Contest winners: Apple chooses the best pictures shot on the iPhone

The iPhone has become the powerful go-to camera for so many of us. To market just how stunning some of those images can look, Apple invited iPhone users around the world last month to submit the best photos they've captured with the handsets, part of a "Shot on iPhone Challenge" contest.

On Tuesday, Apple unveiled the 10 winning photographs, selected by a panel of judges consisting of professional shooters such as Pete Souza, who was chief White House photographer under President Barack Obama, as well as Apple's senior vice president for worldwide marketing Phil Schiller, himself a photographer.

The chosen images will be featured on Apple billboards in select cities and in Apple retail stores and online.

Without disclosing the amount, Apple says shooters will receive a licensing fee for the billboard photos and their use in other Apple marketing channels.

During the challenge, which ran between Jan. 22 and Feb. 7, participants could email the pictures directly to Apple or post their best shots to Instagram, Twitter or Weibo. Under the rules, the photos could come straight from the iPhone (any model) or, prior to being submitted, edited through Apple's tools in the Photos app, or with third-party software. And iPhone photographers who chose to edit the images were required to state the apps or filters that were used.

Here are the winners, along with the photographer's name, country, and iPhone model that was used, along with excerpted comments from the judges.

Alex Jiang (U.S.), iPhone XS Max

Judge Annet de Graaf says: "The narrative in architecture. There is actually life behind the surface of an average apartment building in an unknown city. Vivid colors and a perfect composition with the basketball board right in the middle! Great eye."

Blake Marvin (U.S.), iPhone XS Max

Phil Schiller says: "The stolen glance between this raccoon/thief and photographer is priceless, we can imagine that it is saying 'if you back away slowly no one has to get hurt.' A nice use of black and white, the focus on the raccoon and the inside of the hollow log provides an organic movement frozen in time."

Darren Soh (Singapore), iPhone XS Max

Chen Man says: "Distortion and reflection at a strange angle—this photo creates a fantastic feeling."

Nikita Yarosh (Belarus), iPhone 7

Austin Mann says: "I love how accessible this image is: You don't have to travel to Iceland to capture something beautiful, it's right under your nose. The way the lines intersect, the vibrant color, the sense of old and new ... this is just a great image."

Dina Alfasi (Israel), iPhone X

Sebastien Marineau-Mes says: "Love how the heart-shaped water puddle frames the subject, capturing a glimpse of the world as the subject hurriedly walks past."

Elizabeth Scarrott (U.S.), iPhone 8 Plus

Brooks Kraft says: "A portrait that captures the wonderment of childhood in a beautiful setting. Great composition that shows both the personality of the child and the experience in the surroundings."

Andrew Griswold (U.S.), iPhone XS

Jon McCormak says: "This image is very well thought through and executed. The background pattern holds the image together and the repeated smaller versions of that pattern in the water droplets create a lot of visual interest. The creative use of depth of field here is excellent."

Bernard Antolin (U.S.), iPhone XS Max

Kaiann Drance says: "Looks like a simple scene but a good choice of using black and white to elevate it with a different mood. Helps to bring out the dramatic contrast in the clouds and the surrounding landscape."

LieAdi Darmawan (U.S.), iPhone XS

Luísa Dörr says: "I feel like this landscape was treated like an old portrait. The texture of the mountains evokes an old wrinkled face. Portraits and landscapes are the oldest way of creative representation by humans. There's something about it that belongs to the realms of the subconscious mind, and this is mainly what appeals me of this picture; the part that I'm not able to explain."

Robert Glaser (Germany), iPhone 7

Kaiann Drance says: "Gorgeous dynamic range. There's detail throughout the photo in the meadow, trees, and clouds. Beautiful deep sky and pleasing color overall."