Premium Photo Competition 2015 2 : Results

Competition Winner : First Prize
$1,005.00 and a Leica X2 Camera worth $2000.

Judges Comment
Great photograph of activity and aesthetics in a beautiful location. It looks like a landscape and sort of is; a skater park with the light playing in the waves of concrete and the photographer playing with the shadows. Beautiful photograph - and the winner of the I-SHOT-IT Premium Competition. Congratulations!
Photographers Comment
I appreciate the quality of photos that come your way and am grateful to be honored with this prize. I took this photo at the skatepark at Venice beach in Los Angeles while visiting in May this year. I was out and about taking photos as usual and came across this lovely scene. It was taken with a Leica M (Typ 240) and a 35mm Summicron, post processed in Lightroom with a VSCO preset. My name is Sam Grover and I'm based in Portland, Oregon, USA.
samgrover.com

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Such a straight-forward viewpoint, yet so different and telling with a great atmosphere. This relaxed state is how we should all travel. Great use of travel time and a great photograph!
Photographers Comment
Thank you very much for giving my photo the mark of excellence! My name is Emanuele Daga, I am studying cinema in Rome and I love photography. This particular shot was taken on my flight to Tunis. It was shot with my Leica m6, 35mm summicron lens. No post-production.

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Beautiful portrait that shows a boy proud of what he is and what he is doing. Great photograph!
Photographers Comment
Thank you for choosing my photo and giving it the mark of excellence, it is truly an honor! My name is Chuck Poole and I am a photographer from New Jersey/New York area. This is a portrait of my nephew who wanted to portray both intensity and pride in this shot. He will be thrilled to see his picture here.
www.capturethered.com

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Smoke and dust and as if another time, this could be a painting. Great photograph!
Photographers Comment
What a nice surprise! My name is Younes Kabbaj (from Hong Kong) and I took this photo with my wife's Leica Q (an excellent camera). It was taken in Morocco during a fantasia. This is a contest between teams of horseriders where the winning team is the one in which all the riders fire their gun at exactly the same time (making it sound like a single shot) and as late as possible. And of course the horses are galloping at full speed... The dresses, the horses tack, the dust and the smoke make it really look like another century scene and I am honoured by the judges finding my photo reminds them of a painting. Thanks again for organising this great competition.

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
We spent quite a bit of time looking at this photograph, enjoying the intimate atmosphere and trying to guess what the circumstances and the location might be.

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Beautiful quiet moment in a place that seems to be in a distant place far away from stress and busy life. A moment to look at and enjoy.
Photographers Comment
Thanks a lot!! This picture was taken in the very north-east of Newfoundland, where you rather have a boat than a car and the most people make a living by fishing or from timber. It was taken with a Canon DSLR and is a long-time exposure on a highly overcast day.
www.franziskahain.de

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Interesting portrait we guess is most likely seen and taken in the moment, and likely the son is busy watching television or games. Beautiful light, beautiful colors, beautiful expression.

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
The high key of this photograph makes it even more evident that the person on the boat is alone in the midst of nothing. It’s a very interesting effect and we spent a while looking at this.
Photographers Comment
The photo was taken whilst on a boat trip back from Ile de Sein, Bretagne/France. It´s a rough spot to sail. The clouds gave no more contrast to the horizon, therefore it came natural to keep this image in high-key. Only little post-processing in LR with conversion to b/w, no more. Nikon D700, 70-200 Nikon lens. Thanks a lot for your mark of excellence. I appreciate it a lot. Klaus Schlotthauer, Germany

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Quite a photograph! The scenery and the trick with the cards, real or not, makes a great photograph and an even better portrait if that was the point. What really makes it sing is the angle and the lines. Very interesting!
Photographers Comment
hello my name is Sittig Fahr-Becker, i’m a photographer from Munich Germany. thank you for the mark of excellence! the picture is from a photo shooting for the hotel Flushing Meadows in Munich. the trick withe the cards is actually real, the hole picture was one shot withe only a little bit of retouching.
www.sittigfahrbecker.com

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Almost like a selfie. If everyone squeezes in and looks at the camera! But we guess a great photographer captured this moment and that the subjects weren’t aware that we would get to see them in a cozy moment. Great work!

