We’re happy to announce the winner of June’s competition “June 2025 Photo Contest Winners: Minimalism and Simplicity.”
For those who don’t know, the Light Stalking Monthly Photography Competition carries a $100 People’s Choice Award and a $100 Overall Winner Award. The People’s Choice Winner is selected by a vote of the community, whereas our guest judge selects the overall winner.
The “Minimalism and Simplicity” Photo Contest
Minimalism in photography is about reducing the number of elements, minimising or even eliminating patterns and textures to capture a simple image with a strong composition that is visually appealing and can keep the viewer engaged. As you gain experience in photography composition, looking at a scene will give you ideas on whether it will work for minimal photographs, but sometimes you can also just focus on a part of a grand scene and capture minimal photographs.
Less is more in minimalist photography and the concept for this type of composition is simplicity. Just eliminate unnecessary elements and focus on a single element or subject in the frame and it will be a great start to minimalism and simplicity in photography. Using negative space can be a powerful compositional tool in this case and converting images to black and white can emphasise minimalism further and add a timeless and classic touch to the photos.
The contest theme for June was, “Minimalism and Simplicity” and participants submitted their interpretations of this theme through interesting and visually striking photographs. Landscapes, wildlife, portraits, nature, still life, macros of flowers, bugs, objects, and many other subjects were captured and submitted for June’s contest.
When choosing the winning photos, we wanted to make sure that the decision process was based on a good interpretation of the theme, followed by other factors like light, composition, story, details, creative vision and thought, etc. The results are entirely subjective and there are no losers in any competition as we all know.
Here are June’s winners:
First Place: “Family” by Elin Laxdal
Elin submitted a beautiful photo of a common loon with her babies, titled “Family.” The composition in this photo is minimal with the focus on just the bird and the chicks. The photo also portrays a sweet story – the bond between the parent and the babies.
Elin also used the reflection of the loon in water to her advantage, as a leading line which is a powerful compositional tool. Also, her choice to convert the image to black and white has eliminated anything distracting in terms of colours, that may have taken away some attention from the subject. The image is perfectly exposed with details in both the dark and bright areas and the eye of the bird is also perfectly in focus.
Congratulations on the win Elin, this is a brilliant shot that portraits minimalism and simplicity in photography.
Second Place: “Mantid” by Tersha
Tersha’s take on the photo of a mantid is very clever and the way the photo is composed is unique. Not many photographers would think about cropping off an insect’s head in the image, but Tersha’s choice to keep the abdomen and just a pair of legs in the frame arouses curiosity, while also being visually interesting.
The image is even more simplified with a monochrome theme which is green. The textures in the background are soft and minimal and hence not distracting. The legs of the mantid serve as leading line and also as a frame to bring focus on the mantid’s abdomen. The abdomen itself is interesting, with patterns that are of visual interest. The soft side lighting technique has added depth to make the image even more interesting.
Congratulations on this creatively framed and captured image Tersha.
Third Place: “Serenity Floats” by Pat Garrett
Pat shared this very minimal photo of a leaf floating on water, titled “Serenity Floats.” The scene indeed looks very serene with the waters looking calm and the leaf floating still on the surface. The golden hour has beautifully backlit the leaf, revealing some of its textures and emphasizing the warm colours. Also the reflection of the golden sky in the water adds visual interest and a perfectly warm atmosphere for this serene shot.
Pat has chosen to eliminate any other distraction in the scene in terms of colours, objects and other elements. The serene atmosphere itself is a minimal concept in the frame, and the colours, light are soft allowing the viewer to focus on the subject. Pat has also exposed the image perfectly to capture details on all parts of the leaf including the underside.
Congratulations on this beautifully captured image Pat.
People’s Choice Award Winner
Our monthly photo contests also come with a People’s Choice Award. The winner of this part of the contest receives $100 worth of store credit on Lightstalking which they can spend as they please on our blueprints, drills, courses or Presets.
The most popular photo for June, voted by the contestants was “Mechanized Symmetry” by Frogdaily, which has won the people’s choice award. Frogdaily has made use of simple subjects and composition to capture this beautiful photo.
The light illuminating the subject, the beautiful reflection and the soft bokeh, make this image visually appealing. This image is also an example of how still life can also be captured with minimal elements and a simple composition. Congratulations Frogdaily on the win.
We are about two weeks into this month’s photo contest and still have a few days left to submit photos to our July’s monthly contest. It has already seen some interesting submissions. This month, our theme is “Textures and Layers.”
If you would like to join and enter some images into our monthly contest then take a look at your options here.
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