It has been a dream of mine for a long time, to shoot a complete Indian wedding only on the iPhone. The problem till now was not only the technological limitations of the previous iPhone models, which could be a separate discussion all together, as some of those still remain, but also, and mostly, finding the couple that will agree and allow me to shoot their wedding like this. This is the reason why I first wish to give a huge credit to Ayushi and Abhishek for the trust and support. Certainly not something I can take for granted!
The wedding was possibly the biggest I have ever photographed. The events took place in Udaipur over three incredible days at the end of November 2015 in Udaipur. I have covered many weddings in Udaipur before, but have never seen the place so beautifully decorated. It was such a pleasure taking pictures when everything, and everyone, looking so gorgeous.
Photography Will Never Be The Same Again
You might not realize it yet, but this is as big, or even bigger than the invention of the digital camera. In the pocket of your shirt or in the zipper of your bag lurks no less than the most inspiring and innovative imaging system in the history of photography. Under the innocent cover of your iPhone lies a powerful tool that is changing the way we work and think as photographers. For the first time we have a camera, a darkroom and and an online research directory in one small device. We can now shoot and process our images in the field, free from the burden of running home to our computers. We can instantly examine what works (and what doesn’t) to make our captures match our vision, as well as share them with our subject on the spot, or upload to the social media channels or your favourite online portfolio.
It is funny to read the above paragraph now, as it was actually written on my blog back in 2011, in a post carrying the same name. So little, yet so much has changed.
I love using the iPhone but, despite all it’s advantages, I don’t think it will take over and replace the ‘regular’ cameras. What the iPhone represents is a completely new breed of camera.
Shooting an Indian Wedding on the iPhone
Shooting a whole wedding on the iPhone, as much fun as it sounds, was actually quite a challenge. I was not trying to document everything but rather focus on images that would later translate to the artistic vision that I had for the post processing. Daytime pictures where fantastic, but the night still remained a bit tricky. The new iPhone 6s Plus camera is superb in terms of resolution and colour rendition, but low light photography was difficult, on the dance floor for example, as the ISO limit was not letting me shoot without having motion blur.I had a hand-held LED light to help me get proper exposure. This was not an issue when taking still images of decor at night. These pictures actually came out better than the ones shot on the DSLR. The built-in HDR in the new iPhone is nothing less than incredible.
Post Processing on the iPhone
I have a very simple workflow for post processing on the iPhone. It would usually start with #snapseed where I correct the contrast, colour and highlights. I sometimes also add a vintage filter before moving to #mextures to add the scratches and grit. The next stage, if required, would be face retouching on #facetune. When I export to #instagram I sometimes add another filter there as well.
We were a large team, without whom this whole exercise would have been very different.
Photo Agency: SILK PHOTOS
Lead Photographer: Sephi Bergerson (Silk)
2nd lead Photographer: Christophe Viseux (Silk)
3rd Photographer: Sunny Pariani (Silk)
Assistant Photographers: Raveesh Pandrekar, Glax Graces, Puneet Desai, Prateek Sharma
Cinematography: Reel-Vision / Mike Cottrill (Silk)
Event Organiser: Hem Kashyap
Entertainment & Artist Coordination: Sumedha Garg Jindal / S.G. Arts & Entertainment (DEL)
Decor: Diya Walia
Makeup Artist: Jyoti Kumar
Hair Styling: Ahmed and Nasir
SILK PHOTOS is a boutique photo agency, based in India representing a select group of talented wedding photographers, both stills and motion, specialising in Indian weddings and destination wedding photography in India, and around the globe. SILK members can work alone or in a team to cover larger events that require more than one photographer.
Behind The Indian Veil is the result of Sephi Bergerson’s seven year photographic journey through wedding in India. This lavishly produced hard-cover coffee table book brings the beauty of India’s wedding traditions, its people and its amazing stories into stunning focus.
