Chicago-based photographer Mike Meyers mainly shoots urban and natural landscapes. When out in the Windy City the Alpha Collective member doesn’t always have his full kit with him, but he does have his Sony Xperia 5 III smartphone and has no issues using it to create his usual stunning imagery. “The main benefit is the ability to have the confidence that you're going to end up with a high-quality piece of content even when you don't have your full kit with you,” he says about the smartphone. We caught up with him to learn more about what he’s been able to capture with the device and how it’s come in handy in more ways than one.

“The main benefit is the ability to have the confidence that you're going to end up with a high-quality piece of content even when you don't have your full kit with you.” – See how Mike Meyers gets creative with the Xperia 5 III. 

For Meyers, the Xperia 5 III was especially useful for capturing views in the city that aren’t as accessible when you have a large camera with you, like in the image he captured below. “It’s the rooftop of this sweet hotel restaurant, but they don’t really allow you to have cameras up there,” Meyers explains. “I’ve actually been to this spot and been given trouble so many times for having my camera. After a certain point they get pretty real about it, but lucky for me I had my Xperia 5 III. It was nice to know I could sit up there for as long as I wanted to, shoot with my phone and not get bothered while also knowing that I was still going to get a high-quality image out of it.”

Photo by Mike Meyers. Sony Xperia 5 III. 1/100-sec., f/1.7, ISO 100

Getting to that spot in time for sunset clearly paid off, as he was able to capture the colors of an incredible sky along with the details of the buildings. “There’s such a benefit to it when you have this amazing scene unfold in front of you that you weren’t expecting,” he says. “Maybe there’s an incredible sunset or something else going on. In the past maybe I wouldn’t want a photo on my phone because it would look like garbage, but you don’t have that feeling anymore because you know that you’ve got a capable piece of equipment that you’re going to end up with a high quality piece of content when you’re done shooting.”

You probably already know this about Chicago, but, in the winter…it’s cold. Sometimes it’s really cold, and standing outside for long periods of time with your full kit isn’t something you want to do. Meyers found the Xperia 5 III to be useful when he was out on those dangerously cold days to get the shot and get out. “Just not having to worry about taking your bag off, going in there, grabbing the right lens and possibly having to switch lenses,” he explains. “That’s obviously time-consuming and when the wind chill is negative six, just being able to pull my camera out of my pocket, quickly get to the Pro Photo App and set my settings is important. I was able to snap a couple shots and then put my hands back in my gloves."

Mike Meyers using the Sony Xperia 5 III

He continues, “It’s a tool for times when you don’t have your gear with you. So many times you’re out but if you’re not specifically going out to shoot, you’re not going to have your whole kit with you. So any of those times you want to capture that don’t include the times you’ve specifically gone out to shoot, you now actually have a phone that's capable of taking a really nice photo or really nice video. You're getting a lot of the functionality that you'd have in your kit in a phone.”

It also makes it easier to get into those different spots and positions to capture a unique perspective of a scene. Meyers did just that when he photographed the classic Chicago spot in the image below. “This sign’s pretty famous and I shot it from a cool perspective where I got down low,” he explains. “Part of getting a good landscape shot, if you can, is having something interesting in the foreground. Having the 16mm focal length option as opposed to the 24mm was key for this image. I never would've been able to fit that manhole cover in there if it wasn't for the 16mm lens. So that kind of gives you a little bit more flexibility as it pertains to getting the kind of shot you want. And obviously it performed really well here, with the dark shadows and bright highlights.”

Photo by Mike Meyers. Sony Xperia 5 III. 1/30-sec., f/2.2, ISO 100

“For most photographers,” Meyers says, “if you have the choice of taking a photo or video with your phone or taking it with your camera, you’re going to take it with your camera. But for more high-quality casual content to post straight to your Instagram stories and stuff like that, the Xperia 5 III makes it super easy to just shoot on your phone, do a quick edit and post. It’s just a less involved process than shooting something on your camera, bringing your camera home, downloading stuff from your memory card, importing it into Photoshop and tinkering with it that way. That's more of a process where you're really getting a professional grade image. But if you're talking about more casual content to post, you could still have higher quality casual content with this device.”

See more of Mike Meyers' work on Instagram @mmeyers76.

See more about the Xperia 5 III HERE.

See more about the Xperia lineup HERE and HERE.