A stunning low light capture of a volcanic eruption in Guatemala sweeps the 2026 i Phone Photography Awards — and it was taken on an i Phone 15 Pro | Tech Radar

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A stunning low light capture of a volcanic eruption in Guatemala sweeps the 2026 i Phone Photography Awards — and it was taken on an i Phone 15 Pro

The full winners list shows that you don't need the latest i Phone to capture a prize-winning image — one was shot on an i Phone 8!

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(Image credit: i Phone Photography Awards: Arnold Plotnick / Robyn Jensen / Catherine Wang)

i Phone Photography Awards 2026 winners announced, with top prize going to Robyn Jensen

Their winning image of a volcano eruption was taken on an i Phone 15 Pro

12 other category winners announced, along with the varied i Phones used

The i Phone Photography Awards has announced its prize winners for 2026 — and the image that received the Grand Prix genuinely stopped me in my tracks.

Shot by Robyn Jensen from the Cayman Islands and submitted in the 'Nature' category, the winning image is a stunning low-light capture of a volcanic eruption in Yepocapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Showing the moment a gout of ash erupts from the crater of the volcano, with red-hot trails cascading down around it, the image frames the moment of drama perfectly against a starlit night sky.

Winner, Grand Prix. Shot on i Phone 15 Pro, 6.765mm (24mm equiv), f/1.8, 1s, ISO 12500 (Image credit: Robyn Jensen)

What's more, this image wasn't even shot on the latest i Phone, but was captured on a phone two generations old — the i Phone 15 Pro. I love how effectively it uses the phone's inherent qualities to its advantage; for instance, the smaller sensor of the i Phone 15 Pro, or any smartphone, is going to have a more limited dynamic range than a mirrorless or premium compact camera.

Robyn has made use of that, exposing for the brightest spot in the image — the lava and the light it's casting on the underside of the ash cloud — and allowing the rest to be shrouded in darkness. This heightens the impact of the image, sacrificing detail in the mountain for legibility of the key subject. But fortunately, we just about get those beautiful stars in the background.

Robyn has also used the wider 24mm equivalent lens, resisting the temptation to zoom in with the telephoto, and doing this allows us to appreciate the moment in its fuller context, giving a sense of scale. Her exposure is a full second long, meaning either the phone was mounted to a support, or she was aided by the i Phone 15 Pro's excellent OIS (optical image stabilization). And the phone has pushed her ISO to 12,500, and still come away with a pretty clean shot. It's a superb image, and a deserving winner.

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Winner, Gold. Shot on i Phone X, 4mm (28mm equiv), f/1.8, 1/1500s, ISO 20 (Image credit: Gellért Gombai)

Something I particularly love about the i Phone Awards is the sheer breadth of style and subject matter, and this couldn't be better illustrated than by the contrast between Robyn's image and the winner of the Gold award, an image submitted in the 'Children' category by Hungarian photographer Gellért Gombai. A beautiful grab shot of a precious summer moment, its interplay of light and shadow is heightened by the decision to convert to monochrome — and it was shot on an even older phone, the i Phone X released in 2017!

And this sense of breadth continues when you look at the Silver and Bronze winners (below) — even though they're both by American photographers and are both images of animals! Arnold Plotnick's street shot of a cat, Silver winner, has a feel of total serendipity, a perfectly framed moment well-spotted. Also note how again, the lower dynamic range from the i Phone actually helps the image, with the loss of detail in the cat's fur and the doorway shadow increasing the shot's contrast and impact.

Winner, Silver. Shot on i Phone 16 Pro, 6.765mm (29mm equiv), f/1.8, 1/60s, ISO 320 (Image credit: Arnold Plotnick)

Winner, Bronze. Shot on i Phone 16 Pro Max, 6.765mm, f/1.8, 1/40s, ISO 250 (Image credit: Catherine Wang)

Catherine Wang's Bronze winner, meanwhile, couldn't be more different. It's a meticulously set-up still life, with the elements of the watermelon, mug and parrot clearly having been arranged very precisely, and the end result looking like something from a gallery wall.

For me, almost all of the winning images exemplify one of the i Phone's strongest assets for photographers — it's the camera you always have on you. While there are exceptions, such as Catherine Wang's still-life, most of the images have the unmistakeable feel of grab shots, of a photographer who was at the right place at the right time, and had the means to make the most of it.

1st Place, Abstract. Shot on i Phone 8 Plus, 3.99mm (28mm equiv), f/1.8, 1/120s, ISO 50 (Image credit: Barry Mayes)

1st Place, Animals. Shot on i Phone 14 Pro, 9mm (77mm equiv), f/2.8, 1/400s, ISO 32 (Image credit: Peter Crome)

1st Place, Architecture. Shot on i Phone 17 Pro, 6.765mm (48mm equiv), f/1.8, 1/18s, ISO 1000 (Image credit: Ziwen Chen)

1st Place, Children. Shot on i Phone 15, 5.96mm (26mm equiv), f/1.6, 1/2500s, ISO 50 (Image credit: Krystal Rountree)

1st Place, Citylife/Cityscape. Shot on i Phone 17 Pro, 16.89mm (200mm equiv), f/2.8, 1/750s, ISO 20 (Image credit: Adrian Beasley)

1st Place, Landscape. Shot on i Phone 16 Pro Max, 6.765mm (24mm equiv), f/1.8, 1/12000s, ISO 80 (Image credit: Anthony Ginns)

1st Place, Lifestyle. Shot on i Phone 13 Pro, 9mm (77mm equiv), f/2.8, 1/1150s, ISO 32 (Image credit: Bertram Greenhough)

1st Place, Nature. Shot on i Phone 15 Pro Max, 6.86mm (48mm equiv), f/1.8, 1/1700s, ISO 64 (Image credit: Tianjiao Zhang)

1st Place, Other. Shot on i Phone 16 Pro, 2.22mm (17mm equiv), f/2.2, 1/6000s, ISO 32(Image credit: Deniss Aksjonovs)

1st Place, People. Shot on i Phone 12, 4.2mm (26mm equiv), f/1.6, 1/120s, ISO 40 (Image credit: Jenny Dang)

Winner, Portrait. Shot on i Phone 15 Pro, 6.765mm (24mm equiv), f/1.8, 1/90s, ISO 200(Image credit: Brice Picard)

Winner, Series. Shot on i Phone 17 Pro, 16.8906mm (100mm equiv), f/2.8, 1/210s, ISO 40 (Image credit: Lasda Takbanuaz)

Images like the pattern of frost on a car, a pair of dogs peeking out of a window, a child preparing for a leap over a puddle. These aren't things you set up; they're moments you spot, and many of them are moments that anyone might have spotted.

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I'm particularly galled by the fact that the Gold prize was won by a shot of a cat in the street. Do you have any idea how shots of cats in the street I have on my camera roll? Loads! And do you have any idea how many of them are as good as Arnold Plotnick's? None!

But my personal bitterness notwithstanding, the i Phone Photography Awards have produced a superb crop of images this year, and in doing so have provided some pertinent reminders of two of photography's most important lessons. First, you don't need the latest tech to make great images. Second, the best camera is always — always — the one you have on you.

You can see the full selection of images, including second and third place winners, at the i Phone Photography Awards website.

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Writer, photographer and editor Jon Stapley is an expert in all things cameras and digital art.

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