This is an in-depth iPhone Landscape Mastery Review.
The iPhone Landscape Mastery course is one of several on the iPhone Photography School created by Emil Pakarklis.
In this review, I will walk you through everything you need about the course. Here’s a preview of what to expect:
- What’s the course all about?
- Who’s the course instructor?
- Who’s the course for?
- What is in the course?
- What I like about the course (pros)
- What I dislike about the course (cons)
- Reviews from other students
- My recommendation
There’s much to look forward to in this comprehensive review, and I’m sure you can’t wait.
So let’s get started without further ado.
What Is The iPhone Landscape Mastery All About?
The iPhone Landscape Mastery course is a tutorial for creating beautiful shots of landscapes and natural scenery.
The course starts from the basics and dives into the advanced techniques involved in capturing the exciting details of a landscape.
Several modules in the tutorial—one for a particular type of landscape—teach you to apply different photography strategies depending on that kind of landscape.
The course mimics a fully hands-on experience, it is shot outdoors (natural surroundings), and Clifford Pickett (course instructor) shares his screen with you to show what he is doing on his iPhone to take a particular shot.
Course Instructor
I would say, before you sign up for any course, get a thing or two about the course instructor.
That’s a crucial step toward verifying the credibility of the course.
Clifford Pickett is the lead instructor in the iPhone Landscape Mastery course, and he’s got quite a record.
Clifford is a New Yorker and commercial photographer. He is a self-taught photography expert and travels worldwide, capturing vivid images of natural scenes.
His work has been featured in National Geographic and British Airways.
Clifford is also an educator and a creative consultant. He is very particular about the iPhone as the only camera you need—no need for heavy camera gear.
Who Is The Course For?
Nature Lovers
If you are drawn to the beauty of natural settings, you’ll appreciate the beautiful scenery often depicted in the video lessons.
Clifford shares many helpful tips in his videos from his years of experience with shooting photos with his iPhone.
The strategies you learn from the course will take on more meaning for you if you are a tourist or travel a lot.
Content Creators
Content creation around photography has a lot of inspiring edges to it.
If you are new to content creation with still images, you will learn much from the iPhone Landscape Mastery course.
You will learn more about photo tricks such as composition, layering, etc.
Simplifying content creators further, you might be a small business owner, a YouTuber, an employee, or a freelance graphics designer.
When you are just starting, it can seem like you need to invest in heavy equipment if you want to stand out.
But the iPhone Landscape Mastery course will teach you how to use what you have—your phone—to capture scenes that get to the hearts of your viewers.
Any Smartphone User
Of course, you may not be able to implement every bit of the training if your iPhone is not, but 90% of the practicals can be reproduced on an Android phone.
All the concepts taught in the course, like light elements, composition, white balance, angles, et cetera, underpin every camera’s processes, whether iPhone or Android.
And for every step mentioned or taken in the tutorials, you can almost always find the equivalent adjustment in your smartphone, whatever its operating system.
You can also contact the support team for personalized assistance if you struggle to apply a specific protocol on your non-iOS device. Many of them own Android devices too.
Photography Enthusiasts
You are a photographer somehow as long as you take pictures with your phone.
The better your photos look, the happier you will be to preserve them for later when you want to travel down memory lane.
So whether you take random pics or build a family album, the iPhone Landscape Mastery course will change the way you take pictures of even your surroundings.
What Is In The Course?
The iPhone Landscape Mastery course shares many insights on the natural and artificial factors that can affect the quality of your landscape photos.
Throughout the modules, Clifford says a lot about how to maximize the conditions you can control and the workarounds for factors you can’t influence, such as lighting and animal movement.
There are also plenty of assignments throughout the course that are designed to test your progress.
The course has about seven modules. Each one addresses a unique type of landscape and the shooting methods specific to it.
Here is a breakdown of what each module is all about:
- Module 1: Fields
- Module 2: Villages
- Module 3: Mountains
- Module 4: Rivers and Waterfalls
- Module 5: Lakes
- Module 6: Forests
- Module 7: Sunsets
At first glance, it can seem like there isn’t much to get excited about, but as you will see, each module covers many interesting and novel shooting methods.
Every video speaks volumes about the wealth of Clifford’s experience taking pictures of various landscapes.
