Apple Reveals Winning 'Shot on iPhone' Macro Challenge Photos

[MacRumors]

Apple today unveiled the 10 winning photos from the Shot on iPhone Macro Challenge that the company launched earlier this year.

"Strawberry in Soda" by Ashley Lee, from San Francisco, U.S.A.​

Entrants were able to submit unedited macro photos shot on the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max straight from the camera, but photos edited through Apple's Photos app or third-party software were also accepted.

An international panel of expert judges, including Anand Varma, Apeksha Maker, Peter McKinnon, Paddy Chao, Yik Keat Lee, Arem Duplessis, Billy Sorrentino, Della Huff, Kaiann Drance, and Pamela Chen, reviewed the photos from around the world and selected 10 winning entries from China, Hungary, India, Italy, Spain, Thailand, and the United States.

• iPhone 13 Pro: How to Shoot Macro Photography

The winning photos will be celebrated on Apple's website, Instagram account, and more. Apple has also said that winning photos may appear in the company's digital campaigns, such as in Apple Stores or on advertising billboards.

"A Drop of Freedom" by Daniel Olah, Budapest, Hungary​

"Hidden Gem" by Jirasak Panpiansin, from Chaiyaphum City, Thailand​

"The Cave" by Marco Colletta, Taranto, Italy​

We've highlighted a few of the winning photos here and the full gallery can be viewed in Apple's full press release, including comments on each image from the photographer and judges.

Article Link: Apple Reveals Winning 'Shot on iPhone' Macro Challenge Photos

 

[44267547]

If anyone’s interested, you can see the ‘macro mode’ photography in the iPhone User forum here:

Share Your Best Macro Photography Shots

One of the main features that made me purchase the new iPhone 13 Pro is it’s ability to take great close-up photos (which will be very useful for my work). Does anyone have any great macro photography shots they would like to share? I’d love to see them. Thanks!

forums.macrumors.com

 

[szw-mapple fan]

This speaks more to the people who were judged in the contest than the quality of the camera itself (which is also very good). A good photographer can make masterpieces with just adequate tools while a bad one won’t be able to do the same no matter how nice the camera is.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Wow! Congratulations. They are stunning. One of the best features of the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max. Hands down! 🙏🏻

 

[44267547]

This speaks more to the people who were judged in the contest than the quality of the camera itself (which is also very good). A good photographer can make masterpieces with just adequate tools while a bad one won’t be able to do the same no matter how nice the camera is.

Very true. And the best camera that you have, is the one that you have in your pocket. You can create the image you want your audience to see, based off your own creativity.

 

[TonyC28]

That strawberry picture is cool.

 

[idmean]

The high compression of the images here on MacRumors is really a shame for these stunning pictures.

 

[t0rqx]

awesome!

 

[GooseInTheCaboose]

I like all of them except the strawberry. I just don’t get why that won.

Honestly tho all could have been composed better, the only nicely composed photo here is “A Drop of Freedom” imo and perhaps “The Cave”, but the outer parts of the flower are overexposed. there are a lot of way better dew drop/leaf vein pics out there than the winner.

Theres also visible distortion along the outer sides and corners of all the photos, the lens is not uniformly clear at all.

While the 13 pro macro is a very nifty tool im glad dslrs and dedicated macro lenses exist, this shows we will need them for a long time

EDIT: hey, click through the link, the OP left out some of the best photos. I’ll gladly concede the actually winner, beach glass, is stunning and makes great use of the lenses strengths and deals well with its compromises as well. Here are some beauties from the original article:

 

[sorgo †]

That strawberry looks iconic! ✨🍓✨

 

[JM]

That strawberry one is absolutely the best. ❤️

I love how Apple can still separate the haves from the haves (with just a little less) by limiting the contest to only people who spend $1000 or more on their phone 🙄

Sorry, it’s just really obnoxious they created a whole new tier of luxury with the X… so even spending $729 on an iPhone isn’t enough anymore to feel like you’re getting their best.

😑

 

[GooseInTheCaboose]

That strawberry one is absolutely the best. ❤️

I love how Apple can still separate the haves from the haves (with just a little less) by limiting the contest to only people who spend $1000 or more on their phone ?

Sorry, it’s just really obnoxious they created a whole new tier of luxury with the X… so even spending $729 on an iPhone isn’t enough anymore to feel like you’re getting their best.

?

It is enough (the iphone 13). If you feel youre missing out, get a basic dslr and dedicated macro lens. Your pics will exceed the quality of these by leaps and bounds.

The iphone 13 pro macro has (imo) pretty severe distortion along the edges and must be positioned so close to the subject that it casting a shadow with the phone and light problems are inevitable. A dedicated macro will be more uniform with no distortion, will likely allow for better magnification with some tweaks, will focus from farther away therefor avoiding light problems, and will overall be sharper and resolve better.

The iPhone 13 pro’s macro lens is very nifty, but it is just not a pro camera tool.

But it *is* very nifty!

 

[coachgq]

This speaks more to the people who were judged in the contest than the quality of the camera itself (which is also very good). A good photographer can make masterpieces with just adequate tools while a bad one won’t be able to do the same no matter how nice the camera is.

I'm a bad photographer. I had the same tools as these people and for the first time I entered a photo. My photo has nothing on these, these are really cool shots!

 

[citysnaps]

I like the concept of the strawberry photo a lot. Just not jazzed about that particular composition.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

I'm a bad photographer. I had the same tools as these people and for the first time I entered a photo. My photo has nothing on these, these are really cool shots!

With hobbies and professions we all start somewhere. I'm sure you'll be able to create shots just as nice if you keep refining your skills

 

[BrownyQ]

The strawberry picture is great, but honestly I love the hibiscus flower most.

But I'm biased since the hibiscus is my favorite flower.

 

[bobbie424242]

Sounds deadly...

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

How do they get the black/dark backgrounds on this pictures?

 

[ikramerica]

Wow! Congratulations. They are stunning. One of the best features of the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max. Hands down! 🙏🏻

The strawberry is cool, but I have done many flower pictures better than those with my old ELF clone camera circa 2003 and I am by no means a great photographer.

 

[nvmls]

Disappointed, was expecting quality selfie nose hair.

 

[TVreporter]

Is it just me, or is the strawberry photo soft/out of focus... honestly, if I took that I probably would have deleted it and tried again to improve the focus. ?‍♂️

 

[adamw]

Glad to see Apple encouraging and rewarding photography!

 

[anthogag]

The strawberry photographer did not say how good the strawberry tasted after the shot.

 

[cjboffoli97]

I wonder if the pretentious photo names were a requirement of the competition.

 

[erikkfi]

Macro mode is horrifically implemented on the 13 Pro, even after the update. Where's the macro mode lock? Which lens can I switch to in order to stop that awful bouncing thing it does as it recognizes and then stops recognizing a close-up object? Where's the in-camera focus stacking that a feature like this desperately needs? Wouldn't that be a great use of your amazing neural engine?

It passes as a macro mode but it utterly fails to delight.