Amateur Photographer Magazine

In our Low Light round you kept your cameras steady to show us sunsets and portraits, even venturing underground

Sean Slevin, of Co Wexford, Ireland, has won first prize in our Low Light round of APOY, winning Canon's 15.1MP EOS 500D body, worth £789.99. The EOS 500D features 3.4fps capture capability for a continuous burst of up to 170 large JPEG images, as well as nine-point AF and a high ISO of 12,800. It boasts a 3in Clear View LCD with Live View mode and the ability to record HD videos. Sean will also receive Canon's EF 28mm f/1.8 USM lens, worth £539.99, which offers a 75˚ diagonal angle of view and provides excellent background blur or sharpness edge to edge.

Second prize of a Canon PIXMA Pro 9000 Mark II printer, worth £499, goes to Lee Jeffries, of Bolton, Lancashire. The PIXMA Pro 9000 Mark II produces professional-quality prints at sizes from 10x13cm up to A3+ and 14x17in with Gloss, Matte, Fine Art, Canvas and Board support. Its eight inks allow for a wide colour gamut, and included is a packet of Canon's PT-101 A4 Photo Paper Pro Platinum paper, worth £15.99.

In third place, Joe Tully, of Co Wicklow, Ireland, will receive Canon's PowerShot A1100 compact camera, worth £159. With face detection, scene detection and motion detection to optimise settings, this camera produces great results. Other features include a 4x optical zoom, Digic 4, VGA movie capability and a 2.5in LCD with an optical viewfinder for framing shots.

Amateur Photographer of the Year 2009
Huge congratulations to Kathy Wright, who, through her consistency and strong imagery, has claimed the top spot in this year's contest and earns the distinguished title of Amateur Photographer of the Year 2009. For her win, Kathy will receive her choice of £5,000 worth of Canon equipment. Stay tuned for an in-depth interview with Kathy in AP 16 January 2010.

Congratulations are also due to the other members of our Top Ten, in particular Sean Slevin, Mani Puthuran and Lee Jeffries who made this year's APOY contest one of the closest and toughest races we can remember in recent years. We would like to thank everyone who took the time and effort to enter this year, and we hope to see all of you back for the launch of APOY 2010. Look for the announcement of Round 1 in AP 6 February 2010.



1 Sean Slevin, Wexford, Ireland 43pts
Fujifilm FinePix S7000, 1/160sec at f/3

Sean shot this self-portrait simply because he was drawn to the light. 'When I come across beautiful natural light, I just have to shoot something,' he says. This picture was taken on a cloudy, overcast day in his own house, using only light from the window as his source of light. 'There's just something special about the way the light enters that room,' he says. 'I have returned to that same spot a number of times.' Judges say Sean was a strong challenger for this year's APOY title with his consistently beautiful, subtle images, and this shot is another wonderful picture. Delicate light, soft tones and the air of mystery around it make this picture wonderful, like all his others. We hope to see him back next year.



2 Lee Jeffries, Lancashire 40pts
Nikon D3, 300mm, 1/125sec
at f/2.8, ISO 3200

Lee says his image was inspired by Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Taken at night in a bedroom, Lee used only a small table lamp to give the illusion that his subject was bathed in moonlight. 'Handholding with a 300mm lens at such low light is not easy,' he says, 'so it was important I maintained a high shutter speed. Using a high ISO inevitably leads to some grain. It doesn't have to be a negative, though.' Judges say Lee has shown a remarkable consistency for stunning imagery in this year's contest. His carefully crafted compositions show clever use of light and perspective, and he has been a great competitor.



3 Joe Tully,Wicklow, Ireland 38pts
Canon EOS 20D, 18-55mm, 1/13sec at f/5.6, ISO 400

Joe, who works in a picture-framing and D&P shop, says, 'This was shot on my way back to the airport after a long weekend in Normandy, France. I had no tripod, so when I saw this scene I had to support the camera against one of the pillars.' Joe was drawn to the candles in the bottom left and the way the light traced patterns on the floor. Judges say What's not to love about this image? Joe's duotone boasts incredible depth and symmetry, but the real star is the haunting light he has captured through the cathedral windows and from the candles.

Top 50 entries for this round

1 Sean Slevin 43pts 2 Lee Jeffries 40pts 3 Joe Tully 38pts 4 Keith Aggett 37pts 4 Jenny Burrows 37pts 4 Chris Bryant 37pts 4 Nicola Davisson 37pts 4 Andrew Smithson 37pts 4 Kathy Wright 37pts 10 Max Downer 36pts 10 Peter Holloway 36pts 10 Dragan Maksimovic 36pts 13 James Clegg 35pts 13 Phil Hargreaves 35pts 13 Gemma Hutchinson 35pts 13 Mark Newton 35pts 13 Razieh Shirani 35pts 13 Mike Skelton 35pts 19 Bryan Attewell 34pts 19 Geoffrey Buxton 34pts 19 Mark Cresswell 34pts 19 David Millard 34pts 19 Steve Webb 34pts 24 Rui Moreira 33pts 24 Mani Puthuran 33pts

26 Barrie Cranston-32pts 26 Rob Deyes 32pts 26 Malcolm English 32pts 26 J A Mortram 32pts 26 John O'Neill 32pts 31 Dennis Bromage 31pts 31 Stephen Hadfield 31pts 31 Mark Lorch 31pts 31 Jon McGovern 31pts 31 Patrick Murray 31pts 31 Trevor Payne 31pts 36 Jim Tate 31pts 37 John Steven Ball 29pts 37 John Gaffney 29pts 37 Jerome Murray 29pts 41 Andrew Kaplan 28pts 41 Gary McGhee 28pts 43 Robert Birkby 27pts 43 Patrick Dodds 27pts 43 Antonio da Silva 27pts 46 Jo Wallace 26pts 47 Osvaldo Hamer 25pts 48 Emily Anderson 24pts 48 Thomas Wright 24pts 50 Tim Hudson 21pts

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