"There are no special tricks for photography. If I give you a Jimi Hendrix guitar, you won't be able to play like him. It is not about the gear," says award-winning photographer Sephi Bergerson, who took on a challenge to shoot an Indian wedding entirely on his iPhone 6s Plus.
Wedding photography happened by chance for Bergerson. He started shooting weddings "out of sheer curiosity," which was followed by a contract to photograph Indian weddings for a book, Behind the Indian Veil.
"What fascinates me about Indian weddings that it is always different. There is nothing -- not a thread or a piece of cloth that is the same. Every wedding has its own rituals," says the Israeli transplant who moved to India 14 years ago and has settled down in Goa.
Shooting a wedding on his iPhone was a long-pending dream for the Goa-based photographer but the bigger challenge was to find a couple that would let him do it. The issue, according to Bergerson, isn't about the technical superiority of a DSLR but about the misplaced perception about not coming across as a professional unless you have expensive gear. He finally found a couple that took a leap of faith and let him shoot with his iPhone.
"The wedding was probably the biggest I have ever photographed, which took place in Udaipur in Rajasthan over three days," Bergerson says.
"I keep telling my clients that it is not about who was at the wedding but how you felt at that moment. When you look at them later on you should be able to relive the feeling," Bergerson says. "What I like about the iPhone is it helps me get much closer to the subject and have eye contact. With DSLR, the camera comes between me and the subject."
The debate about smartphone cameras versus a DSLR is not a new one, with smartphone makers leaving no stone unturned to prove how good their cameras are by pointing out the megapixel count, optical image stabilization, the multiple lens array or even the sensor size. But Bergerson believes that debate is futile.
"The iPhone won't replace the DLSR but it offers a completely new medium of photography. The kind of images that come out are somewhere between documentary or photo journalism and what I would call fine art, closer to paintings," he says.
Shooting with a smartphone still has its challenges, especially under low light when he struggled with the ISO limit on the iPhone. Shooting motion shots on the dance floor, for instance, also proved to be problematic. But what intrigues him the most are all the post-production options available directly on the smartphone.
"There are so many filters and editing options. It gives instant gratification, much like the Polaroids of the 70's," Bergerson exclaims.
Shooting a wedding with an iPhone isn't a one-off project for Bergerson. Up next is his wildlife photography book, iKenya, which he is completely shooting and editing on the iPhone.