Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s recent Sports Illustrated cover was different than any other cover before it. His suit, while dashing, wasn’t anything new. No, Johnson’s cover was shot with a phone.
Yes, a mobile phone.
SI photographer Michael LeBrecht – who used a Motorola Z phone with a Hasselblad Moto Mod in the shoot – was shocked when he found out about the camera choice.
“I began to familiarized myself with the menu settings and started testing immediately,” LeBrecht told PetaPixel. “I first shot with available light, and then used continuous lighting and found the images to be very good. Knowing I would produce much more power on set, I had confidence going in the image quality would hold up.”
LeBrecht said that overall, the device was easy to use. The most difficult part, according to PetaPixel, was positioning the phone on the mounting device. The phone had to be placed backwards with the screen partially covered while LeBrecht was shooting.
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The phone has a 5.5-inch display which LeBrecht said made it easy for him to review images quickly. He shot 18 images total and the last one was the cover look.
Still, LeBrecht said that he can’t compare smartphone cameras to DSLR cameras.
“I don’t believe it’s fair to compare,” LeBrecht said. “But for everyday use and for aspiring photographers looking to develop photographic knowledge, the Pro settings on the Moto Z allow for the instant understanding of some of the same settings you will find on a DSLR.”
And for Johnson, who said he grew up reading Sports Illustrated every week, doing this shoot was a “dream come true.”
“I think it’s every athlete’s dream to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated,” Johnson said. “When I stopped playing sports, I wasn’t sure how that would ever happen. But here we are, on the cover of Sports Illustrated.”
This week’s @SInow cover: How The Rock’s football failures helped him become Hollywood’s biggest star https://t.co/o6O3w5yo1z pic.twitter.com/I6tEqDcTXj
— SI NFL (@si_nfl) November 30, 2016