Smartphone cameras have advanced so much in recent years that many shutterbugs have largely abandoned traditional cameras in everyday life. But while the tech has advanced, our photography skills have largely remained stagnant.
To help amateurs shoot more like the pros with their iPhones, Apple is hosting in-store, hands-on workshops next month that will teach consumers at all skill levels how to use a variety of apps to capture images more creatively.
"We'll help you try out various accessories and techniques -- like long exposure for light trails, using Time-lapse to show progression, or getting up close with nature using a macro lens," Apple said in a statement. "Then, we'll explore artistic ways to adjust and edit your photos, so you can create a work of art, find your style, or just improve your skills."
Another workshop offered by Apple aims to inspire iPad artists, teaching techniques for sketching, drawing and painting on the Cupertino, California, company's line of tablets. As part of an effort called Start Something New, Apple will post artists' creations in stores and on Apple.com to inspire others.
The campaign is the latest in Apple's expanding efforts to show its devices can be used for more than checking Facebook, playing games and watching movies. While the iPad has largely been embraced as a media-watching device, Apple offers a keyboard cover and a stylus for its high-end iPad Pro device. The company has highlighted its advanced video-editing capabilities as well.
This isn't the first time Apple has pushed this idea. In years past, it's plastered billboards with beautiful photographs from far-flung places taken with an iPhone. It's created websites to highlight how its devices are used for work. It's even shown off apps that are used in the business world.
Now, Apple's pushing it all a step further, actually teaching people how to use its various mobile devices to create art and work.
Some of the artists to be featured in Apple's in-store and online galleries will discuss their work and techniques during an event at the Apple store on 14th Street in New York. Among those attending the New York event is Bernhard Lang, a photographer who uses an iPhone 6S Plus to capture landscape images from a helicopter thousands of feet in the air. He then edits the images in Adobe Photoshop Express for dramatic views of nature.
The workshops will be held at every Apple Store around the world. Those interested in attending should check their local stores for the schedules.