iPhone Photography Awards announced, showcasing images taken on mobile cameras

The photographer of the year award went to Michael Korelewski of Poland. Second place was taken by British David Craik and Yvonne Lu from the US won third place.

Two of the top three winners were professional photographers, and many of the thousands of entries — which came from 120 countries in all — were submitted by pros. The iPhone, already the most popular camera on photography site Flickr, is being increasingly alongside other phone cameras by professionals.

Craik, the British runner up, is a professional wildlife photographer, and his winning image shows a bird mid-flight. His photo was taken after starlings came to snatch breadcrumbs from his table at a coastal café.

In all, 57 photographers won first, second or third prizes in the 19 different categories. They came from various countries including Australia, Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, and Portugal.

The three photographer of the year winners won an Apple Watch Sport. The winners of each of the categories won a gold bar.

The iPhone Photography Awards were founded in 2007, the year the phone was launched, and was the first iPhone photography competition.

Submissions for the 2016 competition are already open. Picture must have been taken on an iPhone, iPad or iPod, and can be edited using only apps on iOS.

Apple has been promoting the use of the iPhone as a camera, most recently in a range of ads featuring still and video images as part of a “Shot on iPhone” campaign. Brendan O Se, who came third place in the People category of the awards, has been featured as part of that high-profile campaign.