Woman Blasts Professional Photographer Who Showed up With iPhone, TikTok Disagrees

iPhone cameras are getting better with each iteration. Apple's constantly tinkering with its camera functionality, and with integration into its native software options like iMovie and Final Cut, you can actually accomplish a lot with the software.

The devices aren't slouches when it comes to still photography, either.

Gone are the days when the megapixel wars in smartphones decided, on paper at least, whether or not smartphone cameras are legitimate photography contenders. There's a reason why photographers are winning awards with pictures taken with their smartphones. And a lot of that has to do with the resources the Cupertinto-based tech company puts into its photo-taking software.

So, what about professional photographers who can control their environments to snap professional-grade photos? How would you feel about them whipping out an iPhone to take a shot of you, especially if you're paying them a good amount of money to do so?

That's what happened to TikToker Ally Sloway (@allysloway) who uploaded a video of her lamenting over the fact that the pro picture snapper rolled up to her photoshoot with an iPhone.

The video begins with her squatting on the ground with her hands on her face. She places her head between her legs in despair as the camera pans to her friend, who is leaning a wall as well. They look around, stunned, presumably at the fact this photographer, they paid money for, is taking pictures with an iPhone.

At this point in the video, a third woman can be seen walking toward the camera after the orientation has been flipped around. It seems that she questioned the professional photographer's choice of equipment, to which the woman responds that they "specified" they shot their pictures in a digital 16 format.

"He didn't say it was going to be an iPhone," she says, before the video then cuts to the TikToker recording the iPhone photographer through what appears to be trees. The man holds the device out in front of him as he snaps several photos.

Next, the clip then transitions to them standing outside of a Best Buy store. The video then transitions to them in the camera aisle — they spot a Canon digital camera, which they then purchase.

She wrote in a caption for the clip: "$800 (AND TWO FREE DRINKS) LATER. (Someone dare me to post our pics vs the photog’s pics)."

In a follow-up post she posted a montage that included the pictures from the photographer versus the ones that were snapped with the digital camera she purchased.

Ally added in a caption for the video: "Sometimes you need UGC and sometimes you need a Canon. As someone in the social media profession, there is a place for both."

There were numerous TikTok users who replied that a good photographer can indeed take great pictures using a smartphone camera, however. Like this one person who penned: "It's definitely him. because I took photos on my cell phone and they look so good almost as good as my photos with my DSLR I had. I think it's the operator error."

Another replied: "It’s his angles etc, photo's quality is fine though angles plus editing need work."

But Ally replied that due to the nature of her line of work, she can totally tell when someone snapped their pictures with a legitimate camera versus an iPhone.

"Hate to tell you this but when pitching media they can 100 percent tell the difference. As someone who works in media journalism," she said.

What do you think? Did you see the difference between the photos that she shared from the photographer versus the ones that she took with a Canon camera?