apple: This photo clicked by Kolhapur-based engineer earns him an award from Apple – Times of India

Earlier this year, Apple announced the “Shot on iPhone Macro Challenge” contest where users from all over the world were invited to submit macro images clicked by them. Now, Apple has announced the winners of the contest and one of them is Prajwal Chougule, a software engineer based out of Kolhapur.
The image that earned Chougule the award is dewdrops on a spider web — it’s actually quite a striking image. Speaking about the award-winning photo, Chougule says, that he was out on an early morning with his iPhone 13 Pro. “The “golden hour” brings the best out of nature and is a photographer’s delight. Dewdrops on a spider’s web caught my attention and I was fascinated how the dry spider silk formed a necklace, on which the dew glisten like pearls.” Chougule says that it felt to him like a “piece of art on nature’s canvas.”
Chougule has been an iPhone user for a while and had an iPhone 6S prior to getting his current iPhone 13 Pro. Incidentally, Apple introduced the macro mode with iPhone 13 series for the first time. For Chougule, photography has been a passion since his college days. He started with street photography and then pivoted to a more minimalistic style, as he says he likes isolating his subject to avoid clutter.

Macro, for Chougule, is a “very interesting yet equally challenging genre of photography. Apart from choosing a unique subject, I think the most essential aspects for making an excellent image are light, composition, a clean contrasting background, and patience.”
As a reward, Chougule’s image — along with other winners — will be featured on Apple’s official website, on Apple’s Instagram page, and on billboards in select cities around the world, including where the winners reside.
A curated panel of international judges selected 10 winning photos, and the top 10 winners are from China, Hungary, India, Italy, Spain, Thailand, and the US.
Mumbai-based photographer Apeksha Maker was a part of the jury and says about Chougule’s image, “This image is so perfect that it looks like an illustration. The well-arranged dew drops on the spiderweb are captured with great detail. It’s something that most people would miss around them. There is some sort of harmony in the drops; at first glance, the viewer could be deceived on what the subject is.”
Other winning photos include snowflakes on a dog’s hair, a cavernous hibiscus flower, and a strawberry engulfed in tiny soda water bubbles.
Kaiann Drance, vice president of worldwide iPhone product marketing, says, “We invited the world to share their best macro shots, and our ten winning photographers captured images that make even the smallest details seem epic — like dew drops on a spider’s web, snowflakes on a dog’s fur, and sea glass dazzling in the daylight — all encouraging us to slow down to take in the wonder around us.”