YouTuber Andrew Levitt teamed up with friends Jacob Phillips and Taylor Gray to recreate the stock wallpapers Apple includes with its Mac computers by traveling around and snapping them one photo at a time. The project required a trip into the blistering hot Death Valley National Park, as well as Sierra National Forest, Yosemite National Park, Mavericks and more.
The group of guys showed their endeavors in a newly published video detailing the project. Levitt notes that their final images aren't quite the same as Apple's due to different seasons, among other things, but that they're representative of the experience and getting to see each destination in person. The five resulting images have been made available to download as wallpapers here.
Some shots may not look as up to par as Apple’s, but for those that look about decent enough, I’ll take what I can get. Maybe we can expand on making seasonal versions of these. I’m just glad we didn’t lose Yosemite to the orange dictator (and hopefully never will) as this is just many reasons these parks are special, but aside that, they did hunt down the exact locations especially for the effort it was to recreate Mojave.
Many people here always find reasons to criticize Apple, but you rarely (if ever) find anyone putting even 1% effort into doing a similar stunt for Windows wallpapers.
Wow, takes me waaaaay back to the 70's. It's nice to see their electronic devices motivated them to go on an adventure & discover that seeing the places in person is so much better! One suggestion - maybe black is NOT the right color choice for hiking clothes in the summer...
Quite the opposite. Looks a lot more like *conserving* the environment. Literally the definition of the word.
Three friends, camping gear, camera gear, food, and supplies all crammed into a little hatchback that they are riding in together to visit scenic locations.
That trip will never be forgotten, and will be remembered when the time comes to protect natural resources. Not everything can be experienced looking out the window of our little climate-controlled bubbles.
its funny how everyone was ranting in the comments when skylum introduced the AI Sky replacement/enhancer tool, when its quite obviuos that mac wallpapers have photoshopped skies.
Now you have to decide for yourself. Do you want to amaze 99% of regular people or satisfy the other 1% that can judge immediatly whether or not your sky is photoshopped (even when its done as subtle as with the applles wp) .
I'm not sure why you're so convinced that those skies were photoshopped. The difference between a professional landscape photographer and 3 dudes on a roadtrip is planning for the right conditions. The guy who captured those shots could have easily gone back to the spots several times waiting for the perfect clouds. Landscape photography is all about planning.
i dont think a professional photographer can actually wait for that very rare event when theres low hanging clouds on the one side of Yosemite valley and clear skies to let evening sun through on the other side of the valley.
Afterall he can just photoshop in the sky he wants, its only a few hours of work (much more cost-efficient). If those clouds lightly touching El Capitan arent photoshopped i'd be very surprised.
And thats the point i was trying to make. If its done well, most people wouldt notice a skylum AI skyreplacement/enhancement, they'd just enjoy the image, as much as those MAC Wallpapers. The reaction of commenters to that tool were very negative tho.
Waiting for perfect conditions is exactly what a professional landscape photographer does. Some locations need to be revisited many times in different seasons. You need to learn which weather patterns tend to produce the best results in a particular season and time of day, and when they forecast is right you go and hope it pans out. Or sometimes you just get lucky and happen to be there at the right time for a perfect shot. In any case, the conditions in the photos are actually pretty common in Yosemite, just not so much in July.
They were never going to get the same sand dune shot. Sand dunes, by their very nature, shift with time. They were a little quick to judge the original Mac Wallpaper shot as Photoshopped. Regardless, I really loved the video. They seemed to having a lot of fun and it was a joy to watch.
Also they were never going to get it because the Apple dune shot was probably taken at the Kelso dunes in Mojave and not in Death Valley. It was fun to watch, though.
That was a great video. Considering they only had about one day to photograph each location while the photographers that took the apple photos might've shot each location a hundred times, these guys did a fantastic job.
Pretty much everything everyone does these days in photography is a recreation (in some fashion) of something someone else has done before. There are many a few photographers that truely can create something unique (such as Bryan Peterson) that very few people have done. But at the same time, this also challenges people to see things differently too. I'm sure the images they created are similar, but I"m sure they also have some that are unique to them or their trip. I know for myself, I'll sometimes use an existing scene as a reference (say, something like that of what's shown above or one of the great grand landscapes that has been shot to death) as a starting point, but will then work from there to get my own unique compositions.
I think you're also kind of missing the point of this exercise. They know that they are re-creating / imitating what is already been done, but as a project for themselves, and more importantly, to do things as friends and share a common interest.
Kind of referring to the overall idea that they did this partially as a project and as a group of friends. Most people travel to places like this for the experience (so that's sort of a given IMO). I mean why do people hike the 2.5 hours to the top of Angel's Landing in Zion NP? For the experience and the photographic views mainly, among other things (but the experience is the primary reason most people do these types of things).
