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.

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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.

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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.

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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

163 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
163 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
163 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)
163 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
163 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)
163 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)

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