Premium Photo Competition 2014 Q1 : Results
- Competition Winner : First Prize
- $2,165.00 plus a Leica X2 Camera worth $2000
- Judges Comment
- A tight composition of a frozen moment where light, colors, contrast, shapes and all fall in place. It has an almost filmic feel to it, as a still from a story. This image has a strong appeal from the first moment we looked at it, and keeps surprising us with how we are dragged into the story in an image that seems to have no loose ends or errors. Great work!
- Photographers Comment
- Thanks for the great honor! I'm very delighted to see this picture winning the first prize. It was taken in Kolkata, India, while I myself was waiting in another cab at a traffic light. I used an Olympus OM-D with the Leica 25/1.4.
- www.ralphballerstadtphotography.net/
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- This image immediately caught our interest. It has beautiful movement and is in balance. The colors of the runner separates him from the surroundings.
- Photographers Comment
- I am honored to have received this mark of excellence for this photo! Thank you to the judges! The image was taken in December 2013 in Havana, Cuba. My girlfriend and I had managed to convince our wonderful guide to show us some of the "real" havana rather than the same old tourist spots he would normally take his clients to see. We ended up walking along a street in a residential area alive with children and young people playing and hanging out in the streets. At some point this boy bolted from around a corner, screaming and running towards me as he was rejoining his group of friends . I had just enough time to raise my camera and grab this shot which really captures the young man's joyful energy. It was taken using a Nikon D7000 with a 24-70mm f2.8 lens. Post-processing was limited to slight cropping as well as exposure and contrast adjustments.
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- A well performed "feel good" image and a man with a mission. Beautiful image.
- Photographers Comment
- Wow, how exciting - thanks. I'm a keen amateur. After a really LONG wait (and saving plan) I unboxed my M240 on Christmas day - the best camera I have owned by a country mile. We travelled to Noosa heads in Queensland Australia for a summer holiday. The time around sunset was wonderful - great light and plenty of relaxed fun times - it was a hard decision to take photos or to go for a surf! I was sitting on rocks watching and trying to learn how to focus a rangefinder and I liked the scene. I waited - and the couple frolicked in the waters edge and then the surfer ran across (excited to get some waves). A beautiful place. The lens is a Summilux 35mm 1.4 - I cropped it in LR5 and fixed a few levels - but not much. David Hunter-Smith
- huntersmith.smugmug.com/
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Almost too good to be true, but we really liked to look at this and imagine waking up in the house on the hill. Fairytale landscape well told in a single image.
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Effective black and white image of the body and movement. Almost like a dance. Well lit and well composed.
- Photographers Comment
- Thank you very much, I'm glad to receive a mark of excellence! This is indeed an Ashanti dance... Shot with a Canon 5D, Mark II and Canon 50mm-f/1.4 USM
- www.facebook.com/katja.alexiadou
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Fairy tale moment captured with a sense of slow silent movement and depth. Well done!
- Photographers Comment
- Thank you so much for this recognition. I am very honoured. My name is Anna Moskalkova and I am an amateur photographer based in Spain. I am in love with nature. And I enjoy seeing beauty in most simple natural surroundings even if the sky is grey and the grass is Brown :) This image was taken in the pine forest of Castilla y Leon where days like this happen only once a year not more. It was snowing intensively only for 20 minutes or so. I used Nikon D800, 35-70 lens.
- www.fotografia-creativa.com
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- An everyday moment in an amazing location. Well composed so you sense both lots of free space and amazing view, and at the same time the everyday tasks.
- Photographers Comment
- Thanks, i'm glad you liked this photo was taken in Propriano, a litte city in the Island of Corsica in Mediterranean Sea. I sooht it with a Nikon D300 and Nikor 80-200 Thanks a lot
- marcelabarrios.book.fr
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Enjoyable composition and processed in a way so just the lines of the landscape and the people stand out. Well seen and thought through.
- Photographers Comment
- This photo was taken from Yuanyang Rice Terrace in Yunnan China. This photo was not edited and was taken while waiting for sunset. I composed and waited for the farmers to walk in between the trees before releasing the shutter. I f you look closely you can see the reflection of the blue sky and some green scrubs on the left bottom corner of the trees. This photo was taken using Sony A7 with Leica 70-180mm Apo+ 2X Apo converter using the magnifier focusing of the camera Tony Mok Singapore [email protected]
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- The wall that never ceases to amaze. In an image made both beautiful and impressive. Well done!
- Photographers Comment
- Thanks to the judges for the Award of Excellence mark. Much appreciated ! This photo is a good example of why I always carry a small back up point and shoot camera. I wanted to get a shot of the Great Wall that was different and had no people on it. In order to do this I went to the Great Wall in Badaling, China on one of the coldest days of the year at 7.a.m in the morning. I had been taking photos all morning and the batteries on my big DSLR cameras finally gave out because of the cold. All I had working was a small Canon G9 compact camera when I took this shot in the late afternoon. Although the straight photo is nice it didn't have the 'antiquated' feeling that I was looking for so I tinted the photo to give it the look you see here. I think it works well and I'm glad the judges appreciate the photo. Thanks again.......
