Niyaz Huseynzade 
If you’re a fan of iPhone photography, you’ll want to check out the winners of Apple’s latest iPhone contest. Apple launched a call for photographs in response to the Shot on iPhone Macro Challenge, and they received a tremendous number of responses. An international panel of judges evaluated the submissions and chose the top ten photos for special commendation.
The iPhone 13 Pro lineup has taken things to a new level, and these photos are a perfect testament to its capabilities. Anyone can capture macro shots at a moment’s notice, thanks to sophisticated camera technology. According to the Macro Challenge winner photographs, the tech’s abilities are exceptional. Now, photographers from Argentina, the United States, Hungary, India, Italy, Spain, and Thailand will be able to see their work displayed on billboards in select cities.
Guido Cassanelli’s vibrant photograph of sea glass is a standout. The macro-environment enhances the photo’s artistic, abstract appeal. “When the macro function is employed, the tiny world grows magnified, which is a great illustration of it,” competition assessor Yik Keat Lee adds. “To be honest, I’m not even sure what this stuff is, but the fact that there is order in disorder, coupled with a variety of bright hues, makes it extremely intriguing.”
Marco Colletta, an Italian photographer, was recognized for his beautiful depiction of a hibiscus blossom. The composition draws us into the lush, cavernous bloom with a soft focus in the foreground and a sharp center. Ashley Lee was rewarded for her talent for transforming something mundane into a work of art. Her photograph of a strawberry floating in soda is primary yet powerful. The smooth, clear vision of the fruit bathed in clean bubbles is expertly demonstrated by the different textures while also being attractive to view.
Apple has recommendations for anybody interested in creating their own macro shots using an iPhone. First and foremost, you must get close. The iPhone 13 Pro can capture subjects approximately as close as an inch away. Second, keep the primary focus of the photo in the middle of the frame, as that’s where the most significant emphasis is when using macro mode. Finally, have fun playing with various fields of view. You can shoot at .5x for an Ultra Wide perspective or 1x for a more focused frame for a broader field of view.
“This one instance was during the sliver of golden hour when the sun is shining directly into my window, illuminating all of the tiny cells in each leaf. The leaf depicted is from a fiddle-leaf fig that sits on my desk, where I get to see it all throughout the day.”
“After buying the new iPhone 13 Pro in December, I was amazed with its macro feature and started capturing different objects, including flowers, insects, plants, and more. One day, during a regular evening walk, I went to a grocery store, where I noticed a bouquet of flowers. This beautiful sunflower caught my attention with its intricate details, including the presence of contrasting colors from the center toward the edge of the petals. I immediately decided to take the bouquet home and capture the beauty of it.”
“The photo was taken when my 3-year-old son discovered the blossom of the tulip at home. I then appreciated the flower with my son and took out my iPhone, trying to capture the moment when the sun-kissed the flower, which created a perfect shadow at the petals. As I moved my iPhone closer to the flower, it automatically turned on macro mode, and the details of the petals were brought into the fullest. A few moments later, wind came and blew the petals away. Even though the blossom was short, I still captured the highest moment of a tulip’s life, which is a gift from nature.”
This image was taken along the edge of Riverside Park in Manhattan while on a morning walk with our puppy this winter. As she marveled at her first snow, I was able to capture the ephemeral latticework of this tiny snowflake as it landed among the threads of her many honey-colored curls.”
“I am a nature lover and love going on early morning walks with my iPhone 13 Pro. The ‘golden hour’ brings the best out of nature and is a photographer’s delight. Dewdrops on a spiderweb caught my attention, and I was fascinated by the way the dry spider silk formed a necklace on which the dew glistened like pearls. It felt like a piece of art on nature’s canvas.”
“My intention was to highlight the tiny drop of water in comparison with the lily. I’ve used a spot studio light on the lily with a dark background. I adore the shape of the flower; the lower petal helps keep the focus on the middle part, highlighting not just the drop, but the stamen, too. Nonetheless, the picture has a rhythm that is building toward the euphoria of the composition.”
“This tiny, shimmering liquid jewel is delicately nestled at the base of a leaf after a tropical storm, almost imperceptible to the human eye. However, its true brilliance shines through the lens of iPhone — up close, it sparkles with intense clarity, capturing light from the emerging sun and magnifying the intricate, organic geometry of the leaf’s veins underneath. This is nature encapsulated: a world of beauty and wonder made minuscule.”
“Using photography to transform everyday items into something more extraordinary is always a fun puzzle that brings out my creativity. For this photo, I used two items that I found in my kitchen fridge: a strawberry and a can of soda. I placed a clear vase on my kitchen counter, poured the soda into the vase, and used a piece of black paper as the background. I then dropped the strawberry in the vase of soda and waited. Slowly, bubbles began to form on the surface of the strawberry, and its texture was completely transformed. I was amazed by the level of detail I was able to capture by taking a macro photo, as I could see the individual bubbles from the soda that were forming on the strawberry’s surface. I chose a strawberry as the subject because I liked how the bright red popped against the black background. The stark contrast focuses your attention on the strawberry and its bubbles, and makes it seem as if the strawberry is floating in space.”
“Sea glass is eroded by thousands of miles traveling around the oceans to the shores of the world. I was walking on the beach enjoying a beautiful sunset, and decided to collect some of these small pieces of sea glass to give macro photography on iPhone 13 Pro Max a try. It looks like something strange is happening inside the one placed in the center — it looks like amber. I really love that texture.”
