The greatest iPhone photographer I know

Russell Prescott Brown does amazing things with the mobile camera

Russell Prescott Brown has the dream job.

His title: Senior Principal Designer for Adobe, the software giant which makes the Photoshop and Lightroom photo programs most photographers couldn’t live without.

But if you follow him on social media, you get the idea that his gig is simply to run around the world taking state of the art photos on an iPhone, and occasionally a Samsung Galaxy as well, just to show what’s possible.

Self portrait of Russell Preston Brown, shot on an iPhone

His mission, as he describes it on his Instagram handle: “I educate & inspire about the photographic wonders of all things mobile.”

Consider me very inspired and often in awe.

I invited Russell to join me on this week’s edition of the iPhone Photo Show podcast to explain his approach to iPhone photography, which aligns with what I’ve always said: treat the mobile camera like a professional one and you’ll in turn get professional results.

On social media he usually talks about enhancing his photos in Lightroom, which happens to be my favorite (free) mobile app, or processing them in Photoshop on the iPad, but each one of these photos shown here starts with basic photo 101. Timing, lighting, composition and a lot of thought going into each shot.

What can we learn from his work? Yes to all of the above, but playing with the sliders in Lightroom can often also make a big difference between a snapshot and a great shot. For the shot of the Pigeon Head Lighthouse, near Half Moon Bay, California, below, Russell shot it at the right time, when the sky was clear and dark, and he used the iPhone “Night Mode” feature to get a long exposure. He then applied key sliders to wipe away some of the haze, notably Dehaze (my favorite slider, use it every day) as well as Clarity, Shadows and Noise Reduction.

The shot of the Golden Gate Bridge has as much to do with timing, and checking the tide tables, as it does software trickery. Another key ingredient: boots to get into the water, as he explains on the podcast.

Russell often uses professional lighting gear to go the extra mile, as in the portrait below of a Las Vegas performer. He reaches for the ProFoto A2, an expensive ($1,000 +) accessory which is out of my budget—but you can’t argue with the results. Shot on an iPhone? Amazing!

(He usually pops the light into a $400 softbox as well. Ca-ching!)

Check out his work on Instagram, where he goes as dr_brown and see if you won’t be moved to take your photography to the next level. With the exception of the ProPhoto lighting accessories, as I often say on PhotowalksTV, you don’t need any fancy gear to play along because it all starts with timing. And in Russell Preston Brown’s case, amazing curiosity and planning.

Thank you Russell for the inspiration and showcasing your amazing work!

dr_brown

A post shared by Russell Preston Brown (@dr_brown)

A word from our sponsor

Thank you SmugMug for supporting PhotowalksTV on YouTube, the newsletter and the iPhone Photo Show podcast. I use SmugMug to archive my photos and video as a virtual hard drive, run my website and show off my portfolio in a way that I’d like my photos presented. Good news: SmugMug has a holiday special. If you’re already a subscriber, you can gift a year subscription to someone for 20% off the regular price, which starts at $110 yearly. (Want a free subscription? Enter the December photo contest at the iPhonePhotoTeam.com website. The winner gets a free year of SmugMug.)

Christmas Songs!

Twas the night before Christmas, and as always, I will reach for the guitar and play some of my all-time favorites: Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Jingle Bells, Winter Wonderland and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. This year, on a newly restrung Fender Telecaster, courtesy of my friends at Dietz Bros., the music shop in Manhattan Beach, California.

Christmas tunes are something many people love, and others hate, because you can’t escape them this time of year. But you’ve got to give these songs their due—they are classics that have stood the test of time. Think about it—how often do you hum tunes from 90 years back?

Three of the songs in my medley were written in the 1930s, while the other goes back to the 1850s. Which means we are all singing or listening to a ditty that was composed just after the Civil War. Imagine that!

Did you know the Rudolph story was published by the old Montgomery Wards department store in 1939? The song, written by Johnny Marks, came out ten years later, and became a no. 1 hit by Gene Autry. At one time, Rudolph was the second biggest selling record of all time, after White Christmas. (Marks also wrote two other popular holiday tunes: "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "A Holly Jolly Christmas.”)

Jingle Bells is the one that goes back to 1857. It was first recorded in 1889 on an Edison cylinder, which pre-dates records. It became a standard in the 1940s when Bing Crosby had the first hit with it in 1943. The composer is James Lord Pierpont, who did indeed fight for the Confederates during the Cilvil War. He wrote many other songs, but none that are still being played today like “Bells.” CNN has a fascinating piece on the song here: https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/19/us/jingle-bells-history-trnd

Winter Wonderland was penned in 1934 by Felix Bernard and Richard Smith. It's been recorded by everyone from Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett to Wynton Marsalis. It’s probably the jazziest of the tunes cited here, which is why it’s my all-time favorite holiday song.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town, written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie ,dates back to 1934--Eddie Cantor was the first to top the charts with his version. The song has become a staple. Everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Mariah Carey has recorded it.

Speaking of Carey, she tops Billboard's chart as the solo artist with the most no. 1 songs ever (19) and has sold over 200 million records. Her biggest hit? All I Want for Christmas is You, from 1994, the last great Christmas hit.

I do that song too--still working on an arrangement and hope to post soon. If not, Auld Lang Syne is always right around the corner!

Happy holidays everyone!

Jeff