Photographer Shocked When His Image was Used for the New iPhone 6 Wallpaper

Photographer Shocked When His Image was Used for the New iPhone 6 Wallpaper

Imagine the surprise if your photo was being used on the new promotional images of the iPhone 6 as it was announced earlier this week. Photographer Espen Haagensen was in for the shock of a lifetime as the opening images of the new iPhone 6 were released and his Milky Way photo was used for the new product announcement.

I do quite a lot of starscapes and Milky Way shots but this was the first time I brought a decent wide angle and full size tripod to Demmevass,” he told 9to5Mac’s Michael Steeber. “There was a rather big moon so the Milky Way was faint, but around midnight there were some skies and the moon disappeared and I was able to capture a nice series.

Haagenson's photo of the Milky Way has been added to the release of an iconic Apple product launch and will grace millions of customers hands come September 19th. Quite the kudos by Apple as the photo was first published on 500px where it originally gained popularity and eventually noticed by the company. The photo was taken while on a yearly excursion to the Norwegian Tekking Association where a group stays in the hut pictured in the original photo below, which was later removed by Apple. Apple contacted Espen for non-broadcast use and then upgraded the license to broadcast in July.

Obviously quite the honor for any photographer to have his worked attached to such an iconic company during a new product launch especially Apple. See the comparison photos below along with the promotional images of the iPhone 6/6 Plus as they were announced earlier this week. 

Be sure to check out more of Espen's landscape and nature photography here on his website. 

[via Business Insider]

Andrew Griswold's picture

Andrew Griswold is a photographer and designer based in Indianapolis. Born and raised in Indy he has made a name for himself by staying very active in the creative community in both photography and design. He has also founded a community of photographers via Instagram connecting them with brands to work with and shoot locally.

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79 Comments

after the swiss railroad system clock, and the background from another artist for their MacPros... apple goes again with this image. they do it each time as they are big... sick times.

You obviously didn't read the article....

I also thought that Apple stole the image at first. I had to reread part of it to understand that Apple legally used the image. I think the title and the fact that so many photographers have their photos stolen gives the reader the preconceived notion of Apple stealing the image.

Now thats out of the way. This is very cool. I'd love to have one of my images use this way!

I wouldn't mind having my image used by Apple either, curious how much that image was licensed for. I haven't used 500px much in the past year but look to here soon!

if they licensed it through 500px, then it costs $250. 70% to the photographer.

Does that mean technically that the guy is going to receive 175$ for his picture to be on X million iPhones around the world as a wallpaper ?

Seems that way. From 500px prime: "Straightforward licensing, where the price reflects the usage. Our Royalty-Free option gives you the highest resolution and a worldwide, any-media usage license, for $250 per photo."

hmm, always better than the new Shutterstock decision on a unique price for all file resolutions though, but still, I find it very disturbing from major companies... we won't know the terms but i hope it's not that, for the sake of our business and industry.

The article doesn't make it obvious that apple legally used it.

"Apple contacted Espen for non-broadcast use and then upgraded the license to broadcast in July."

Pretty clearly stated to me.

I think he meant that the title is misleading. And it is. "Photographer Sas Shocked When His Image Was Used". His image was used, as in, used without his permission, hence the shock...erm...ness.

I appreciate Fstoppers, but the title is tabloid like. Congrats to Espen Haagensen and please, Fstoppers, don't fall into the clickbait trap. You have a great website.

Agreed, the title was very misleading. I thought it was as others did, that Apple stole the image. It's not until the third paragraph that you find out that it was on 500px, and not until the end of that paragraph that licensing is mentioned. The title does smack of click bait, which is not something I like from websites I frequent.

Zach, I have like many others and below stated, read the article, but i had misread that line on the purchase. Now i believe that you guys get many critiques and might be a bit tense, but we can't make mistakes, sorry.

Clearly makes me think i won't write apart for ranting now, shame. been very regularly commenting to congratulate on quality of Fstoppers and work. that kind of pisses me off.

Perhaps my tone was misread in my comment. It wasn't meant to be vindictive, pissy or aggressive. We certainly appreciate all comments from our readers, which is why the redesign of Fstoppers is so community focus. I hope my comment hasn't changed your opinion of Fstoppers or swayed you on commenting on future articles.

Take Care,
Zach

2 wrongs don't make a right, I would be enclined to say lets close the case, hope that sounds good to you :)

As I am in the "now", when I write something, I think i'll get over it pretty soon, and look forward to future articles, posts and sharing views.

Might be worth taking the whole scheme of things into consideration with the various complaints on the title/article relationship for future, could avoid a few moans or misinterpretations maybe.

Take care,
Olivier

Certainly we've made note of the outrage concerning the headline. That said, the story itself is more about his surprise than anything else. He knew apple purchased useage writer to his photo, but he really didn't expect it to be used as their main promotional images for perhaps the biggest piece of tech this year. Even the source story has a title that may be considered misleading to many people. But we'll definitely make note of it, and watch our titles more closely.

