If you're still one of those people who think you need a fancy camera to take stunning pictures, think again. iPhone photography award winners of 2017 were just announced, proving once again that a phone camera is more than enough to capture world-class, jaw-dropping, amazing photos.
The photos for the photo contest were submitted by thousands of iPhone photographers from over 140 countries for various categories such as Portrait, Abstract, and Still Life.
This year, the best photo award went to Sebastiano Tomada from Brooklyn, New York. The winning iPhone photo taken with the model 6s had the following caption: “Children roam the streets in Qayyarah near the fire and smoke billowing from oil wells, set ablaze by ISIS militants.”
Bored Panda presents you with a list of the best entries - we hope this will inspire you to get your iPhone out of your pocket, go outside, and capture the beauty you see. And, who knows, maybe one day your pic will end up in the iPhone photography contest too.
More info: IPPA Awards
#1 Dina Alfasi From Israel, 1st Place, People

“I shoot mostly street scenes and portraits, trying to capture intimate moments. Every day I get to work by train and bus. For two hours every day I’m in a place with different people. At first, to pass the time, I was just observing them and trying to guess where they’re going, what they are dealing with, or what their story may be. Along with this observation, I noticed intimate moments and so I started to take photos, and I was surprised with the result.”
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245points
#2 Sergey Pesterev From Mendeleevo, Russia, 2nd Place, Landscape

“ This photo was taken on January 30, 2016, on Olkhon Island, Lake Baikal, Russia. It was the first ice on the lake after heavy frosts below -30C, it is titled, Baikal Ice on Sunset.”
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210points
#3 Sebastiano Tomada From Brooklyn, New York, Grand Prize Winner, Photographer Of The Year

Children roam the streets in Qayyarah near the fire and smoke billowing from oil wells, set ablaze by ISIS militants.
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193points
#4 Branda O Se From Cork, Ireland, 1st Place, Photographer Of The Year

“I shot this photo on an early morning photo walk around the docks in Jakarta in April 2016. These were the hands of a dock worker who was taking a break. I was struck by the texture created by the accumulated dirt on his hands.”
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184points
#5 Joshua Sarinana From Cambridge Ma, United States, 2nd Place, Travel

“I took this image in the summer of 2016 in Cambridge, MA.”
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167points
#6 Magali Chesnel From Ferney-voltaire, France, 1st Place, Trees

“Stormy winds have swept across Europe this winter, with Siberian temperatures transforming trees in wonderful icy show in Versoix, a little town close to Geneva, in Switzerland. After a conjunction of intense cold (-10 to -18 degrees Centigrade), with very strong winds, blowing at over 100 kmh, the waves from the Leman Lake got so harsh that they passed over the dikes and the droplets immediately froze everything they touched, including the trees. Braving the frozen ground, I took this photograph, early in the morning.
I am constantly amazed with ways Nature can create beautiful designs and compositions. I really enjoy having the flexibility of stretching my wings, in order to explore all the moments that life has to offer to photography. When the moment is captured, causing an emotion is my ultimate objective.”
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162points
#7 Gabriel Ribeiro From Mato Grosso Do Sul, Brazil, 1st Place, Portrait

“This photo was taken in January of that year, my aunt came from Bahia to Campo Grande and my cousin was with me when I had the idea of doing a picture of him, we went to the nearest window and began to photograph using natural light. My main goal was to capture the depth that a look can achieve, especially when it comes to children. I used the Lightroom Mobile app along with Snapseed to get the final result.”
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155points
#8 Dongrui Yu From Yunnan, China, 2nd Place, Animals

“This photo was taken on a cloudy morning by a pond. I liked the reflection in the water which was dark and smooth because of the cloudy sky.”
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153points
#9 Barry Mayes From Herts, United Kingdom, 3rd Place, Children

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134points
#10 Dyllon Wolf From Huntingtown Md, United States, 2nd Place, Trees

This image was taken in Huntingtown, Maryland in May of 2016. After a long walk through the woods, photographing the nature around me, I stumbled upon this majesty and tried to capture it in a unique way that would showcase its enormity. The result was this worm’s eye view of the trunk leading up to the canopy that has been several times compared to a python.”
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121points
#11 Paddy Chao From Taipei, Taiwan, 1st Place, Architecture

