Amateur Photographer Magazine

Amateur Photographer monthly forum competition results for March 2009

Friday 24th April 2009

Damien Demolder

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that this March competition attracted the most entries ever in the history of the Amateur Photographer Forum Monthly Competition – so well done and thanks to so many of you taking part. As usual the standards are very high, and we've had some imaginative interpretations of the 'Looking Up' theme, from upward camera angles to subjects peering skywards and towards the camera. Unsurprisingly, we didn't get a single portrait of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. There's not much looking up for him!



Just to remind you, the forum competition is kindly sponsored by Nikon. The top prize each month is the delightful Nikon Coolpix S560 10MP compact camera. Our second and third prize-winners get an 'Amateur Photographer Loves My Pictures' mug.



I've been a bit harder on the entries this month to create a shortlist that fits on the page – so we're 'down' to just 36! Special mentions this month go to Bogdan for Gazing at the stars, geoffL for Hello, nice to meet you, Benchista for Up, OneTen for Up, up and away (though I'm sure we've seen it before), PhilW for Screens and Silentbutdeadly for Mars on Heath. There are quite a few others that deserve a special mention, but we'd be here all day listing them all.

So, on to the winners.

Third place: JaySteel, for Coming out of the shadows......



I do like cats, but I'm not such a cat fan that I'd be swayed by the cute 'n' fluffy factor. I've picked this shot because it is full of character and it's been shot from an interesting angle. I like the shallow depth of field that makes sure we concentrate in all the right places, and the fact that the light lands full on the face to pull it out from the background. The expression on the cat's face is great, though I can't decide what he/she is thinking, but with the camera below the creature has power and authority. Pity the mouse.

Second place: APchris, for Voyeur



What a wonderfully creative image this is. It really got my attention as soon as I saw it (and not just for the rare glimpse of female flesh either I should say before you all open your filthy mouths!) because it's so unusual, and it made us all laugh. It doesn't work just for the comic factor though, as Chris has done a great job technically to get that real-life look.
I remember a set of Cokin masks (that may still be in production) that allowed you to 'shoot through a keyhole'. They were ghastly when I first saw them, and would probably get you jailed nowadays, but this is a whole new approach. If they have Internet access in prison I'm sure APchris will be delighted to hear of his win. He very nearly got first place with his plug-hole cam view. I just hope it really is a work of fiction!

First place: Adam_Charles1, for Self – Portrait



However good the other entries are this month it was always going to be hard to beat this excellent early effort from Adam_Charles (the first?). It's a striking picture that's been really well lit and very carefully thought-out. I'm not 100% sure exactly how he shot it, but the positioning of the flash behind the subject works wonders, and the exact control of focus gives us just the right amount of information. It's a very creative shot that demonstrates an interesting style that Adam is developing – mostly centered around pictures of himself!! His Flickr site is worth a look.

Thanks to everyone that took part in this monster competition. I've really enjoyed looking at your pictures and have been inspired by the way you have gone about fulfilling the brief. Thanks too for your patience in waiting for the results – unfortunate holiday dates meant I was away when the competition closed.

Damien

I hope you can all find the time to enter the April round too.

Click the links to see all the Amateur Photographer forum photographic competition entries for March and here to read the March forum photographic competition discussion thread

This is where you'll find all the rest of the year's Amateur Photographer forum photographic competitions and discussion threads.

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