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Everyday work made to look exotic and aesthetic with beautiful colors. We like the composition and timing which is what makes this photograph really work!
Photographers Comment
This photograph was taken in India, Varanasi. I've used a Leica X for this scene. In India, the light and colors are always amazing, especially, in the early morning. These attributes can change the daily life moments into something more exquisite. It's a honor to be recognized with this distinction among such great photographs. Thank you for this mark of excellence. Rui Caria.
www.facebook.com/ruicariaphoto

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Having a relaxed moment in front of the store where he sells cigarettes. That is our guess. It’s great light and great colors, and a great telling composition with a very relaxed attitude.
Photographers Comment
I'm Sohail Karmani, currently based in Abu Dhabi. This photo was taken earlier this year in Sahiwal, a city in Eastern Central Punjab, Pakistan. The shop, if I recall right, is a hardware store -- hence the knives to the left of the photo. The photo was taken with a Sony RX1R with its fixed 35mm lens; it was processed in ACR.
karmani.photography/

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Happiness and lots of space to express it. Great composition and use of space, yet with the main subject literally jumping into our attention Great tonality too!
Photographers Comment
Hi, my name is Tommaso Galli, thank you for your comment! The shot has been taken in Ilha de Mocambique near the "fortaleza" where all the kids jumps from the street in the water below with high tide. I used an Olympus OMD E-M5 with Zuiko 17mm F1.8. PP in LR and Silver EFEX
www.iwasthere.it/

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Very nice use of a beautiful stairway and architecture. When you see a wonder like this you want to photograph it. In this case it has been done with great control of the frame, the light and with a rhythm of subjects on the stairs that accentuate the architecture. Great work!

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Casually hanging out in the sun looking at the street life. It could be the afternoon break at a writers workshop or scientists trying to make sense of the relativity theory. But then a woman walked by … Boys will be boys. Great photo that starts the imagination as to what is going on both inside and outside the frame. Great work.
Photographers Comment
This photo was captured in 1982 whilst walking along the sea front in Hastings, Sussex, England. These gentlemen were sitting outside a guesthouse watching the world go by and I came by with my Nikon F and 50mm lens loaded with HP5 which In those days I developed and printed myself.
rangefinder.dk

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
A relative simple and well performed image that seem to operate with several layers by having the curtain, the reflection and open window. Nice capture!

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Being in the right spot at the right time … and remember to take a photograph with intelligent framing, good control of exposure and colors. That’s how you do it! Well done!
Photographers Comment
I've been very lucky to be there, at this very breathing spot..! This was shot in Cabo Verde, on the way to the village framed : Fontainhas. It was all about making choices, pretty fast choices because light changed quickly but I think we can feel the atmosphere of the scene which was the whole point.
500px.com/tomberthelot

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Fascinating heavy rain and vivid colors. Love it.
Photographers Comment
WHO: My name is Carl Valiquet. I am a retired advertising and travel photographer from Montreal, Canada. Now living in the city of Solo in Central Java Indonesia. WHERE: I took this image in Solo city, Java, while doing a series on bechak drivers ( similar to pedicabs). WHAT CAMERA & LENS: Leica M9. Lens: 75mm Summarit 2.4 I had bought this lens especially for my project. I post processed the DNG file in Lightroom and chose Kodachrome 25 in Alien Skin software. MORE INFO: It was late afternoon when the heavy rains began to fall. I jumped on my bike, hung the Leica with the 75 around on my neck and put on a rain jacket to protect my gear from the rain. I was lucky to find a lean-tow that protected me from the heavy rain. I waited for the bechak drivers to pass by, opened the lens wide and shot at 1/500 sec. 500 Asa.
valiquet.com

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Intersting portrait that seem to also include the thoughts or something more than the person. Beautiful colors and intense look. Love it.

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
Not technically overwhelming, but a great capture of mood, life and love. We really like this.
Photographers Comment
Nazario Fraija Pulido. Camera model : Leica M8. Postprocessing: 0. Location: Rome. One of my last pictures of my last trip to Rome. On my way to the airport waiting on a red-light there was a redhead girl making fun of her own reflection in the drivers helmet, such a great fleeting moment i had to capture.
500px.com/NazarioFraija

Mark Of Excellence

Judges Comment
It would be wrong of us not to include this cheerful face. Generally you don’t want people to pose or make faces for your camera, but with talent like this you've got to make an exception. Beautiful capture that makes us make faces when we look at it.