The Best Hack to Capture ‘Macro’ Photos Without a Macro Lens

I love love love macro photography, especially out in nature. The best results are with my professional mirrorless camera using my 105mm macro lens.

But what if you don’t have an expensive pro camera?

Or like me, you don’t feel like carrying heavy gear every time you’re out in nature taking photos?

I’ve got the perfect iPhone camera hack to get you “macro” shots, without any special gear or apps.

Here’s what the hack creates for you:

This faux macro photo was taken with my iPhone 14 regular 1x lens. No macro function on my iPhone.

This phone camera hack creates stunning faux macro photos that look pretty convincing. It can be used on any mobile phone camera, not just iPhones.

I’ll show you how to get this look but first, let’s clarify what macro photography means.

It’s the capturing of small subjects in close-up detail, making them appear much larger than life.

You can do this the seriously professional way by using expensive pro cameras and lenses. Or you can do it using the “casual macro” photography way without a macro lens or using the macro function on a phone camera.

Here’s how to trick your phone camera into a macro lens:

1. Using your 1x regular lens, get close to your subject. (but not so close that your phone won’t focus on it).

2. Then zoom in so your phone digitally gets closer to your subject.

3. Make sure your subject stays sharp and in focus by tapping the subject on the screen to focus on it.

As you zoom in, watch the background become blurry and less distracting.

This is the magic of zooming in. Your subject gets bigger and the background goes blurry. It’s beautiful!

Your results should look like this:

This is a faux macro shot of a flower, taken on my iPhone 14 without a macro lens and without a macro function.

This macro photography hack can be used on any mobile phone camera, even old ones.

This is a photo without the macro hack. It’s using a standard 1x lens, taken at a distance. The flower is too far away to make this photo interesting. The background is taking up too much space, making this photo even less appealing.

This is a photo with the macro hack. It’s using the same lens and angle as the previous photo, but instead getting in closer and zooming in.

Why is it hard to get macro photography with a regular phone lens?

The standard 1x lens on an iPhone is wide angle so objects appear further away than they actually are in real life. To get a macro shot, you have to bring the camera close to the object. But the standard 1x lens can’t focus if you place the camera too close to the object. The closer you try to get to the object, the blurrier it gets. It’s the opposite of a macro lens!

The subject looks really small in relation to the background when using the 1x lens. The background takes up a lot of space in the frame.

Using the same lens, you can force the background to compress, taking up less attention. Get the background to go blurry and make small subjects appear larger.

Both photos above were taken with the standard 1x lens. But in the second photo, I used the macro hack and the results are vastly improved!

Welcome to the world of casual macro photography with just your phone. It’s a quick and easy way to take your nature photos to the next level with just your phone camera. I use this technique all the time!

Ready to learn more? Join me live on Zoom on Tuesday April 29, 2025 for a 1-hour crash course on how to take stunning photos with just your phone camera. Seats are limited – register here!