iPhone Camera in the Pro Toolkit
with Austin Mann
March 10 – 19, 2026
Course Description
This online workshop is a pragmatic, boots-on-the-ground guide to leveraging the unique power of the iPhone in a professional photographic workflow. Led by pro photographer, artist, and storyteller Austin Mann, this four-session program starts with how to set-up the iPhone camera so it behaves like a traditional camera, how to plan intelligently, and how to use it side by side with larger systems in the field. The arc runs from foundations and pre-production through shooting and post, with an emphasis on consistency, speed, and storytelling. The goal is simple: learn to use the iPhone camera’s unique strengths as an unmatched creative tool.
Austin moves fluidly between iPhone, Sony, and Hasselblad, always reaching for the tool that best serves the mission at hand—whether he’s documenting sheep farmers in remote Patagonia, celebrating conservation wins with Africa’s great supertuskers, or capturing a cycling adventure in the Dolomites. His workshop is built to help you use the iPhone with intention and to remind you that a small camera, when handled well, can unlock a surprising amount of creative freedom. Here is a breakdown of the curriculum:
Session 1 sets the foundation. We tune the iPhone to behave like a real camera, walk through the hardware and controls, and build the habits that keep your workflow simple and fast.
Session 2 moves into planning. We use the phone as a scout, a notebook, and a creative sketchpad. Weather, light, location tools—plus how to match the iPhone to your main camera so everything feels cohesive.
Session 3 is where it all gets real. We shoot in the field with the iPhone as both a primary and a second camera, lean on the right apps and accessories, manage exposure and stability in tough conditions, and start thinking in terms of story instead of one-off frames.
Session 4 brings it home. We edit, cull, integrate iPhone work into Lightroom and our broader workflows, and build fast delivery pipelines. We finish with a light intro to motion and a final creative project to pull it all together.
Join Austin and a group of other creative professionals and learn to embrace an iPhone’s unique features and benefits in your toolkit.
Additional Information
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
What You Should Know:
Working knowledge of your iPhone 15 or higher model.
Special Notes:
Class will meet 12:30 – 2:30 pm (Mountain Time) on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting March 10 and ending March 19 (four online group sessions). Enrollment is limited to 14 participants.
Zoom Video Conferencing software (available for no charge from Zoom.com) will be used to facilitate the class sessions. Further details will be emailed to registrants.
Santa Fe Workshops always aims to produce a high-quality experience for our online attendees. That said, variables including regional and local internet provider speeds, traffic on Zoom's servers, and your own computing hardware can contribute to a less than ideal streaming event. While we do our best to minimize the impact of these variables, they are outside the control of Santa Fe Workshops.
Policies:
View Withdrawal and Transfer Policies for online programs.
For the convenience of participants, recordings of each class session are posted privately for one month after the end of each session. Santa Fe Workshops takes the recordings down after one month to protect the intellectual property of our instructors.
Categories
about
Austin Mann is an American artist, photographer and storyteller who captures light to help people see each other—and the world—with more clarity and connection. His photographs captured on iPhone have been featured by National Geographic, TIME, and CNN and his early iPhone images played a meaningful role in launching Apple’s Shot on iPhone campaign.
Austin’s industry experience and his collaborations with Apple’s iPhone camera team have given him a rare, practical understanding of how the iPhone camera actually works—and how professionals can leverage it. Teaching is a core part of Austin’s practice. He loves challenging creative photographers and providing tools and insights for them to do their best work, and to do it with intention.
He and his wife, Esther, also own Maven Gallery, a photography gallery that champions compelling work from artists near and far.
Website: austinmann.com
Instagram: @austinmann
