When it comes to taking a photo with you smartphone you know they offer something different, but often it’s just a big rushed and not so great right?  Well, if you get the right moment, the right composition and the right light there’s something special that almost any camera can do and this is celebrated each year with the iPhone photography awards.

These awards have been in place since 2007 – amazing given that was the first year of the iPhone.

The idea is to celebrate the creativity of iPhone users with a jury selecting the winners each year.

This year, three Aussie photographers have claimed a category win and their photos are impressive to say the least.

You’ve got to hand it to Siyuan Niu from Xinjiang, China – the Grand Prize Winner, for Photographer of the Year this photo is stunning:

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For the Aussies, the three winning photos were:

Kevin Casey, Pemulwuy (Category: Others)

According to the IPPAwards: Kevin is an Australian, 60 years old, and a passionate iPhone photographer. He originally used a point and shoot for his photography but in 2013 decided during a trip to China to shoot exclusively with the iPhone5 and was absolutely delighted with the results.

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“This was taken at Botany Bay, Sydney, Australia and is one of my favourite spots during summer. I have taken literally hundreds of shots of the local kids lining up and jumping, diving and doing backflips off this wall; my “models” never fail to deliver.”

Glenn Homann, Ipswich (Category: Panorama)

According to the IPPAwards:Glenn Homann lives in Ipswich, just outside of Brisbane, Australia. He is a very keen amateur photographer who has taken to the iPhone like a duck to water. He has used it to attempt to uncover the language of photography and to fill the creative hole in his life. His intent is to capture the beauty in everyday life.

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“I captured this photo on what was at the time the coldest morning of the year. It was forecast to get down to 0 degrees Celsius. Anything can happen and it did! Beautiful wisps of fog over creeks and waterways.”

Nicky Ryan, Sydney (Category: Sunset)

According to the IPPAwards:Nicky Ryan is a professional award winning freelance photographer based in Sydney, Australia. She recognized her creative flair at a young age, further nurturing it through a Degree – BA of Visual Art at UNSW.

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It was the end of summer and was getting slightly cooler so I admired the swimmers doing their laps as it has always needed to be about 40 degrees for me to dive in

 

Beautiful photos – putting all of the 15,000 images in my iPhone camera roll to shame.

To view all the winners, visit the IPPA: http://www.ippawards.com/2016-photographers-of-the-year/