The iPhone camera is a good camera for snap-and-shoot photography, “selfies,” and everyday candids; however, the iPhone’s camera offers a limited experience due to its lack of a good zoom function and its inability to get quality macro shots. That said, the latter problem can be solved for free with just a simple drop of water.

Items needed to recreate this:

iPhone (or any smart phone)

Water

Pen top (or tooth pick)

Steady hands

To do this, I first turned on the camera on my cellphone, then dipped the extended portion of the cap of a Bic pen into a cup of water. Next, take the water that stays on the tip of the pen cap and tap it on the rear camera of your phone. It may take a couple dips of water to get enough to make an adequate droplet on the camera lens. Once the droplet covers the entire circumference of the lens, slowly but swiftly turn the phone over so that you can see the front screen. If done properly, the droplet will stay suspended on the camera lens.

Now, lower the phone close enough to whatever it is you want to take a picture of until it comes into focus.

It can be tricky to get the hang of at first, as the water is jiggly and very sensitive to movement. Thus, a steady hand will be key; or, use something to rest your arm on while you figure out the correct distance to hold the phone from whatever it is you are taking a picture of.

The pictures tend to be slightly blurry around the edges, but can be quite crisp towards the middle. It’s a cool effect unto its own. Take a look at some of the shots I took of a hundred dollar bill. Some cool results.

Obviously this is not a solution to having a real macro lens for your phone’s camera, but this technique can be fun to get some artistic shots, or simply as a fun “bar trick.”

As an aside, water is obviously bad for electronics, but if you do this carefully you shouldn’t have any problems. I’ve done it on two different phones and had no issues. That being said, do it at your own risk because you don’t want to trigger the water sensors inside the phone)