Hi Zach, Since it's electronic and not in print, why don't you just edit the title and be done with it then? Best regards, John

To be fair, the article was written rather poorly. The lede was completely buried and the headline was very misleading.

@olivier borgognon ... you must feel real dumb right now eh? ;)

I actually don't feel real dumb no Morten, we can all mis-read a part of the article, however sending me in the face that i should feel dumb is a very infantile, but i shall happily leave that to you and your thoughts, and i might have hurt a FanBoy, sorry for that.

apple has a series of stories with non payment of rights, and using stuff without doing it the right way, as many companies do, and the article, apart from the small line i misread can lead to any interpretation in that sense.

I would threaten an huge lawsuit. The only settlement agreement would be free apple products for life. Whichever ipad, iphone, mac pro, macbook, Watch, whatever. Update every 12 months. (or at new product release)

Did you read the article?

why? was it related to the headline?

....they bought the rights to the image. It's just that the photographer didn't know how extensive they were using it until yesterday. There is no need for a lawsuit, as they bought the usage rights.

You gotta read the article, dude.

Why read the article? This is the internet where being the first with a "hot take" is important. Facts? Who cares about those?

"photographer shocked when his image was used for the new iphone 6 wallpaper". While I agree that everyone should read the article, the title itself is a little misleading. A more appropriate title is "photographer delighted when his image was used for the new iphone 6 wallpaper". See how that doesnt assert to there being anything wrong? Or is the title purposefully misleading to garner clicks?

completely agree

"...the title purposefully misleading to garner clicks?"

On fstoppers? Really?!? How dare you even suggest that....

Really though, I think you nailed it.

Look at the source article though....title isn't much different.

"This Man Had No Idea Apple Was Using His Gorgeous Photo Of The Milky Way As The IPhone 6's Background"

I agree about the "misleading" title, but seriously... just read the article before making comments.

blatant facebook click bait. hope it was worth the .02 cents they got.

Calm down dude. I missed one little line in the article that said they did buy it and I made a joke. If you, as an fstoppers contributor, are going to troll the comments maybe you should make sure the articles and headlines don't bury facts and mislead readers. One little line mentioned that Apple paid the licensing, while 60% of the articles on fstoppers have been about stolen images.

Trolling your own readers is a good way to lose them.

I assume this comment is made to me and posted as a reply to someone else as a mistake.

If it was for me, I'll just start by saying what I said in a previous comment in this article. I think my tone was misread in some of this. It's important to understand that I'm rarely serious, and I'm not looking to make enemies or anything of the sort. But commenting on an article after reading the headline instead of reading the article is a poison to print journalism. Sure, the title may have been misleading, but the intentions and explanation was cleared expressed in the article. Infact, if you read any other postings on the story, all of them have the same title structure, but the story isn't about how Apple used his photo, it's to what extent. The photographer knew his image was purchased by Apple, but he had no idea that it was to be used as the main image for the largest announcement of the year for Apple. The story comes form his surprise on that fact.

So no, I wasn't trolling anyone (infact, I didn't even write this article). Also, I'm an Editor here, not simply a contributor. :-)

regardless of your intention, your tone makes you sound like a jerk. As an editor, you should be conscious of that.

Knowledge is power, man. Read the article :)

this would be a dream :), but i love the sound of it

FFS people - read the article before posting comments.

I think the title is poorly worded. My first assumption was that they stole the photograph.

Must be a damn good feeling having your photo out there, though.

When I glanced at the headline and saw the Side-By-Side comparison, the title and picture make it appear as if you are going to have an article about how apple stole someone's image, altered it, and is now using it. I think this clearly confused others. The headline picture does not need to have the side-by-side image leading. "Photographer Honored to have Apple use his image in upcoming iPhone 6."

READ people! READ !!!

Well, they manipulated his image

Congrats!

I read it. The title suggests that it was stolen, but the photographer licensed it, and then expanded the license so why was he shocked? The biggest question and story here is did he license it for a proper amount or did he get bamboozled as this is obviously a large usage from a company that makes a couple extra dollars at the end of each year??

That is the real question, I would love to hear how much the license was for. Now being Apple I am sure they gave him a decent amount for the shot, or maybe they purchased a handful of shots and looked at it in the mass of promo material. The real shock to the photographer was the fact he had no idea what they would use it for and that is the shock and appropriate title. Sure, misleading maybe but interesting read none the less. I have heard of Apple buying peoples stock shots before or even downright buying the rights fully and then holding on to them for months or years until the shooter sees it on the face of the brand for a huge product launch.

WOW, CONGRATS to the guy. :)

I agree with others...the title lends itself to a "jump to conclusion" replies...do better.

Good stuff for the photographer though!

Very Beautiful picture, the phone though is a waste of money and outdated

I prefer the original with the lighted house.

Agreed!

I love Fstoppers and I read the article, but still feel like the title, paired with the side by side photo, is a misleading click bait.

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