Dear Forumites

It is so customary now for an awards speech to begin with words that flatter the entire body of entrants. A moaning voice will tell us the competition was soooo difficult to judge – but I shall avoid all such over used, and often thoughtless, tripe. You can see for yourselves the number of entrants in the March round of this engaging contest, and you can see clearly enough the standards that are being constantly set and then exceeded. Make up your own mind whether a short list was easy to make, or a winner easily found.

My short list this month comprised 25 images of the record breaking total class of 102. Rather than list the names, I have produced a grid of those images, so we can all see which ones made it. The stats say that in the first instance about 1 in 4 images entered were considered possible winners. That’s an incredible achievement, and reflects extremely well on the members of this fine forum.

Just to remind you of the prizes: the first placed image wins a wonderful Nikon Coolpix S210 compact camera – kindly donated by Nikon UK, and second and third placed pictures win a highly coveted ‘AP Loves My Pictures’ mug.

So, to the final winning group: my second sweep took the number down to five, including three placed images, and two further that achieved Highly Commended status.

That pair of Highly Commended images are, in no order, gmack’s snow pelted trees and PhilW’s striking blown-away girl in an industrial setting. Both of these are excellent images, that demonstrate a keen eye for an interesting subject as well as for stunning composition. Well done.

3rd place: MartyG

This month’s third prize goes to MartyG for his Flying in the Big Apple. The familiar flag is suddenly alien in black and white, and set against the towering buildings it takes on a new iconic look. I don’t know whether it was shot in colour or black and white, but either way the end result is really striking.

2nd place: APchris

Monochrome and form are powerful bedfellows and Rocket Man by APchris shows exactly why. Although of course this image has a door and some steps these are not the subjects at all. It is their shadows that do all the work here, and which express the shape of the tower so incredibly well. The lighting is perfect and the subjects really well chosen to make the most of the conditions. It’s an excellent picture

1st place: AlanW

Photographic greatness comes sometimes through nature’s provision of the right genes and cells at the moment the photographer was conceived, in other times through study, practice and hard work; and in others again through luck. Looking here at a single image that’s separated from those that came before and after, it is impossible to tell from which set of circumstances greatness was achieved. But whether by luck, study or birth AlanW has created something very special with his photograph ‘In Paris’. It has style, wonderful composition, generous light, beautiful tones – it has obviously been handled with extreme care to retain its detail through subtle contrast, and exposure that delivers texture, atmosphere and the air of a true classic. Although the standard this month is extremely, extremely high this image grasped my eye the moment I saw it, and it hasn’t let it go since. It really is quite wonderful.

Conclusion:

Yours, in admiration

Damien Demolder