Mobile Photography in Bulgaria
My upgrade to a 15 pro max and testing it out in Bulgaria
Firstly thank you so much for all the positive response to my last post. It is always hard starting a new platform and knowing whether it will of any interest.
As the title to my substack suggests I am a professional photographer, and last week I finally upgraded to the i-phone 15 pro max. I don’t like changing phones unnecessarily, but as it happened by mother needed a phone and as a professional photographer teaching mobile photography it seemed a logical step. My last phone was the i-phone 11 pro so it has been a few years. I also upgraded to a reconditioned phone which made me feel much better than buying a brand new one.
I hadn’t really tried out the camera until I used it last week during our private photography workshop in Bulgaria. The couple were both using their phones so it was a good opportunity to test it out.
Firstly I have found a huge difference in upgrading to the pro max. My eyes aren’t getting any better and that extra size for taking photographs and using in my case either Snapseed or Lightroom for post production on the phone has made all the difference.
The quality of the lenses now are quite incredible, possibly a little too sharp (as are a lot of lenses these days). I’ve played around with portraits, interiors, exterior shots, close ups, dusk and night time shots and for the moment I am genuinely impressed.
I mainly use my Sony 7III or 7IV camera and recently I have been using my mobile phone less, so wandering around Bulgaria with just the i-phone has been an interesting experience. I also like the new ‘cinematic feature’ on the video which I will play around with more ( not much to share at this stage).
Mobile photography has really become huge. Firstly it’s small, practical and quite discreet, especially if you are shy or in a new country or just not wanting to bring out a big camera. The phone has allowed us to take pictures in places where cameras seem intrusive but everyone has a phone (well almost everyone). I find it especially useful when out and about in markets.
Saying that, the phone stick and selfie era has become irritating with the phenomenon of beautiful spots around the globe dedicated to the ‘selfie social media spot’. My daughter was quite embarrassed when I walked in front of people (who I may add had already been there for 10 minutes or more trying to get the best picture and maybe an outfit change or more!)
Nonetheless like the ‘Kodak Brownie Camera: The Camera That Brought Photography To The Masses’ in the early 1900’s so has the phone camera allowed many of us to take up photography in a different way.
I dismissed mobile photography in the beginning but I have learned to embrace the camera on the phone accepting that you if you are good photographer you can take a good picture on anything. I also entered two mobile photography awards last year and got an honorable mention in two portrait categories in both competitions. I was very surprised and happy.
A few tips you might find helpful:
Think of your phone as a camera and don’t have the mobile phone flop. Keep it straight!
My first rule on everything - horizontals and verticals! What is the horizon? Always horizontal!
Don’t hold the phone out too far and use your elbows as tripods to help support you
Don’t forget you have legs so move around your subject or kneel
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should - be more meaningful when taking pictures even on your phone. You don’t want to fill it up unnecessarily
Do USE an app to enhance your photos. I go between Snapseed and Lightroom
As we say over at Two Photographers you can never make a bad picture good but you can always make a good picture better
Think shapes, fill the frame, colour, graphic
Always give yourself some extra space, to allow for cropping if needed
Joanna x
If you are interested in learning more about photography be it using your mobile or camera , a beginner, amateur or professional we are running 3 workshops in Provence, Bulgaria and Andalucia. We also run a weekly In Conversation session and more over at
Love everything about this post. Thank you so much for sharing. Glad I found your newsletter.
These are lovely pictures and, as you well know, I've long believed the phone is a great tool for the photographer. I rarely delve into the advanced features because the basic features have improved so much.