IPhoneography with Yoni Mayeri

Week of March 28, 2026

All presentations will be on the iPhone; Android users welcome too. If you miss a session, it’s fine to show up for any sessions that work for your Ranch schedule.

 

Introduction to iPhoneography

The best camera is the one that is with you! This workshop will review best practices for photography using exclusively your iPhone or any camera. Photography offers significant benefits for brain health by fostering mindfulness, reducing stress, and enhancing memory and creativity. Engaging with photography can improve mental well-being through mindful observation, creative expression, and social connection. A review of principles of photography, tips for optimizing digital capture and choosing subjects that work best with the iPhone and more will be covered. Learn about present-moment awareness, the act of composition, and mindful engagement with your iPhone Photography.

 

The iPhone Camera

Photography provides a creative outlet for self-expression and can help individuals process their emotions.  Mobile devices have significantly revolutionized photography by making it more accessible, versatile, and integrated with social media. These computers in our pockets have democratized photography, enabling anyone to capture and share high-quality images instantly. In this workshop we will review best practices for using the camera, review the settings, tools, and hidden features, to help you take your images from snapshots to professional quality.

 

The Art of Editing using the Photos App

In this workshop we will review tools and features of the built in Photos App, and cover tips for organizing and finding your photos. Photography can serve as a tool for memory and storage recall. Looking at photos regularly can reactivate mental representations of past events and solidify those memories. Follow along with the live demonstration to enhance your images or create digital pieces. Time permitting we may review the Snapseed App by Google. (Available for Android too).  Come with your phone fully charged

Yoni Mayeri is a professional photographer and early pioneer of iPhoneography whose work explores the intersection of art, technology, and everyday observation. With over three decades behind the camera—and more than fifteen years devoted to the iPhone—she reveals the creative potential of the device that is always within reach. Her photographs, exhibited in galleries and museums, are created entirely on the iPhone, reflecting a deeply personal and intuitive approach to image-making. Drawing on her background as an educator for Nikon, Minolta, and Polaroid, Yoni brings both technical mastery and an artist’s eye to her teaching. Through her workshops and courses at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and venues around the world— including Rancho La Puerta, The Garden Club of America, and Clos Mirabel in France—she guides students of all levels to see more clearly, compose more thoughtfully, and transform ordinary moments into compelling images. Her teaching emphasizes not just how to use the camera, but how to see: light, form, color, and the beauty of the present moment. Her Instagram serves as an ongoing visual journal, with every image captured and edited solely on the iPhone: Http://instagram.com/yoni_iphone_photography