From intimate, thought-provoking moments to stunning, captivating scenes, this year’s iPhone Photography Award winners are nothing short of impressive. The three Photographers of the Year Awards go to Michal Koralewski of Poland, David Craik of the United Kingdom and Yvonne Lu of the United States. More images are captured on iPhones than any other camera and these beautiful creations showcase how a small device can quietly capture their subjects without disturbing the atmosphere.
Today, technology has come so incredibly far, that it’s even easier to capture and share moments in time with a pocket device. With deep software and hardware integration, new advanced sensors, a new image signal processor, and iOS 8’s intuitive features and developer extensions, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus make professional photographers out of us all. Well, to a point!
Awards were also given in to 57 photographers in 19 categories. They represented countries far and wide including Australia, Canada, China, Croatia, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Australia had finalist representation in four categories…
Flowers
Nicky Ryan – 3rd Place
Sydney, NSW Australia
Animals
Renai Roberts – 3rd Place
Colebee, NSW Australia
Seasons
Nicky Ryan – 3rd Place
Sydney, NSW Australia
Sunset
Chris Hillary – 2nd Place
Melbourne, Australia
And the photographer of the year winners are…
3rd Place Winner
Photographer of the Year — Yvonne Lu
Yvonne is a Taiwanese fine art photographer who currently resides in New York. Yvonne believes photography is “about those unique and sometimes surprising moments along the journey” she captured an image of a quiet yet captivating image of a couple on a train. She noticed the pair as she travelled along the Hudson Valley River on her way home to New York City. Yvonne relies on her iPhone to capture moments like these because it lets her take pictures quietly without disturbing her subjects. She also loves the ability to post her photos to social sites, like Instagram, and share them with the world instantly.
2nd Place Winner
Photographer of the Year — David Craikb
David is a UK-based photographer, who believes “the only restriction on a photographer is the photographer’s own imagination” his philosophy “shines through in his photo of Starlings that had come to snatch the crumbs off his table at a coastal café in the United Kingdom.” While a photo of birds may seem ordinary, the compelling image Craik created is astonishingly unique. “After the first bird landed and I saw the shadow on the white wall behind it,” he explained, “I knew this was a great image to be captured. Now it was just a case of operating the iPhone properly and finding the best composition.” David used the Burst mode feature on his iPhone to capture this stunning image.
1st Place Winner
Photographer of the Year — Michal Koralewski
Michal is a street photographer from Poland. Michal says he “tries to pick up inspiration every he goes” by keeping “his eyes open and ready to find the next captivating image.” For his winning photo, Michal says he came across one of those moments as he strolled through a market square in Warsaw and spotted an accordionist playing traditional Polish songs. As soon as he saw the bearded musician, he knew he had to take the photo with his iPhone.
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus Photography Tips
Every day, people take more photos with iPhone than with any other camera. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are packed with new camera technologies to help everyone take more great photos — like a new sensor with Focus Pixels, continuous autofocus, and and improved face detection which makes it easier to recognise faces that are smaller, or farther away, faster and more accurately. So you can take the photo and let iPhone 6 do the rest.
HDR Mode
Use HDR mode for your next shoot. The new sensor enables beautiful HDR photos and video with great dynamic range, even automatically giving you better-looking photos, videos and selfies
Exposure control
If the picture is a little dark, use the smart slider to adjust brightness in the preview pane with a simple slide, up to four f-stops in either direction to find just the right lighting for your photo.
High-resolution Panorama
Pano mode now lets you take higher-resolution panoramic photos at up to 43MP. And dynamic auto exposure adjusts as you shoot to capture your most epic shots with incredible clarity. Just tap the arrow on the righthand side in the Camera app to take the panorama from right to left.
Timer mode
Group shots can take a little extra coordination. Give everyone time to get in frame by setting the timer — for 3 seconds or 10 seconds to take a series of photos in burst mode. Your friends will thank you.
Fine-tune your edits
Make your photo stand out even more by applying one of the Apple‑designed filters. iOS 8 also makes it possible for your favorite app developers to create filters and editing tools that you can use right in the Photos app.
Optical image stabilisation (iPhone 6 Plus only)
Use Optical image stabilisation with iPhone 6 Plus to help you cancel out jittery hands; the unique integration of hardware and software delivers beautiful photos in low-light settings.
Social Media
Sharing photos and video on social media has never been easier than with iPhone 6. With the Photos app for iOS, Moments, Collections, and Years — smart groupings of your photos and videos based on time and place — make it faster and easier to scroll down all of the incredible photos you’ve taken and share to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and more.
More Tips
- Want to take a picture while you are recording? Grab it by tapping the white circle to the left of your record button.
- Use Burst mode to continuously capture 10 photos per second, just go to the Camera app and hold the shutter.
- Set the Auto Focus and Auto Exposure by pressing and holding anywhere you want on the image so you don’t lose focus your composition
- For a quick and subtle way to capture a photo, press the volume button on your the side of your iPhone. Pro tip: you can also use the volume button on your EarPods to take a photo
Which is your favourite photo? Tell us below…
This post was last modified on 26/07/2016 4:39 pm