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Macro smartphone photography is quite a challenge, and I decided to put my iPhone to the test to see what I could come up with. This experiment had more failures than successes, but here are my top results.
I tried taking photos of multiple fruits, including apples, blueberries, and bananas. However, I think that my best shot was this one of a lemon. The lemon’s interesting textures were a huge reason why this picture works, and its bright colors add another dimension.
To take this picture, I also enabled Portrait on my iPhone. I did try getting even closer to the lemon, but my camera quickly became blurry. If I was to do this again, I would—in hindsight—also cut the lemon and take photos of the inside. you may consider doing this with oranges and grapefruits as well.
If you want to take your food photography more seriously, considerchecking out these unique smartphone camera angles.
By far my biggest success with macro smartphone photography was when taking pictures of plants. I tried with leaves and flowers, and in both cases, the results were pretty good. I focused on the textures in the leaves especially, as I found the veins quite interesting.
I then also experimented with photographing plants around my house as there was more natural light to work with. On top of that, I tested macro photography with flowers outside. The good thing about plants is that they often have interesting colors, making your job somewhat easier.
You can also check out these tips onhow to take beautiful photos of your gardenif you don’t know where to start with photographing plants.
I always enjoy looking at other people’s photos of coffee, and I figured that it was worth trying with macro photography. I attempted with both coffee beans and grounded coffee, and I have to say that it was quite messy.
I found that the coffee beans were much easier to photograph than the grounded coffee, as my smartphone started to lose detail with the latter. To make these images stand out more, I also used Portrait Mode and experimented with different backgrounds.
In addition to photographing the dry beans and grounded coffee, I also tried taking pictures while adding hot water. However, because I held my camera directly above the coffee presser, this steamed up my camera.
4. Pouring Water
While the pouring water experiment didn’t work with my coffee, it was—in my opinion—more successful when trying it another time. This time, I poured the water into coffee again, but from a different angle so that my camera didn’t steam up.
To ensure that the image looked more interesting, I added some extra things in the background. I also tried this experiment by running my tap, but the results were nowhere near what I wanted.
If you’re going to take photos of pouring water from your smartphone, I would actually recommend holding it further back. That way, you’ll get clearer results. you’re able to also check out this guide onhow to take macro photos of water droplets.
What Did I Learn About Macro Smartphone Photography?
This experiment showed me that macro photography is incredibly difficult on a smartphone. You need to hold your device straight, but it’s also important to create enough distance from your subject while still capturing the fine details. I don’t think it’s impossible to take good macro photos on a smartphone, but I would much rather use a full-frame or mirrorless camera.
If you are going to take smartphone macro photos, I recommend using a specialized lens where possible. But if you aren’t able to do that, use Portrait Mode or a similar setting. I would also suggest starting with photographing plants as your subject before then moving on to more difficult things.
