Other phone cameras may have bigger sensors or more megapixels, but the iPhone's combination of reliable image processing, speedy performance, and vast selection of editing apps have made it the choice of countless photographers — and it's a big reason why This Is My Next considers the iPhone 5S the best smartphone to buy. There's no better illustration of this than the annual iPhone Photography Awards (IPPAWARDS), and the winners for 2014 have just been announced.
The photo you see above is from Julio Lucas, who was named IPPAWARDS Photographer of the Year. It was taken at Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina. "I generally try to stay away from using filters in my iPhone pictures," says Lucas, noting that the iPhone's image processing often results in "bold, beautiful" colors. "I want my photos to take on a more traditional form and grant the capture moment to tell the story rather then a manipulation of the moment by the use of too many filters."
Each IPPAWARDS entry can only have been shot and edited on an iOS device — no Photoshop post-processing allowed. We've selected our favourite shots from each of the award categories, but make sure to see the full lineup at the IPPAWARDS site.
Russian photographer Elena Grimailo won the Landscape category. "Despite the fact that I've been taking photos all my life, I'd never participated in any competitions," she says. "I haven't posted my pics much either, because I didn't find them interesting enough. I guess the iPhone helped to change my mind."
Chicago-based Cocu Liu was very well-represented in the results; he took first place in the Seasons category, second place for Trees, and third place for Architecture. But this second-placed shot in the Others category is our favorite of his submissions. "Snapping photos with the iPhone is easy and quick — I don’t need to spend much time struggling with focal length, white balance, and exposure time," says Liu. "By getting rid of those basic techniques from digital cameras, I’m more focused on the moment and story in front of me."
Yilang Peng of Madison, WI won the Architecture category. "iPhone photography has changed the way of producing photographs," he says. "It is about improvisation and experimentation. Embrace the life and good photos will come out naturally."
San Francisco musician Aaron Pike won first place in the Trees category. He says he is "always striving to create shots that inspire others to get up, get going, and enjoy the natural beauty around them."
Athena Tan's portrait was the second-placed People photo.
Florida's Brandon Kidwell won the Lifestyle category. "My iPhone gives me the tools to do my best to capture the world around me as I see it," he says. "Whether it's a moment I want to freeze, a story I want to tell or a scene that I want to create from my imagination or saw in a dream, my iPhone is always at hand."
Gerard Collett, an opera singer and street photographer in London, won first place in the News/Events category with this shot. "The ability to take street photographs with the iPhone is an immense addition to the street photographer's tool kit and provides unique expressive opportunities," he says. "If used judiciously, genuinely beautiful and meaningful moments can be captured on the streets that would otherwise be lost in front of the lens of an imposing DSLR camera or similar. An iPhone's focal length forces the photographer to get in close and minutely observe and be a part of the scene that he or she is hoping to depict and share."
Alexa Seidl, a photographer from Washington, DC, won the Food category. "My eyes (and lens) are most often drawn to symmetry, colorful architecture, nature, and my favorite people," she says.
Danielle Millar won second place in the Sunset category with this shot.
This image from Roberto Pastrovicchio was deemed the second-best Panorama.
Naomi Wu's photo was placed second in the Animals category.
This photo by Lee Atwell took second place in the Flowers category.
Sergey Korshunov's third-placed Travel entry.
This photo by Alexis Chartrand took third place in the Seasons category.
Melisa Barili's third-placed Children shot.
Cara Barer's third-placed Still Life photo.
Erika Brothers won second place in the Nature category.
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Comments
Wow. Amazing. I need to step up my game.
By chrismo2001 on 06.12.14 3:49am
Haha, oh yeah, my thoughts exactly. Sometimes I take pictures and think to myself “Hey niiiice, you took a great picture there”. Now that I see these pictures I know that mine suck a**. ;)
By minifi on 06.12.14 4:08am
don’t try to take one good photo, take a dozen in 2 seconds or just keep tapping the button
i had a professional photographer do my wedding and i’ve seen how some pro photo shoots go and unlike mommy’s they don’t try to take that one perfect photo. they will shoot hundreds or thousands of photos in a short time and choose that one good one
i’ve taken a lot of awesome photos of my kids that way
By anon_coward on 06.12.14 9:22am
That’s the spray-and-pray method. It works well enough for a lot of situations and is sometimes the only recourse (e.g., with your fast-moving kids), but it rarely gives the same result as a well-planned, well-executed shot. I don’t think it’s good advice to simply say "keep tapping the button". That helps ensure you get the right focus, but if, for example, your subject is poorly lit, no amount of tapping will fix that.
