Photos from the winners of the sixth annual iPhone Photography Awards have been posted on the IPPA website, displaying some of the best pictures taken with an iPhone over the course of the past year.

The photo subjects range from portraits of animals and people to landscapes, with the first place photo depicting a close-up shot of a horse. The second and third place photos were taken during a Holi festival of colors and a snowstorm, respectively.

ippawinner
In addition to the top three photos of the year, the website also displays the winners from a number of categories, including architecture, nature, seasons, and food.

ippanaturefirstplace
According to the rules of the contest, all photos were taken with an iPhone. No external manipulation was permitted, though photo editing apps such as Instagram and Snapseed were allowed to be used.

snowstorm
Apple's iPhone remains the most popular camera choice on photo sharing website Flickr, a title that it has held since 2009. As the iPhone has grown in popularity as a point-and-shoot camera replacement, Apple has worked hard to improve its photo taking capabilities. The iPhone 5 introduced an impressive 8-megapixel camera with enhanced HDR and low-light capabilities and the iPhone 5S, coming in September, is expected to offer further camera improvements.

Top Rated Comments

iMikeT Avatar
159 months ago
The "pro photographers" are getting scared.


Having experience as a professional commercial photographer, I will come out and say that it is reasonable to have some amount of fear with the growing trend of iPhone/camera phone photos becoming accepted in the world of photography. In fact, I have friends who work for ad agencies that have sought out photography in the style of those taken with iPhones.

Despite the growing trend of amateurs using their phones for creativity and dare I say "art", it takes more than just luck for quality work. With the further democratization of creativity, access to creative tools, and forums where anyone can post their work, we as a society may suffer from the lack of quality for a few generations.

Personally, I've never entered a photography contest. The reason is the fact that we have a close-up for a horse winning picture of the year while there are other photos that were far more compelling that it. Every time I've been encouraged to enter my work in one of these contests, I always look at the prior year's winners and they're always some sort of nature/landscape shot. It makes no difference how creative a person is, if a person can point a camera and knows how to open a shutter at the luckiest moment, they can win in these contests.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blue22 Avatar
159 months ago
iPhoneography...

Camera phones are certainly getting better, but won't be replacing dSLR's anytime soon.

What matters most IMHO is your creativity and passion for the field of photography, not what tools you utilize to make captivating photos from.

That said, it's great to see mobile photography getting the kudos it deserves.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justperry Avatar
159 months ago
Photos from the winners of the sixth annual iPhone Photography Awards (http://www.ippawards.com/?project=2013-winners) have been posted on the IPPA website (http://www.ippawards.com/), displaying some of the best pictures taken with an iPhone over the course of the past year.

Site seems to be offline!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jsameds Avatar
159 months ago
I wish they could be a filter-free showcase. You can take any old picture and filter it to death until it ticks all the boxes for an arty and moody photograph which then goes on to win awards. It just de-values the whole thing IMO.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iLilana Avatar
159 months ago
First

First let me start with "there are iPhone photo awards?" That's crazy. second There are iPhone photography awards?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nStyle Avatar
159 months ago
These are certainly good but its irrelevant what camera these came from. Obviously, from a technical standpoint, they aren't the clearest, sharpest, most accurate photos. They are filtered up "meh".
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26 Maps Glass

Apple Reportedly Moving Ahead With Ads in Maps App

Sunday October 26, 2025 6:22 am PDT by
Apple Maps could feature integrated ads as soon as next year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple's plan to bring more ads to iOS is moving "gaining traction," with the Maps app being next in line. The project will apparently give restaurants and other businesses the option to pay to have their details featured more prominently in...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
swift for android

Developers Can Now Make Android Apps With Apple's Swift

Sunday October 26, 2025 4:23 am PDT by
The first preview release of the Swift SDK for Android was published this week, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift with official tooling and making it easier to share code across iOS and Android. The SDK enables Android apps to be built in Swift using officially supported tooling rather than community workarounds. In June, it was announced that Apple's Swift programming...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Says U.S. Passport Feature on iPhone is Coming Soon

Monday October 27, 2025 7:41 am PDT by
You will "soon" be able to add a digital version of your U.S. passport to your iPhone, according to Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. Bailey reiterated that the feature is coming soon during her keynote at the Money20/20 USA conference in Las Vegas on Sunday. On its iOS 26 page, Apple says the delayed feature will be "coming later this year." Apple's...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...