Amateur Photographer Magazine

The third place goes to Badgerman for his extraordinary Voracious Predator (a name that was hilariously copied by one of our newbies for the title of a picture of his soon-to-be child. I’m not sure if that was intentional or not!). Badger has captured this beast at just the right moment, and with it’s head-on angle the picture shows the beetle in all its terrifying glory. These guys are not easy to shoot, as they don’t hang around waiting while you take off the lens cap, so Badger has done well to get it all sharp, well lit and in the frame. These technical issues are unimportant, however, when you consider the impact of the picture and how it stands in its own right. Well done, it’s very impressive.

This month’s runner up is AJUK, with a beautiful shot of a rose. I can’t begin to tell you how many rose pictures I have seen, and you probably can’t count the number you have seen yourself. This shot though is quite different – but it has not won its place just because it’s different. The composition is not what you might expect, and yet it works – and neither is the shot especially sharp – but I like that. The ‘grain’ adds more atmosphere; and the toning adds yet more again. One assumes the photographer made it this way on purpose, but still other photographers might criticise it for its crimes against technical perfection. The consumer of photography, though, will appreciate soft romance, the natural air and the pure beauty of such a delicate creation.