Did you really take all those shots on an iPhone?

I always tell viewers of the PhotowalksTV series that I film the show on the same camera viewers probably have: a smartphone, which for me tends to be the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

After the most recent episode, the highlight compilation from the California Highway 1 PhotowalksTV series, a viewer wrote in: “Are those all taken with your phone? Excellent shots!”

Well, it turns out I wasn’t being totally straight. Yes, the show was filmed on an iPhone. All my on-screen camera time, or what might be referred to as the A camera, was indeed shot on the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

But what about the B roll? There were also 94 other shots, and sorry, while 50% of them were done on an iPhone, I also put my GoPro Hero 10, Sony RX10IV and DJI Mavic Air 2 to good use.

The numbers: iPhone 46

GoPro Hero 10: 20

Sony RX10IV: 20

Drone: 9

The iPhone has gotten so good, it’s amazing how much I can actually shoot with it and have it look professional. But there are limitations.

I love a good driving shot, and while I could hold an iPhone outside the window with someone else driving, I’m usually by myself, so the GoPro will have to do. I strap it to the windshield, where it does a great job. Plus, walking shots look better on the GoPro than on the iPhone.

Neither the GoPro nor the iPhone have a great telephoto zoom lens. The RX10IV does. Those shots of the elephant seals and zebras near Cambria could only have been taken with a massive zoom lens, so thank you Sony. I watched so many people struggling with their smartphones for this shot. It pretty much couldn’t be done without a camera.

But for the rest of the episode: fish in tanks at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, me and the photographer Renoda Campbell enjoying cake at the Copper Cafe of the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, shooting the glorious pier in Cayucos, shooting the cobblestone streets of Carmel-by-the-Sea and capturing a sunset against a cypress tree, the iPhone did a yeoman’s job.

In future episodes, I’ll try to alter my greeting, and tell people I use a mixture of mobile photography tools the majority of the time, along with an occasional camera with a big zoom lens.

How does that sound?