By razorflake on 06.12.14 3:08pm
Are you kidding me? I don’t know any professional photographers (and I’m married to one) who take only one shot after setting it up. Unless you’re looking at a one-and-gone moment, there’s absolutely no reason not to take multiple shots, whether you’re using a $5K rig or a $200 point and shoot (including smartphones).
And if your subject is poorly lit, that’s not a “well-planned, well-executed shot.”
By citizencoyote on 06.12.14 4:54pm
I think what ‘catalysto’ is saying is that it’s not ALL about shooting a million shots. A mix of two two ideals is probably what led to nearly all of the photos above.
By xyzoptics on 06.12.14 9:31pm
filters, filters, moar filters
By obarthelemy on 06.12.14 4:13am
So what? Even without filters, they’re pretty amazing and well composed. It’s up to the photographer on how they’d like to retouch it to tell their story.
By mr_duong567 on 06.12.14 12:17pm
That’s definitely what people who are new to photography call them.
By NoThnaks on 06.12.14 7:36pm
Too much filters and HDR rendering…
By bernd.braun on 06.12.14 4:22am
Yeah, just like it’s not the case with all DSLR pictures, they are never retouched /s
By Someone5682 on 06.12.14 7:41am
The point is that most of these shots are clearly relying very heavily on filters to mask the shortcomings of the hardware – more than you would need to with a decent DSLR. When the effects are this heavy-handed it becomes less about the showcasing the capabilities of the iPhone’s camera and more about post-processing skills.
I’m generally more impressed by smartphone camera shots that are tweaked with more subtlety and don’t look like they’ve been mangled through every Photoshop filter available.
By StylusXS on 06.12.14 9:25am
We have no idea how much something is or isn’t “tweaked”. And it doesn’t matter. Do people think an Ansel Adams image looks like that on the negative? Are we not seeing the “capabilities” of his view camera because he has created a highly stylized final image? I sure hope so. That is boring. The camera is no more important to the final image than a paint brush is to a painting.
By NoThnaks on 06.12.14 7:41pm
Nice. Just goes to show how far phonecamera technology in general has come.
By w.evenhuis on 06.12.14 4:34am
Amazing shots.
I will say, even having the lowly (by today’s standard) iPhone 4s by my side makes it easier to use the Moto G as my primary Android phone.
Caught this view from our window at home last night on my 4s. Still a great shooter.
By Chaz_UK on 06.12.14 4:37am
Horizon is crooked. 1p.
By Ezzy77 on 06.12.14 7:06am
The camera on the 4s is really fantastic, even for today. I slowly began to move away from using my DSLR primarily to using my iPhone for most things. It’s just easier, faster, and always with me, whereas the DSLR I have to think about taking with me.
Also, yay for sunset photos. This was taken a week ago in Madison with my 5s.
By DeBusk on 06.12.14 8:06am
Got any good shots with the moto g?
I have found out that some close-up shots can come out quite decent, like this one:
By Mustalainen on 06.12.14 8:20am
In decent light the Moto G does the job!
Our elder children:
Our Puppy:
The shot I grabbed on my 4S came out much worse on the Moto G however:
By Chaz_UK on 06.12.14 10:55am
The iPhone 5S camera is clearly underperforming in terms of details because of its 8MP sensor. 13MP is the optimal resolution for details these days.
Also, most of those shots are heavily worked in Photoshop, so whatever.
By kretonime on 06.12.14 4:49am
Also here’s some proof that Photoshop/filters can make a picture look a lot better, even from a mid-range 5MP smartphone (HTC Legend) from 2010:
By kretonime on 06.12.14 4:54am
Sorry, but it’s awful. Just because you got lots of pixels there, still none of them matter.
By rui.nelson on 06.12.14 4:56am
I would agree that it would look much better without the filter, but what kind of a dickhead goes to a photography thread to tell people “your photo looks awful”?
Note for Kretonime: The focus and detail on that photo are on point, the filter seems a bit misplaced though, I say you brought up an example of a well taken photo that doesnt need a filter.
By Agentx002 on 06.12.14 8:54am
At least he got me looking… That’s a start…
By rui.nelson on 06.13.14 12:29am
everyone bask in nelson’s glory, we are not worthy.
By piedoom on 06.12.14 5:35pm