Sri Lanka by iPhone
I love using the perfect tool for the job.
In a perfect world, there’s enough budget for the camera department to have their choice of lenses and lighting, craft services to bring real meals, and a jungle of C-stands and lighting equipment. In the not as perfect world that we live in, we don’t always find ourselves with the tools we envision though.
After wrapping a shoot in the Philippines at the end of 2019, I flew myself to visit Sri Lanka. Why not when you’re already on the other side of the globe? I hadn’t heard anything about the country besides its location and pear shape before buying my ticket, and wasn’t sure what to expect. What I did know was that I wanted to document my adventure, but I also didn’t want to have a huge footprint of camera gear for logistical and safety reasons. In the end, I decided to use my iPhone to shoot raw photos through Lightroom’s app.
I didn’t have the latest and greatest iPhone at the time, and that only emboldened me since my screen was already cracked enough to cut your finger on a careless swipe. I convinced myself it wouldn’t hurt THAT BAD if it were lost or stolen. After the first day of shooting on it, I was glued to my screen doing edits. I had never thought my phone would be capable enough to capture photos like I had that day, and continued to throughout my trip. Each night I would get back to my hostel, and lie in bed excited for the next day, but also reliving the day through the frames I had captured.
Aside from the personal takeaways I had from my trip to Sri Lanka, I also came away understanding that the perfect tool for the job sometimes fits in your pocket.
