6 of the world’s best ever iPhone night shots, chosen by Apple

Apple has announced the rather beautiful images shot by the winners of its recent iPhone Night mode photography challenge, and the images are well worth a look.

What goes ‘wow’ in the night

The company invited iPhone 11 series owners to take photographs at night in order to participate in the challenge.

A panel of ten judges selected six winning photos from thousands of submissions it received from people from across the world. Winners came from China, India, Russia and Spain.

The winning images will be featured in a gallery on apple.com and Apple Instagram (@apple) and will appear globally on billboards.

The judges included Malin Fezehai (US), Tyler Mitchell (US), Sarah Lee (UK), Alexvi Li (China), Darren Soh (Singapore), Phil Schiller, Kaiann Drance, Brooks Kraft, Jon McCormack and Arem Duplessis.

What the judges said

Konstantin Chalabov (Moscow, Russia), iPhone 11 Pro (title shot)

Phil Schiller says: “Konstantin’s photo is a super-dramatic image shot with Night mode. It could be the opening shot of a great Cold War spy movie. It challenges us with intriguing questions — ‘Where is the driver? Where are they going? Why stop out here?’ A cool mist permeates the blue Russian hillside and snow-covered ground, framing the lonely vehicle with bright red lights that hint at an unknown danger.”

Brooks Kraft says: “A movie-like scene that leaves you curious about what happened in this snowy remote setting. Night mode captures the blue light exterior hue beautifully as well as the incandescent lighting inside the cab of the truck and the truck lighting — a wide variety of lighting.”

Andrei Manuilov (Moscow, Russia), iPhone 11 Pro Max

Darren Soh says: “An amazingly well-balanced composition that throws so many questions back at the viewer — ‘Where is this? Who lives here?’ — and perhaps the most important — ‘Why is laundry hanging out to dry at night?’ As an architectural photographer, I am drawn by the image’s one point perspective that leads the viewer into the frame, right smack into the hanging pieces of clothing.“

Sarah Lee says: “I love this and feel it could only have been shot on Night mode. It is beautifully composed, uses symmetry very well, and without cliché to communicate a fascinating story about densely populated urban spaces and the way many people live. This work reminds me of Michael Wolf’s ‘Architecture of Density’ in its theme, but compositionally the photographer has their own take, which is really interesting.”

Mitsun Soni (Mumbai, Maharashtra, India), iPhone 11 Pro 

Tyler Mitchell says: “This one blows my mind. I have no idea where that deep rich red light is coming from on the tree. It almost feels like a UFO sitting above the tree, just out of frame. Absolutely beautiful composition as well.”

Arem Duplessis says: “The rich red color of the tree and ground gives this picture an otherworldly quality. Paired with the night sky, it feels like a still from a sci-fi film.”

Rubén P. Bescós (Pamplona, Navarra, Spain), iPhone 11 Pro Max

Phil Schiller says: “Photography is the art of light, and Rubén’s photo magically uses light to bring this art installation in Spain to life. The color in this Night mode image is a captivating orange, beautifully framing the band of pilgrims in sharp silhouette. The crackly details on the foreground rocks add to the story of the long and difficult journey ahead for these pilgrims before they reach their holy site.”

Alexvi Li says: “Taking great advantage of Night mode with exposure setting, the photographer captured the silhouette of a group of people in the city light backdrop. The ground in the photo reveals beautiful texture when shooting against the light. The simple composition quickly draws viewers into a story, while delivering good image quality.”

Rustam Shagimordanov (Moscow, Russia), iPhone 11

Kaiann Drance says: “A captivating shot of a winter village by the sea, which must feel cold, yet looks warm with the glow against the rocks and lights inside the red cabins, inviting a story about the people inside.”

Malin Fezehai says: “I love how the lights in the red cabins give a sense of warmth in the cold. The layers in the image create depth and give me a sense of cold and warmth at the same time. It’s a beautifully captured landscape image of a winter evening.”

Yu “Eric” Zhang (Beijing, China), iPhone 11 Pro Max 

Jon McCormack says: “This image represents iPhone at its best. Capturing life as it happens, no matter what the light is! The sense of moment, intimacy and place in this image is very good. It really transports the viewer to being right there.”

Arem Duplessis says: “This picture has a very real quality to it. The rising steam, the silhouetted figures backlit from the lamp all align perfectly in this magical caught moment.”

iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max offer a best-in-class camera experience and bring major advancements in photography to the world’s most popular camera. iPhone 11 features a breakthrough dual-camera system and iPhone 11 Pro features a triple-camera system, both deeply integrated into iOS 13, with intuitive and powerful new tools to enable every customer to shoot like a professional. All iPhone 11 models feature a new Wide sensor with 100 percent Focus Pixels that enables Night mode, delivering low-light photos captured in indoor and outdoor environments never before possible on iPhone. This is in addition to an all-new Ultra Wide camera, next-generation Smart HDR and upgraded Portrait mode experience.

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