- wesleythomaswong.com
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Tight balance and few colors to tell a simple story where you can almost sense the air and the sound. The image is not as simple as it looks, and we like that!
- Photographers Comment
- Thanks again for this selection as Mark of Excellence. I appreciate the judges comments about being able to feel the solitude of this photo. We took a family vacation to Lugu Lake which is the highest mountain lake in Sichuan Province and looks like Heaven. It's wonderfully peaceful and the water in the lake is incredibly clear. The sun is very low here and it gets very hot. We had taken a raft into the the lake and I had already jumped in the water because it was so hot. The feeling was like being born again....My wife, who had forgotten to wear a swim suit was too shy to jump in naked. I told her nobody could see her and she didn't have to worry but she resisted until finally I 'kinda' pushed her in. The look on her face is priceless and I had a hard time getting her out of the water after she went it.....After I took the photo I said what all wives hate to hear, "I told you so dear....... " Tech Notes: Canon 50D w/ 15-85mm lens
- www.wesleythomaswong.com
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Beautiful capture of what appears to be an everyday moment. Good control of overflow of light to make the image sparkle.
- Photographers Comment
- This photo was taken in Xiapu Fujian China using Canon 5D Mark 2 with Leica R 28mm version 2. Tony Mok Singapore
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- A different take on Empire State Building in New York. A family, or simply tourists taken by the view of a city that never sleeps.
- Photographers Comment
- I feel honored to have this one featured with a mark of excellence. Thank you very much. The photo was taken at Rockefeller Center in New York (apparently). I knew a lot of the postcard kind of photos from Empire State Building with lower Manhattan shot from Rockefeller Center, there's millions of it I reckon. I wanted to have a different one. As I love street photography a lot I thought about combining a well known landmark with the people looking at it. And of course, I took the obvious ones as well :) Shot with Canon EOS 450 D and Canon EF 50mm 1.8 II.
- www.martindietrichphotography.de
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Almost like a painting and with the question remaining if this is really how she looks. Very good mood and extremely well-executed technically.
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Everyday life somewhere in the world captured at the moment where it could seem surreal. Well helped by composition, great timing and isolating the subjects and story.
- Photographers Comment
- My name is Albert Engeln, I am French and live since 15 years in south of Spain ( Almeria). This photo was taken in Barcelona, I was walking around the market place taking pictures, then I saw these scene at a restaurant nearby. The 2 woman, the man with his phone, the chairs, the background, everything seems just perfect, and made that picture with my Ricoh GRD. Thank you very much, Albert Engeln
- www.pbase.com/pung/root
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- So simple you can't help but wonder what the story is. The emotion in this image is special, with the tree blown in one direction, end the person working her way up the road. Well seen and executed in all it's simplicity.
- Photographers Comment
- Mano Leica M8
- www.manopic.com
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- So many choices, and what we find ourself occupied with is wondering why they can't agree which way is the best? Good storytelling.
- Photographers Comment
- Hi, I am Petar Sabol from Croatia. I took this photo in Tunisia at Chott El Jerid near salt lake in 2010. I was using Sony a700 camera with Minolta 80-200/2.8 lens. Post processing wise i only converted it black and white while lines and paths are more eye catching than in sand color.
- www.sharpeyephoto.com
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Morning somewhere in the world with lots of space and clean air. We wonder what they have of plans for the day. Cute and well-told story!
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Clearly a school picture, but what an interesting way of writing "school" on the wall so it is so evident what it is. Great colors, simple storytelling!
- Photographers Comment
- I'm an Italian photographer based near Venice, interested in portrait and travel photography. I'm very happy to see this picture with a Mark of excellence: it's all for those children! This photo is a part of the series "The road to the future", a photo documentation about the educational path in Mugunda (Kenya) through some of the primary and secondary school in that zone. In this picture you can see some pupils of the nursery in Tanyai Primary School in Mugunda. I've realized this reportage with a Fuji X-Pro 1 and a 23mm lens.
- www.francescofratto.com
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- One of these persons trolleying around in airports. They are all over the place, and somehow it is good to break the generality with ... a nap!
- Photographers Comment
- I was on a trip to San Francisco while I took the picture on the Frankfurt Airport with a Leica M240 and Summilux 50mm. You might be a left over from the last nights flight or just woke up early to catch the red eye. Any place to rest or sleep is welcome. Postprocessing is just a B&W conversion in LR, Thanks for the award Cemal Sagnak, Germany