While Wednesday’s announcement of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus was deeply catered to photographers, you don’t need to upgrade your device to get all the new features Apple is offering.
iOS 10, which will be released Sept. 13, introduces a new reign of organizational capabilities for your photos and videos, along with some long-desired features.
RAW!
That’s right — iOS 10 introduces RAW image capture, which means your workflow can be streamlined more than ever before. Third party apps can take advantage of shooting in RAW once implemented, meaning you can both edit and take RAW photographs with a tool like Adobe Lightroom Mobile.
It also means you can bring over RAW photos from your phone to your desktop tools, and have better control over the editing process.
RAW image capture will be supported on the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and all iPad Pro devices.
Location, Location, Location
Apple’s stock Photos app has always allowed you to view your photos by location. But now, you can view these photos on a map through the “Places” album, allowing you to easily locate where a particular photo or group of photos was taken.
For me, I go to a great deal of Michigan State games (Go Green!), and I use my iPhone to take pictures. While I put them into albums organized by game, I might want to see all of the photos I’ve taken on East Lansing’s campus. And now I can easily do that.
Never Forget Your Best Friend’s Face
Apple’s desktop Photos app has long allowed you to add facial recognition to your photos. For instance, you might want to find all the photos of your sister, to embarrass her for her upcoming birthday. Now you can do that easier than ever before — just go into the “Peoples” album in the iOS Photos app, and you’ll see all of the faces that have been found in your photos.
“People” are automatically scanned when your iPhone or iPad is locked and connected to power, so there’s no extra work from your end. It also will sync with Photos on your Mac, so what you see on your iPhone, you’ll also see on your Mac.
“Reading Your Mind” Search and Memories
One of the coolest organizational features in iOS 10’s Photos app is Search. Now you’re allowed to search both your photo’s EXIF data and what the Photos app captures on its own. Your device automatically scans your photos — similar to how it does facial recognition — and categorizes your photos. So if I have a photograph of a building, I don’t have to manually enter a keyword in the EXIF data. Instead, Photos will look at the photo and know it’s a picture of a building.
This is super handy for those of us who use our devices to show potential clients photos. You might get asked if you have any building photos from your local city. You can search for building, and they’ll instantly appear. It’s like assigning keywords in Lightroom on your computer, but instead it does it for you.
iOS 10 also uses this information to populate the “Memories” tab, which are slideshows of your photos it generates automatically. It can do this based on location, faces and with any of the other data it scans.
Photo Editing and Markup Enhancements
Additionally, iOS 10 now brings its editing tools to Live Photos, meaning you can optimize your Live Photos before sharing them. You can also markup your photos, writing text and scribbling on them before posting them to social media.
Minor Camera App Updates
The Camera app didn’t see as many updates as the Photos app, but there are still some noteworthy features.
You can now add filters to your Live Photos, which have been enhanced to take advantage of better image stabilization. Gone are the jagged edges that often plagued Live Photos.
You can also now listen to music without it stopping while using your camera.
Finally, if you swipe left on your lock screen, the Camera app will now immediately appear. This is a small change from previous versions in iOS — you used to be able to swipe up from the bottom right corner.
Conclusion
Regardless of what device you have, iOS 10 is an exciting update for photographers of any medium. The advantages around shooting in RAW, coupled with the new organizational tools, make this a valuable update.
As much as, at first, I thought to myself, “Yippee! RAW!,” I have to say that this is going to be a huge blow to the event photographer, possibly he landscape photographer, actually just about ay category or subject. Where it was advantageous at one time long ago for the photographer with the DSLR to get those all important shots in RAW instead of jpeg, on September 13, ANYONE with ANY iPhone that can take the iOS upgrade will have the same advantage as the professional. That means weddings, parties, landscapes, cityscapes. I don’t know, Call me a paranoid conspiracy… Read more »
I only think it narrows the distance slightly. Being a professional photographer isn’t all about shooting in RAW, or even having the right gear for the job. It’s about having an eye, knowing how to go about covering an event or shooting a landscape. It’s about lighting, and focus, and everything else we, as photographers, have learned over the years. Sure, there will be some people who think an iPhone offering RAW image capture means that it’s professional quality. But it’s our job as professionals to educate our clients, and show them the advantages of a professional photographer. You can… Read more »
Bryan, you’re right. It’ll be “crazy fantastic”, especially if you “forgot” or intentionally left the “heavy” gear home, to e able to “whip out” the phone and snap that shot. Though, I have ought with how easily I can adjust exposure and maintain focus simultaneously (i.e.: when I tap the screen for focus on subject, then tap to increase or decrease exposure in that area, I lose the focus on object, and a lot of time is wasted trying to swipe that slider which isn’t so easy to “grab”.) On top of that, unless I am missing something, as I… Read more »