Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Apple’s latest iPhone photo contest asks for your best Night mode images

 

Short winter days got you down? Apple’s latest iPhone photo contest will give you a reason to stay out late and celebrate the dark. The company has put up a call for entries looking for the best Night mode photos shot on iPhone 11, 11 Pro, or 11 Pro Max.

Recommended Videos

From now until January 29, submissions can be made via Instagram using the hashtags #ShotoniPhone and #NightmodeChallenge. Contestants are advised to note the model of phone used to produce the photo in the description. Images can also be submitted in high-resolution via email. See the original Apple blog post for details.

Austin Mann

Photos will be reviewed by a panel of 10 judges made up of a mix of working photographers and Apple employees. Five winning photos will be selected, with winners announced on March 4. The images will be displayed on Apple’s Instagram account and may be used online, in print ads, or on billboards, according to the company.

It makes sense that Apple would want to draw specific attention to Night mode, a critical new feature in the latest iPhones that allows for handheld long exposures. Night mode produces dramatically brighter, sharper, and more colorful images when the amount of light is insufficient for a standard exposure, and was a highlight of our iPhone 11 Pro review. In addition to granting exposure to the winning photographers, the photo contest will give Apple more content to advertise Night mode in future “Shot on iPhone” campaigns.

While Night mode comes on automatically when conditions call for it, Apple does offer a few tips for getting the best results. To let even more light in, tap on the yellow Night mode icon to gain access to the exposure time slider. Here, you can set a longer exposure than what the iPhone would select by default. To maintain sharpness for the longest exposures, prop your iPhone up or use a tripod adapter. This will ensure no motion blur gets into your image.

Apple’s isn’t the only iPhone photo contest. The independent iPhone Photography Awards has been running since the time of the original iPhone. If you’re looking for more phone photography tips and tricks, we spoke with a past winner about his techniques for getting award-winning photos.

Daven Mathies
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Daven is a contributing writer to the photography section. He has been with Digital Trends since 2016 and has been writing…
There may not be an iPhone in 10 years’ time, says top Apple exec
A person holding the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Well, whouda thunk it. A top Apple executive positing the idea that in 10 years from now, the iPhone -- your beloved iPhone (unless you have a beloved Android phone, that is) -- may no longer exist.

Before your head explodes at the mere thought of Apple abandoning the iPhone in 10 years’ time, there’s also a chance that in 2035 there will be an iPhone 27, or whatever’s Apple’s calling it by then.

Read more
The iPhone 18 Pro could see a major design change
A person holding the Apple iPhone 16e showing the screen.

If the iPhone 18 release schedule wasn't enough of a shift, it looks like the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models could switch to under-screen Face ID and have only a small camera in the top-left corner of the screen. The news comes from Digital Chat Station on Weibo, a leaker with an inside hook into Apple's supply chain.

"Well, I checked with the Apple supply chain a few days ago. The iPhone 18/18 Pro Max is indeed testing 3D faces under the screen, with a single HIAA hole; the iPhone 8/18 Air is a regular 2+1 hole," they write (as translated by Google.)

Read more
The iPhone 17 Air might not stack up in terms of battery life
Alleged concept render of the iPhone 17 Air in black.

Concerns over iPhone 17 Air battery life might have been spot-on, according to a new report from The Information. Apple allegedly conducted internal tests that showed only 60 to 70 percent of iPhone 17 Air devices would make it through the day without needing a recharge, versus between 80 to 90 percent for other iPhone models.

Of course, part of that is due to the design of the handset. At just 5.5mm, the iPhone 17 Air is set to be the thinnest iPhone ever (and one of the thinnest phones on the market overall), but it might come at the cost of battery capacity. To help offset this problem, Apple is supposedly planning to launch an optional battery case accessory to give users a little bit more juice to get them through the day.

Read more