the iPad is not a good way to judge fine art! Can you do a show on a 75" monitor? Now $900 at Walmart.

[@smort123]

"This shot is almost perfect. Ill give it a solid 3.0" Photo Critiques, always.

[@victorcarmelo8606]

Lume Cube, also phone triggered and much cheaper and smaller to carry.

[@hisai1999]

Check out AUDIPHOTOGRAPHY in Insta ..he is pretty famous in India and takes lots of phone shots

[@Starkardur]

The problem I see, is that yes cell phone photos aren't as of same quality as professional photographs can be however a lot of professional photography looks awful and often in worse quality than Cell phone photos.

[@kenwalker2651]

I like your You Tube channel but have to comment on your attitude toward the I phone.....it is NOT the best of the cell phone cameras.....you need to spend some time with the Google Pixel series of cameras......I have parked all my pro cameras since retiring and finding the Pixel2 and am intending to soon upgrade to the latest .........it is, of course, a biased opinion, but I find that my results are far better than any i phone images I have come across.......you need to let REAL cell phones (androids) into your competition.....

[@llFlashBackll]

It's like rating a person by the quality of their seliva...

[@MichaelMa]

Most of them are lacking that professional touch because the images lack dimension when they could have used some. Or things that should not catch your eye steal your attention. Except maybe one, they have some kind of compromise.

[@thearchive64]

the guy on the left @22:10 is Heisenberg

[@DineshBabariya]

Amazingly.

[@StateOfMood]

sad i've missed this to submit ;/

[@Vanquisher-uv8ut]

Let others critique your photos

[@djhappyemo]

@24:52 yes that is a clone stamp

[@bigbrownmab189]

Looking at photos while voting, you could tell that some of them damn sure were not cell phone shots

[@ryanwilson5936]

If your LED’s are burning out you need to seriously consider buying from a better manufacturer.

[@anttuz]

Come on man, it's Peters video 😂

[@tg1600]

How come Lee's image is highest rated? It's only 3.05. Even my image is higher than his.

[@FStoppers]

I think it must have been the winning image when we pulled the images to film. -P

[@cueball93]

Hope you pick my pano when I upload (Aaron Tindall) cough cough

[@BillRoberts5]

This episode paid for by iPhone.

[@AdamAllen]

"Another phone?"

[@tjleclair2171]

These crops need to stop.

[@cjbclone]

Tj LeClair everything needs a crop now

[@Hellwalker855]

What you came here for. 32:28

[@nageshwagh2476]

Seems like you are heading towards profoto c1 branding and promotion.

[@garygrimes9846]

Professional means that somebody made money. Has nothing to do with the quality of the photo. There is no way to tell if somebody made money by looking at a photo.

[@rogerrtewwr4723]

5:56 that crop is crap, nope, if anything take 10-15% off the bottom

[@DamianLewd]

Second shot would be nice in a square crop

[@allansh828]

let's be real. "Professional" is more like "following trite convention".

[@magnuseriksson8081]

the umbrellas was the most boring one, sorry

[@user-tv5dt3nm9y]

Yeah. I think an iPhone bikini shoot makes you a creep.

[@batsonelectronics]

your rating method sucks. Forget what they taken on, rate them on how they look, period. We don't rate shots in life based on what they were taken on, you doing this is a cop out and doesn't teach anyone anything. I have seen some amazing iPhone images that I would rate much higher than a pro DSLR just due to what it captured and the emotion it conveyed. The tool DOES NOT determine the image quality unless you are shooting for super large, close up viewing , prints. EMOTION doesn't care about resolution or what it is shot on. I am disappointed in you.

[@ReZShot]

So if the phone doesn't have as much dynamic range why you judging so harsh on highlights and shadows knowing a phone doesn't give you much?? keep saying I give this a 3 because of the loss of detail.. well no shit! your judging a phone photo don't hold it to dslr or mirrorless capabilities.

[@Van-yo2xr]

No one is calling a flip phone world class or putting it in their portfolio because the image just doesn’t stand up. iPhone photos are good enough for web portfolios but are rarely excellent or world class. If the highlights suck the image can’t be amazing.

[@chiranjiviacharya13]

min 19. the man in the bridge doesn't have any shadow. it seems like someone put that man after in the photo

[@ilovethismightyfineplace]

chiranjivi acharya I didn’t notice the lack of shadows. It was an overcast day with no direct sunlight. I definitely didn’t add him to the photo, though.

[@chiranjiviacharya13]

Scott Dance oh okay.

[@ams914]

Anyone feel a little bit like an asshole for spending thousands on camera gear after seeing some of these? LOL

[@ankurranjankakoty8382]

My *Umbrella* one didn't showed up!😢 Yaa I'm pretty upset but.. maybe next time...🙁 . . . . . . . Please hit that like button if have seen my Vapourwave type shot of Umbrella. (Purple and Blue tones)

[@baljeet317]

well that because your portfolio sucks #savage XD XD

[@randymonster4105]

That guy in the red focuses more on sharpness, detail and imperfections rather than feeling and emotion. Probably hates paintings because of the substandard canvass or cheap paints.

[@ronaldblackwell7326]

Hell No