SHOT ON iPHONE GALLERY 2 - Nonlinear Content

Street photography can’t be planned or scripted. It can only be experienced.

FEBRUARY 11, 2025 Gallery 2: The first Street Photography image gallery. Images from Canyon Lake, Johnson City and Austin, Texas. Plus the three milestones that evolved into the discipline of street photography for me.

WRITTEN & SHOT ON iPHONE BY: STEVE HOLLOWAY

Stained Glass

CANYON LAKE, TEXAS. Shooting through sections of stained glass to create abstract color. Getting up close and shooting through materials can change how you see what’s around you.

STAINED GLASS NO. 1, CANYON LAKE, TEXAS.

STAINED GLASS NO. 2, CANYON LAKE, TEXAS

Coffee Shop

JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS. Shot on iPhone 14 Pro Max with BeastGrip, SmallRig top handle and Bluetooth remote shutter release.

COFFEE SHOP NO. 1, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

COFFEE SHOP NO. 2, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

Main Street

JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS. Shot on iPhone 14 Pro Max with BeastGrip and Bluetooth remote shutter release.

MAIN STREET NO. 1, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

MAIN STREET NO. 2, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

MAIN STREET NO. 3 TWO ROOMS, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

MAIN STREET NO. 4 PEPPERS, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

MAIN STREET NO. 5, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

Motorcycle Museum.

JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS. Shot on iPhone 14 Pro Max with BeastGrip and Bluetooth remote shutter release.

MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM NO. 1, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM NO. 2, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM NO. 3, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

Lights Spectacular.

JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS. Held every Christmas season, Lights Spectacular is so bright, NASA has reported seeing it from space. Shot on iPhone 14 Pro Max with BeastGrip and Bluetooth remote shutter release.

LIGHTS SPECTACULAR NO. 1, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

LIGHTS SPECTACULAR NO. 2, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

LIGHTS SPECTACULAR NO. 3, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

LIGHTS SPECTACULAR NO. 4, JOHNSON CITY, TEXAS

South Congress.

AUSTIN, TEXAS. Shot on iPhone 14 Pro Max with BeastGrip, SmallRig top handle and Bluetooth remote shutter release.

SOUTH CONGRESS NO. 1, AUSTIN, TEXAS

SOUTH CONGRESS NO. 2, AUSTIN, TEXAS

SOUTH CONGRESS NO. 3, AUSTIN, TEXAS

SOUTH CONGRESS NO. 4, AUSTIN, TEXAS

SOUTH CONGRESS NO. 5, AUSTIN, TEXAS

SOUTH CONGRESS NO. 6, AUSTIN, TEXAS

East 6th Street.

AUSTIN, TEXAS. Shot on iPhone 14 Pro Max with BeastGrip, SmallRig top handle and Bluetooth remote shutter release.

EAST 6TH STREET NO. 1, AUSTIN, TEXAS

EAST 6TH STREET NO. 2, AUSTIN, TEXAS

EAST 6TH STREET NO. 3, AUSTIN, TEXAS

East Side.

AUSTIN, TEXAS. Shot on iPhone 14 Pro Max with BeastGrip, SmallRig top handle and Bluetooth remote shutter release.

EAST SIDE NO. 1, AUSTIN, TEXAS

EAST SIDE NO. 2, AUSTIN, TEXAS

Lights Spectacular, Johnson City, Texas, Texas Vintage Motorcycle Museum,100 N Nugent Ave, Johnson City, Texas, Johnson City Coffee Company, 108 W Main St, Johnson City, Texas, Black Spur Emporium, 100 W Main St, Johnson City, Texas, ramen tatsu-ya, 1600 E. 6th Street, Austin, Texas, Home Slice Pizza, 1415 South Congress, Austin, Texas, Central Machine Works, 4824 E Cesar Chavez St, Austin, Texas

Three milestones define street photography for me.

WRITTEN & SHOT ON iPHONE BY: STEVE HOLLOWAY

IN THIS POST: The Power of One Idea. Why I shoot on iPhone, Only iPhone. Adopting and Adapting Street Photography. Plus Notes on the Street Photography Edit Workflow and the Influences that shape my work.

Early in my career, a commercial shooter I knew assisted Annie Leibovitz during her shoot in San Antonio.

In a break between setups he asked, “what do you look for?” Leibovitz replied “I start shooting and keep shooting until I know I’ve got the shot.”

“I keep shooting until I know I’ve got the shot” – Annie Leibovitz

That story changed how I thought/think about shooting.