“This photo was taken when I was traveling in India. Chand Baori consists of 3,500 narrow steps over 13 storeys. It extends approximately 30 meters into the ground making it one of the deepest and largest stepwells in India. I marveled these elegant stepwells and shadows, I immediately took out my camera and captured this beautiful scene before it was gone.”
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93points
#12 Vlad Vasylkevych From Kiev, Ukraine, 3rd Place, Portrait

"The title for this work is “Run with us, they said. It’s just a run, they said,”and it is from an annual bright event that combines sport and fun with a goal to bring the message of healthy lifestyle to the city. The color run is a holiday in which there is a place for running under the splashes of holi paints, a music program, a drawing of prizes and charity for kids. The Color Run celebrates the individuality and uniqueness of every member of it."
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86points
#13 Kuanglong Zhang From Guangdong, China, 1st Place, Sunset

“The sunset and the Golden Temple in Amritsar add radiance and beauty to each other. The ripple in water seems to be formed by doves’ flapping of wings. I think photography is derived from life, and only people who love life can take a picture of temperature.”
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82points
#14 Yuming Guan From Guangdong, China, 2nd Place, Lifestyle

“This picture was taken in the summer of 2015, in Oia, a beautiful small town of Santorini. Tourists from around the globe gathered at the cliff to see the breathtaking sunset that is known as one of the Greatest Views in the World. Everyone was amazed by the stunning moment with awe and applauds, that’s when this local old man caught my attention. He was so concentrated and undisturbed, as if no crowd or view deserves his attention better than his own windowsill. I guess perhaps in his mind, the Greatest View in the World is HOME.”
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81points
#15 Maria K. Pianu From Pordenone, Italy, 3rd Place, The America I Know

“When in NY area, I like to take an out of season walk in Coney Island. This photo was taken during an Indian summer windy day,breathing the Ocean breeze and getting inspired by Coney Island decadent and old-school Brooklyn atmosphere.”
79points
#16 Joseph Cyr From Tucson Az, United States, 3rd Place, Sunset

““Sky on fire” has become a popular hashtag on social media, but cliché or not, the description rings so true so often in the deserts of southern Arizona. I try to time my after-work runs during the winter so that I finish right at sunset. Lingering in the desert, the colors ‘ripen’ for up to a half-hour after the sun dips below the horizon. The sky on this particular evening stopped me in my tracks; the seasonal angle of the sun during the winter months often adds a touch of pastels to the usual fiery mix on the bottoms of the clouds.”
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75points
#17 Juan Carlos Castañeda From Astoria Ny, United States, 1st Place, The America I Know

“These pictures were taken on December 5th, 2016 at Standing Rock, North Dakota. That day the water protectors, the people standing up for the Sioux tribe were supposed to get evicted by the Morton County Sheriff’s Department. Thousands of veterans came to the aid of those of us who were protesting. They told us that they had vowed to protect this country from all enemies, foreign and domestic. President Obama announced that the Dakota Access Pipeline had to be halted until an investigation was made. The veterans still marched on that afternoon and made sure to let everyone know that they were there helping protect Standing Rock. Mother Nature stepped in that day with a blizzard of 40 to 50 mph winds with temperatures of -30F. The height of the storm and the march was captured with the photo that was selected for first place. Everyone there stood until it was physically impossible to continue. Shortly after that picture was taken everyone had to go back to camp and the officers on the other side of the bridge had to leave as well. It was a great reminder of who truly was in charge.”
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74points
#18 Varvara Vislenko From St. Petersburg, Russia, 2nd Place, Children

“On the pic is one of my 3 year old daughter who is making her silly face. It was taken in the beach on island Bali -Changgu in 2017 with an iPhone 6s.”
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73points
#19 Naian Feng From Shanghai, China, 3rd Place, Architecture

“This photo was shot during a trip to the Forbidden City in Beijing. I was walking on this wide boulevard with two high red walls on both sides which really make me feel nervous and majestic. There were pigeons flying around the Forbidden City from time to time, this particular photo was one of the shots I took using the burst mode on my iPhone.”
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69points
#20 Szymon Felkel From Poznan, Poland, 1st Place, Children

The photo titled “Children’s curiosity” was taken in August 2015 in New York at the Time Square.
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62points

