Even in an age of 24-hour sports television and endless social media imagery, compelling professional sports photography still has the power to captivate an audience. Remember smiling Usain Bolt, the “defining image” of the Rio Olympics?
We rely on the pros to get up close and inside the action of our favorite sports by using the most sophisticated cameras and lenses. So it was especially interesting this weekend to see that Sports Illustrated and ESPN photographers turned to Apple’s new iPhone 7 Plus to deliver images from an NFL game and the U.S. Open tennis tournament.
S.I photographer David E. Klutho was at the Vikings-Titans football game, and at SI.com, an exclusive gallery of his work shows off a bit of in-game action alongside some of the pageantry of the season’s opening day in Tennessee.
SI is the first outlet to publish photos #shotoniphone7plus!
? by David Klutho, more: https://t.co/TOsU6BgvY8 pic.twitter.com/cEvaXB9lZ4
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 12, 2016
Touchdown iPhone 7! First photos on @SInow https://t.co/BHXoA83ZgU
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 11, 2016
Certainly most professionals can compose and capture more interesting photographs than you or I on any range of equipment, whether it’s a high-end DSLR or an old flip phone. But the point here is to show off the camera improvements Apple has introduced to the iPhone 7, and especially the 7 Plus with its dual 12-megapixel system. The cameras have been updated to capture brighter and more vibrant colors, and Klutho’s images show that, especially with those purple Vikings jerseys.
At ESPN.com, photographer Landon Nordeman used the 7 Plus to capture U.S. Open action, mostly from the perspective of a fan who might be roaming the grounds at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
“The autofocus and exposure performed exceedingly well in various lighting conditions — so that even with one hand, he could get the shot,” ESPN said of Nordeman’s work.
.@ESPN serves up iPhone 7 shots from the #usopen ?https://t.co/ZmIHilvK4x
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 12, 2016