Sephi Bergerson is an international destination wedding photographer represented worldwide by SILK PHOTOS. He is based in India with extensive experience of covering weddings all over the subcontinent. He is available for wedding photography in Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, as well as weddings in Mombasa and elsewhere in Africa.
28 Comments
Amazing amazing photos. Make me want to throw my camera in the pot and stop calling myself a photographer!
Samsung Galaxy S6 and Note 5 takes much much better photos. Not sure why iPhone has been mentioned so many times. It can be done with Samsung’s or HTC’s or LG’s flagships too.
It was shot on an iPhone, hence the reason the iPhone was mentioned. I’ve been using it for years and am very happy with the camera, especially the new one. The whole idea is that it’s not about the camera so I see no reason to get back into the Nikon vs Canon kind of debate. Thanks
Sephi, you really got the guts dude (y) .. kudos..!!
Lovely! I was a (small) part of this wedding too 🙂 Sephi-did you process the pics in PS or in editing softwares/apps from App store?. Thanks!
All the images were selected, edited and post processed on the iPhone
My iSheep senses are tingling!
The most important part of your photo through smart phone (iPhone) was your outstanding concept of framing. In a way i believe you were able to see through your frame (the exact frame as you want to be, also when printed). Your artistic approach of making each frame an extension of (digital) painting gave a very different dimension.
Thank you Suman. However, in terms of framing I think it is the same with any other camera. You put in the frame what you feel needs to be in it. The iPhone makes the interaction with the subject a bit different, and yes, the huge 5.5″ inch screen is fantastic 🙂
He looks like Steve Jobs.
Love these awesome photos, so full of texture and color. Just like one should never ask a chef “what kind of pan did you cook this in” or an Olympic runner “which shoes do you wea”r, the same goes for photography. A photographer has their tools that they prefer, but the most important tool is their creative eye.
Thank you 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous pictures !!
Imagine adding external flashlight to the iphone.
Wouldn’t that be awesome?
I have dreamed of that possibility for a long time. Some day we’ll have PocketWizards or their like built right into an iPhone … a security nightmare, but that’s another issue altogether!
Sir the photographs were awesome and I salute your work. Sir can you help me out by telling some of the best apps for iphone 6s used for editing photographs.
Dear Prakhar, I mentioned this in the body of the post. Please see again. Thanks
Beautiful photos!
You have mentioned a “a hand-held LED light”. Which one (make/model) was it?
Can you please tell me how it helped to get a proper exposure (as you mention)?
Thank you for the comment Nandan. I don’t remember the brand of the LED. They are available from many unbranded manufacturers. It’s a light source so in low light condition it is as helpful as any light source. The difference is that this is continuous light and not a flash. Hope this helps.
Thank you Sephi!
I have a Neewer 160 but that would be bulky with along with a phone, hence my question.
Beautiful photos!
Great idea!
The Person behind the Camera take / produce / create the picture and not the camera!
Gorgeous photos . I’m impressed to see these photography that’s are captured iPhone . How amazing professional photography .
Hey Sephi,
Never imagined someone would shoot an entire wedding with an iPhone. The pictures came out to be truly amazing. I am extremely impressed how you have managed to capture the beautiful moments and transformed them into lifetime memories.
Good job!
Nice
Hi Sephi, truly inspiring to see that ‘It can be done!’
I’m going to shoot a friend’s wedding in Delhi on an iPhone. While you have mentioned only the LED light for better exposure, did you use anything else, or would you recommend any other things (I’m not using the word equipment) that can help improve the shots. A tripod maybe?
I’ll be shooting a week from now (around 25th Feb 2017), so hopeful you will reply before that
Cheers
Akshay
Thanks for the comment Akshay. A tripod should be helpful for longer exposures, but I never did use one. An LED light is a must on the dance floor. Don’t try to get the images you’d get with the dslr. An iPhone is a different camera and has its own style. Good luck
Thank you, this helps 🙂 Oddly I’ve never used a DSLR. Have always preferred my phone for taking pics. They just seem more natural.
Thanks for the wishes, I will try and share my work, if all goes well (fingers crossed)