Graphic designer and photographer Karen Jones was happy when cell phones started featuring built-in cameras.

"I thought, ‘Great! Now I can take snapshots,’" she recalls.

But after a while the artist inside her realized there was so much more potential to those ubiquitous cameras than simply snapping family and friends.

"My favorite film camera is a $2 camera I got at Goodwill," says Jones. "The cell phone camera is the digital version of that. I realized that you can go beyond the snapshot and produce exhibit-quality photography from it."

After sharing those thoughts with colleagues and friends, who passed it on to their friends, Jones put together a show featuring 30 cell phone shooters, ranging from beginners to professional fine-art and commercial photographers. The exhibit is on display at Kapiolani Community College’s Lama Library through Aug. 13.

Among those whose works are featured are father and son Ric and Zac Noyle. Ric is well known in Hawaii for his commercial work. Zac just got hired by Surfer magazine as a staff photographer. Unfortunately, some of Zac’s work was stolen from library walls, though that might be an indication of their appeal.

Renowned fine-art photographer Franco Salmoiraghi submitted a series of cloud images so colorful and artistic they seem at first glance to be painted.

Other contributors are retired architect Herb Hong, beginner Robert Nakama and commercial photographers Val Loh and Hawkins Biggins.

"Most people are hung up on the latest equipment. They say that if they only had the newest lens or newest camera, they could take better pictures," says Jones.

"We wanted to prove that it’s more about how you see than the equipment you use. It’s more about your vision."