And it made me wonder how many times I stopped shooting before the real shot happened. How many times I walked away just before I found a different point of view, the light shifted, an obstruction moved or a facial expression changed in a way that better told the story I was portraying.

More than any other skill, I’ve found shooting until I know I’ve gotten the shot is behind every successful shot.

Especially street shots.

Translation, don’t “edit” in the field. Take every shot you see, even the maybe shots. Surprisingly, some of those turn out to be the best shot(s) of the day.

It’s 20+ years since I heard that story. I’ve found that about a fourth of the time, the best shot is one of the first shots taken and more than half of the time, it’s one of the shots from the last setup (for the still life above, it was image 12 of 14).

And that it’s very, very rare that I don’t capture the image I had visualized.

Three Apples with Plate & Platter.During our trip through New England, we stayed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. These apples are native to the region and were picked nearby. This still life, image 12 of 14, was captured as part of the New England trip story.

Years later the second milestone, the introduction of the iPhone, (eventually) changed how I shoot again.

I was shooting digital single lens reflex cameras when I got my first iPhone, an iPhone 4.

I had resisted moving to an iPhone but, once I got the 4, I started pulling it out of my pocket for personal shots when my DSLR was in the car or at home.

It wasn’t until after I retired and upgraded to the iPhone 11 Pro Max that I gradually moved from only occasionally shooting on iPhone to ONLY shooting on iPhone.

Using the iPhone for street photography.

Over the last year, I began adopting, adapting and practicing the discipline of street photography. At first it felt forgein. Then it began to seem like I had always worked this way.

I also began using filmmaker David Mamet’s technique of methodically editing smaller elements, overall shots and details together to advance the storyline.

Combining these two disciplines completely changed how I shoot. Again. And changed my edit workflow making it a part of the storytelling process.

Like Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Leica M3, the iPhone goes unnoticed.

Everyone is accustomed to selfies being taken and smartphones being out all the time. So the iPhone blends in on the streets.

“Good photography is not about equipment - it’s about content. It has nothing to do with the camera,” - Annie Leibovitz

Working fast. Thanks to the iPhone onboard image capture algorithms and Deep Fusion processing, features you get straight out of your pocket, the iPhone lets you capture extraordinary images without having to even think about the technical side.

Of course, if you want to maintain control, just click on RAW/MAX for unprocessed raw capture.

During my earlier trips to the Texas beaches, Central Texas and New England, I experimented with less structured approaches to image capture.

Shooting until I know I’ve got the shot, shooting on iPhone and adapting street photography brings together three milestones I use every time I pickup a camera.

Creating a sense of motion using Live Photo

BEFORE & AFTER. To create a sense of motion in this image of guitarist Brance Arnold, post production started by combining a section of an iPhone Live image Long Exposure to the original then converting it to monochrome.

Deciding how much editing you’re going to do will, as much as any other decision you make, shape the stories you tell.

There are shooters that take a journalistic approach using images as-shot, straight out of the camera.

I treat images as photo illustrations. I’ve found that within every good image, there’s a great image trying to get out.

I use post production to create the image I visualized when I was shooting. I usually start with iPhone onboard editing. Then export to Lightroom and Photoshop for final edits including color and density corrections, color grading, recompositing elements, image size and cropping.

What about AI?

AI has evolved to the point of allowing you to “create” an image without ever picking up a camera or leaving the house. It’s becoming an integrated function of image making and it’s showing up everywhere.

Type what you want, where and how to place it in the frame and you have your image.

While I’ve never used that feature I do use AI to remove distracting elements. Elements that, in the past, I would have removed through a time consuming and tedious process of copying and recompiling segments to visually remove the element.

Where to next?
Nonlinear Content
idea files, galleries,
and how-to guides.

Create a personal content experience. Galleries and stories followed by the Toolbox how-to guides. Newest posts listed first. Enjoy!

Images with notes on how they were captured and how they were processed in post production. Includes resources you can use to develop your post production skill set.

On location.

Working with Light
The Scout
Shooting During the Golden Hour
Photographing People
Details, Shadows, Shapes and Textures
Plate Shots and Reflections
Feed Your Passions
People and Food Two of My Favorite Subjects
On The Road
Wall Art
Transitional Images
Night Photography

Post production.

General Practices
Assemblages & Abstractions
Change the Composition of an Image
Color Correction vs Color Grading
Color Correction & Color Grading Samples
Create Motion with Live Photo
Resize Images and Retain Detail
Software and Skill Building Resources
On Board Apps
Offboard Software
Post Production Apps
Online Resources