Clearly, lighting conditions and other factors won’t be the same across various landscapes. But it can take years of in-field experience to master those subtle elements and grab the perfect shot for that natural setting.
Knowing what settings in your phone’s camera will work best for a particular scene is also a must. Clifford talks about all of that and more.
After the main modules, you get two bonus modules on (1) rocky beaches and (2) waterfalls. They are hosted by a different instructor, though.
Clifford returns for another bonus module, but this time, it’s on how to edit your photos. You will be surprised to learn how your phone display settings can affect the quality of your photos, so watch out for that.
What I Like About iPhone Landscape Mastery (Pros)
There’s much to enjoy in the iPhone Landscape Mastery, but if I were to pick my favorite feature, it would have to do with the precise nature of the modules.
I was blown away by the fact that Clifford created entire modules for particular types of landscapes.
Of course, as I mentioned earlier, light and other factors can change across landscapes. I know that, but I never expected that a particular landscape would have so much to warrant an entire module of five or six chapters.
I mean, only someone with excellent observational skills and much passion for his work can take the time to accumulate that much detail and distill it into such a comprehensive course.
That aside, here are other encouraging aspects of the course:
- Location Sets
All of the photos Clifford used for the demo were shot in outdoor surroundings and different locations worldwide.
That adds to the conviction that you are getting actual results you can replicate on your own after finishing the training.
Filming the videos in different locations also adds appeal when watching the course. Seeing beautiful places worldwide will fill you with even more motivation to pursue your dreams in photography.
- Real-time Screen Share
So instead of simply describing what he’s doing, Clifford lets you see it on his phone.
That creates a much stronger impression than if you simply heard the steps. It will also be easier to follow along on your mobile device as everything looks real.
- High-Quality Videos
I liked the sharpness of the videos, and I’m sure you will too.
Also, you won’t have to strain your ears to try and catch what is being said.
The course instructors speak at the right pace, not so slow that you doze off but not so fast that you must manually adjust the speed.
- Community
The FB community is one of the major stars of the show.
The community gathers students of the iPhone Landscape Mastery course from around the world. They submit their work to the community for feedback, and you will also get to share your work with the community and get feedback too.
- Interactive Features
The iPhone Landscape Mastery course not only comes with a Facebook community but also allows you to interact with the learners in a particular lesson.
You will see comments under every lesson, including the ones from the staff members addressing a question someone has asked.
A beneficial feature is the notes under each lesson. They summarize the key points in that video lesson. Even if you don’t have 20 minutes to spare for a video, you can always glance at the notes for quick tips.
- Price
The Landscape Mastery course is currently going for a deal of $49, down from $495.
At a price below $100, you will hardly find a better deal elsewhere.
To make the deal even sweeter, you get a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee if you are unimpressed by the course.
- Lifetime Access
Your subscription to the Landscape Mastery course grants you access to the course forever.
If there are any updates, you will get them as well at no extra charge to you.
- Helpful Support
The support team is quick to respond to user queries, and they are expert photographers themselves. That helps them to give answers that completely satisfy users’ queries.
What I Dislike About iPhone Landscape Mastery (Cons)
While the iPhone Landscape Mastery course is easily recommendable, here are a few problems with the course I wish the team could iron out.
Only English is Supported
A course with as many valuable insights as the iPhone Landscape Mastery course is only helpful if you understand the language used to teach it.
That leaves you with no choice but to look elsewhere if English isn’t your favorite language.
I reached out to the support team about the issue, and the response went this way:
Bad Audio Experience in Bonus Modules
All seven-course modules are excellent and without flaws, but that can’t be said of the bonus modules.
Some users complained that only the background music was audible while the instructor’s voice was completely muffled.
So I tried two bonus modules, and most of the chapters have the audio issue. Only the bonus module that features Clifford is perfectly audible, so the fault might be with his colleague who filmed the other ones.
You can always turn on subtitles to understand what is being said, but you will feel the difference.
Reviews from Students
Do I Recommend It?
After my time with the iPhone Landscape Mastery course by Clifford Pickett, I can confidently say it is among the most practical and actionable landscape photography courses.
It delivers expert insights that even long-time professional experts will find helpful. And if you are a newbie to landscape photography, this is the course to help you jumpstart your career.
Are you already taking the iPhone Landscape Mastery course? I would love to hear your thoughts about it.
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