(And no I did not spend the full 13 minutes listening to the video...)
@ WilliamJ: When I read the first few words, I thought you were going to parody Lord of the Rings. One does not recreate [Mac OS wallpaper images] --> One does not simply walk into Mordor
Aside from this being related to Apple, this might be a good adventure and project for someone who is maybe is a bit stuck in their landscape photography. I attended a talk Rick Sammon gave once, he talked about working on projects in re-creating the works of the "great masters" (he brings this up in his composition courses a lot actually) as a means to try something new and experiment. So I think this could be a fun thing to do, if you have the budget and the time.
And finally we have an piece that doesn't have to do with camera brands, or the best camera, but rather a more important (and often forgotten) aspect of photography: going out there (either by yourself or with friends) and enjoying the craft, and to challenge yourself. Many people got too bogged down in cameras and gear that they lose sight of the real reason they started in photography and I think this is just a nice reminder for those who maybe have "lost their way". Nice to see this on DPR.
Agreed. This is of course a gear website, but it's refreshing and enjoyable to read technique articles (e.g. Marom's landscape series) and to see videos like this. More please dpr.
Also it's good to know that there are people in these comment sections who actually go out and take photographs, instead of endlessly trying to "influence" others with inane rants about how much better "their" gear is.
While I'm not a fan of Apple, vision is one thing it did lose with its creator (Jobs) when he died in 2011. Now they're trying to to sell overpriced computers in nice aluminum shells that perform roughly the same as a (Windows) computer that's a 1/3 of its price.
Not always. With the first Mac back in the late 1970's/early 80's, Jobs wanted a Mac that the average user could afford. But his designs (and the board) often lead to higher price tags. Today, it's mere greed for profit than just covering the costs. So I wouldn't say that what we see now with their inflated prices has always been that way for Apple.
The rate of innovation is slowing down in many industries, so companies have to find other ways to maintain (or create) revenue streams. I don't disagree that companies are being greedy, because many area. But Apple started out as being more focused on innovation than greed. Then the company went public, and that all changed, just like how many companies do once they go public (and even some privately held companies).
Too bad the national parks don't let you use them. I think they would be much safer with a great potential for new compositions. The rocks falling from other climbers, or just nature, is a very real thing.
This is a very cool video...thanks for sharing. You know Apple has cultural impact when it becomes a thing to travel around and take pictures of the same scenes used in Apple's wallpaper.
Once one sees the images together it really shows that apple is a tech firm and visual creativity is low on the list, there is a sameness in the images Though I did enjoy the video
I have to disagree. I think it shows that Apple puts a lot of thought and work into something even as small as the desktop backgrounds. There is no doubt the wall papers that Apple has are stunning and creative, if not, people like these guys wouldn't take the time to recreate the shots. Their pictures are very good and so are Apple's. The work that it took to get them tells a great story!
Bryce is right; people don't try to copy that which is considered mediocre.
These are excellent photos and it does show Apple's attention to detail for them to include these quality of photos as wallpaper.
We also need to remember that these photos are indeed meant to be used as background wallpaper on a desktop computer; they are not meant to be some ultimate artistic statement.
But anyone can criticize...it's the easiest thing in the world to do.
It just means that Apple has their own vision of what reality should be, like any cellphone camera of any manufacturer. Whether it is cellphone camera procession or camera RAW processing, it is whatever some wants reality to be. There is much greater visual eye consensus of reality is than what a machine can create. It is the difference between viewing thru and EVF vs. an OVF.
Apple is a cult thing and isn't really about the images, apple's wallpaper photos are very ordinary landscape shots. The main point in the video is about recreating what apple used and see if it can be replicated without software tricks As for the wallpaper images they are like all apple images with their role being to showcase apples technology ..........and before you apple fans jump up and down shouting I have used and still use apple's products since the 1990's so I am not anti apple
Being very ordinary landscape shots is what makes them so extraordinary.
Consider what makes a great desktop wallpaper. Not that I know but I've thought about it a little bit. I thought especially about how great these wallpapers are back when I worked on os x at work vs the selection you get under windows. Or what you can easily find online.
You want to look at something that isn't blank or bleak or which calls for much attention or provokes any big emotional response. It's more like a meditative psychovisual piece or a poem and not any sort of impressive landscape shot. You want something that stimulates your mind and creativity but not intrude on you.
I really admire all the work you put into your trolling here. I'll still report you though. I don't think that I ever had the pleasure to reply to a comment of yours smeisinger Not a trolling l just don't see the point of mediocre images
Wonderful video. I love the part where they are dancing in the meadow. It is how I feel when viewing beautiful scene's. Been to all of these places and will be in the Eastern Sierra in less than two weeks for fall color photography. I love the Hwy 395 area, it is fantastic.
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