Holi 2026: Here's how to capture vibrant festival moments on iPhone 17 Pro like a pro

In India, Holi, the festival of colours, marks the end of Winter and welcomes the arrival of the Spring season.

It is celebrated with great fervour by all young and old, where friends and family get together to splash Gulal colour powder and water around.

Holi creates lots of great photo opportunities, and if you happen to own any of the two Apple iPhone 17 Pro series models, you can capture great memories.

Unlike the bulky DSLR cameras, the iPhone is portable, easy to carry around and comes with top-class photography hardware.

The iPhone 17 Pro series boasts of tripple 48MP Fusion cameras, which do a fine job of capturing sharper and more detailed images.

It has an all-new 48MP Telephoto camera. It has a next-generation tetraprism design with a sensor that is 56 per cent larger than the previous generation to improve sharpness in bright light and bring more detail to darker shots. It also supports 4x optical zoom at 100mm, which is perfect for portraiture.

It also supports 8x optical zoom at 200mm, the longest ever on iPhone, providing longer reach and more creative choices. With the updated Photonic Engine, the image pipeline uses more machine learning to preserve natural detail, reduce noise, and provide significantly improved colour accuracy. It also boasts Digital zoom, up to 40x for photos, and users have even more options for customising their photos with next-generation Photographic Styles, including a new Bright style available in iOS 26 that brightens skin tones and applies a pop of vibrance across the image.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.

For selfies, the iPhone 17 Pro houses the Center Stage front camera, which features the first square front camera sensor on iPhone. It offers a wider field of view and higher resolution — up to 18MP for photos — to capture more detail. Users can now take photos and videos in portrait or landscape while holding their iPhone vertically.

For group selfies, the Center Stage for photos uses AI to automatically expand the field of view and can rotate from portrait to landscape to include everyone in the frame.

The Center Stage front camera also enables ultra-stabilised video in 4K HDR, and users can now record on the front and rear cameras simultaneously with Dual Capture — perfect for speaking directly to the camera while documenting behind-the-scenes action. During calls over FaceTime or third-party apps, Center Stage for video calls keeps users stable and positioned in frame.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.

However, advanced photography tools will not guarantee great pictures. It is imperative to first know the key features of the iPhone's native camera app and also timing, which matters in getting a perfect picture.

Top photography professional Rohit Vohra has shared valuable tips and tricks to get the best out of the iPhone camera this Holi festival.

To start off, iPhone owners are advised to be cautiousand ensure their friends don't splash around colour waters while capturing photos of them. But accidents happen. It's okay, as iPhone 17 models come with an IP68 rating. The device survives accidental water splashes and also dips in the swimming pool up to a depth of six metres (around 19 feet).

That's said. When the device gets drenched in water, make sure to turn it off. Try shaking the iPhone sideways to let water come out of open ports. Dry it for at least an hour and try using a dry cloth to clear water droplets in the ports before plugging it into the power point for charging.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Here are tips on how to get the best photos on iPhone 17 Pro this Holi festival:

For still photos:

1) Use ultra-wide 0.5x to capture atmosphere. 1x to capture street and 2x for portraits.

2) Tap the screen and drag exposure down just a little. Underexposing slightly makes colours richer and more dramatic.

3) Try the burst mode. The user has to just swipe left on the shutter button and hold to shoot in burst mode to capture the flying colour powder.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max.

For videos:

1. As Holi moments can be chaotic and fast, it is recommended to shoot Slo-Mo in 4K 120 fps for high resolution and smoother slow motion.

2) Also, try Cinematic mode to capture aesthetic videos and Action mode if you are moving along with the subject.

3) There is always a possibility of missing out on the exact shot we want, and hence, it is better to keep the Live mode ON

With water and colour powders being thrown at it, the phone's lens will get dirty every few minutes, and you have to clean it regularly. It is better to keep a clean microfiber cloth in a zip-lock bag.

Also, it will be difficult to press on-screen shutter buttons and zoom with wet fingers, so make a practice of using the physical camera control or volume up/down button to take photos and videos.

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