6 Breathtaking Night Mode Photos from Apple Challenge

Photo Credit: Torsten Dettlaff

Apple called iPhone 11-series users to take part in their Night mode photo challenge. The winning photos will be shown on Apple’s website, their Instagram page as well as on billboards throughout the world.

Rules

Photos had to be taken with an iPhone 11, 11 Pro or 11 Pro Max and should have been taken in Night mode. The only editing allowed was on Apple’s Photos app as well as any other third-party iPhone apps. No editing on any other system or hardware was allowed. Also, no external hardware such as lenses may have been used.

The judges made their call and these six photos were voted the best.

First Night Mode Winner

This photo was taken by Konstantin Chalabov with his iPhone 11 Pro in Moscow, Russia.

The scene with the lonely old truck standing in the snowy path, facing straight towards you, at the foot of a mountain with only the passenger in the truck makes you think. Why is the light inside the cab on, where is the driver? Is the passenger actually the driver?

Night mode enabled the iPhone 11 Pro to capture the dark faded trees, hiding in the mist at the back as well as the full range of brightness of the yellow headlights and the deep red tail lights. You can also see a smooth gradient between the sky’s lighter blue colours on the horizon and the darker blues higher up.

Both Brooks Kraft and Phil Schiller said the photo makes the viewer curious about what happened or is about to happen next.

Follow Konstantin Chalabov on Instagram at @chalabov.

Second Photo

The next photo was also taken in Moscow. The photographer is Andrei Manuilov and he took the photo with his iPhone 11 Pro Max.

In this photo, you see lines hanging from left to right, balcony to balcony, and washing on it. The photo invites you into the floating quad with its straight lines that only breaks against the wall, imprisoning your eyes in this masterpiece.

Even though this picture has remarkable composition, the challenge was more focussed on the lighting that can be captured by Night mode, and this picture has some marvellous lighting features. The glow of the fairy lights way at the back creates a warming mood and it looks like the florescent lights are the source of most lighting in this photo.

The only critique from my side is the overexposure on the florescent lights, but it’s not overwhelming to such an extent that it spoils the picture.

From the judge’s side, Darren Soh is amazed by the composition of the photo, leading your eyes straight to the centre and is curious about the whole scene from who lives there to why the washing is hung at night.

Sarah Lee also focused on the composition, emphasising symmetry. She also said that the picture captures the reality of people living in dense urban spaces.

Follow Andrei on Instagram at @houdini_logic.

Third Winner

This red-orange jewel was taken by Mitsun Soni with his iPhone 11 Pro in Mumbai, India.

Immediately drawing your attention is the bright red-orange colours on the tree with its wide hanging branches, centred in the lower third of the frame, which is superbly contrasted with the blue sky above it. The presence of stars at the top of the image made sure the sky is not wasted space and it just shows the power of Apple’s Night mode.

When zoomed in to 100 percent, it gets a little noisy and detail in the branches gets a bit blurred. Just keep in mind that this photo was taken on a cell phone with a relatively small sensor in the photography world, which contributes to the noise and blurriness in low-light. Still an astounding picture taken in such low lighting conditions.

Tyler Mitchell expressed his fears about a UFO sitting above the tree and applauded Night mode for capturing such deep reds, which is normally a difficult colour to work with.

Arem Duplessis said it felt like a scene from a sci-fi movie and also commented on the red colour, but who wouldn’t?

Follow Mitsun Soni on Instagram at @mitsun.

Our Forth Picture

The canvas-like silhouette was Taken by Rubén P. Bescós with his iPhone 11 Pro Max in Spain.

Your attention is immediately directed to the people riding and leading donkeys, from right to left, and others carrying long thin vertical poles, connected to each other with at least two other horizontal ones.

The inviting sand path at the bottom leads your eyes through the gap in the knee-high stone wall to the middle of the image where the people feature.

While the goldish-orange light at the top attracts your attention, it’s not the main focus of this picture considering Apple’s Night mode. The lighting on the sand in front of the stone wall is the real Night mode trait.

The reflection of the gold-orange light is brilliantly caught and even the darker parts between the reflections are seen.

Phil Schiller used the age-old definition of what photography is, the art of light. He says the photo uses light in a magical way to represent life in Spain.

Alexvi Li was captivated by the textures and silhouettes and said the basic composition of the image pulls the viewer into the story.

Follow Rubén P. Bescós on Instagram at @rubenpb.

Second to Last

Rustam Shagimordanov takes us from hot to cold with our next picture, taken with an iPhone 11, also in Moscow, Russia.

Doesn’t this picture-perfect scene make you want to pack your bags, tell your boss you’ll be away for a month and just fly off – if the coronavirus lets you – to this small remote settlement and forget about the world?

The snow and lobster red paint on the wooden single floor houses immediately directs you to the centre of the picture. A light shining up against the right side of the straight-up mountain behind the settlement is elegantly captured and leaves the snow and exposed rock in a light caramel shade.

Light is well balanced across the settlement and the contrast is wide, revealing a lot of details on the houses and even the footsteps in the snow.

Dark parts on the charcoal coloured rock in the ocean in front of the settlement is accentuated thanks to Night mode and is yet another testimony of how insane the technology is.

Kaiann Drance feels captivated and confused about the cold outside scene and warmth glowing from inside the houses in the settlement.

Malin Fezehai is in love with the lights inside the cabins and feels the layers in the image creates depth and contrast between warmth and cold.

You can follow Rustam Shagimordanov on Instagram at @tomrus.

Final Picture

Our final picture was taken by Yu “Eric” Zhang with his iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Taken in an ally, the only light sources are street lamps mounted high on wooden posts with a spaghetti of cables hanging from it, shining with a dark orange colour, as well as smaller bulbs hanging eye level, shining a bright white.

Shadows play a humongous role in creating this dramatic scene where food is being prepared and cooked on what could be a ping pong table. Steam rising from a pot or pan can be seen, dead centre in the picture. The blurriness of the people walking by confirms the busyness of a city.

iPhone’s Night mode does a phenomenal job of capturing the colours of the street lamps, the lighting inside the skyscrapers in the back as well as the glow in the sky between the buildings. Oh, and the deep red-orange colours of a pair of running shoes worn by a man standing on the dark asphalt. The textures on the asphalt are also clear and the small stones are distinguishable from each other.

Jon McCormack feels the photo draws you into it and makes you feel part of what is happening with the movement represented by the people walking by.

Arem Duplessis agrees that the picture has a magical quality to it when it comes to being in the moment.

Follow Yu “Eric” on Instagram at @ericube_23.

Closing

Hope you enjoyed this overview of the six winners in Apple’s iPhone Night mode challenge. If you want to admire the photos in detail, they are available in full-resolution and more commentary by selected judges are also available on Apple’s website. Both the commentary and photos are available in this press release.

Let me know in the comments which picture is your favourite and why.

Interesting Reads

Take a look at my three-part series of tips on how to take great photos with your iPhone

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