This Pro Photographer Shot the Big Game on His iPhone—Here's How He Snapped the Perfect Moments
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Just a few days ago, the National Football League season ended with an epic match between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback of the Chiefs, as well as coach Andy Reid delivered a packed fourth quarter, which led them to win.
Chances are, you watched Super Bowl LVII from home via the official broadcast (and hopefully on a large screened TV). But for the lucky few in attendance, fans and famous alike, it was the chance to see it “IRL” and capture the moment with a smartphone.
SI Showcase had the chance to connect with pro photographer Kevin Mazur, who’s worked with celebrities, athletes, and even presidents, about capturing the game from the sidelines at State Farm Stadium with his pro rig and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Yes, Apple’s flagship $1,099 smartphone.
Mazur shared two tips for shooting with an iPhone along with 14 photos from the game taken on his 14 Pro Max exclusively with us. Those are in the gallery below, and we’ll note that they are unedited and not retouched.
Shots From The Super Bowl
Mazur likens using the iPhone 14 Pro Max to “having a professional camera in the palm of my hand.” Some of the standout features include the fast image capture from three lenses—a wide, ultra-wide and telephoto—and different shooting modes.
The 48-megapixel Main Lens
One of the biggest changes with iPhone 14 Pro Max from previous models is the increased megapixel count for the main, wide camera. It sits at a full 48-megapixels, which allows the sensor to capture more light and deliver a more detailed, richer photo. In our testing, the 48-megapixel was more versatile over the previous 12-megapixel setup.
When shooting in ProRAW mode, the iPhone retains more key components of the shot, which makes it easier to adjust in photo editing tools like Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop. By default, though, the iPhone bins pixels together (specifically four into one) for a sharp photo that doesn’t take up a tremendous amount of storage.
Mazur shared that with the iPhone, “you can pick it up and start shooting right away, but I think it's important to learn all the various settings and play around with those. Ensuring that you are using the right settings is the difference between a good photo and a great photo.”
Mazur touches on what has always been a main appeal of the iPhone: In the moments before you tap the shutter but have the Camera app open, it starts calculating the proper levels needed for the shot.his continues while you press the shutter button, capturing the image. The iPhone uses its image processing system that combines AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) to then deliver the best end result, which combines multiple images into one.
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Generally, you’re left with a great shot. However, as Mazur shared, you can also play around with settings and manually adjust the lighting and other aspects of the shot. You can even shoot in RAW to customize your edits, giving you more control over the image in post.
Shooting With Photographic Styles
One other way to customize the shooting style premiered with the iPhone 13 family and continues to live on the 14. Photographic Styles are essentially a more advanced filter that will be applied to all your photos, before you even take them. You can pick between a few preset options, some of which will increase vibrancy while others may make the shot cooler. This choice, with the specific styles, is automatically worked into how the iPhone captures the image itself.
Swapping between 0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 3x
With three lenses on the back of the iPhone 14 Pro, you can also frame your shot in various ways. You can shoot in 1x with the wide lens,2x, which cuts into a tighter frame with that same lens, 0.5x for fitting more into a shot, or 3x for getting in closer.
Calling out that the user interface is intuitive and allows you to quickly swap with just a tap,
Mazur noted that, “Using the various zoom lenses is crucial, and tapping the numbers right above the shutter button makes it really easy to switch between them. This makes one-handed shooting easier.”
Action Mode for Super Smooth Videos
Another shooting mode on the 14 Pro Max and standard 14s is Action Mode, which essentially activates the iPhones internal gimbal for smooth shots. We put this to the test while running up the stairs at State Farm Stadium, but it also works for recording a dog running around the park, while on a hiking trail, or for any moment where there might be some rough terrain.
To activate Action Mode, simply swipe to record a video and tap the new icon in the top left corner of the screen. It will then capture in this super steady shot. Remember, you’ll need an iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, or iPhone 14 Pro Max to do this.
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Let’s Recap
One other tidbit: Kevin Mazur uses a 1TB 14 Pro Max in “Deep Purple” and this is the largest storage size available for the iPhone. Chances are, he opted for this so he wouldn’t have to worry about storage, but also for the amount of photos and videos that might be captured on the device. If you’re also planning to shoot in the ProRAW mode quite a bit, there is a case to be made for opting for the most storage. Those full 48-megapixel files can take up quite a bit of space, and same goes for recording with the video equivalent.
Still, if you’re photo obsessed or planning to be the next TikTok star, getting a 1TB or at least going for a larger size like 256GB or 512GB could be the right move. If you’re curious about how the iPhone 14 Pro Max performs overall, you can see our full review here.
And if you’re eager to see some more epic shots captured by Kevin Mazur, both on a pro rig and iPhone, you can see his Instagram here.
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