We’re happy to announce the winner of July’s competition, “Textures and Layers.”
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 “Textures and Layers” Photo Contest
Textures and layers are a powerful combination in photography and they are difficult to photograph well. Combining textures and layers in an image needs careful observation, wise choice of subject, elements and the right lighting to get the best resulting image.
Textures are interesting and photographing just the textures close-up may not always end in compelling photographs. Layers on the other hand can be a powerful tool to enhance depth and visual interest in an image. Combined, both work together and help achieve great results in a photograph.
When capturing textures, the photographer needs to take into account the camera settings as well, in order to capture the details well. Narrow aperture values for crisp texture details and low iso values to capture neat noise free images.
The contest theme for July was “Textures and Layers’ and the photos from the participating members included interesting submissions covering various genre in photography like macro, portraits, abstracts, nature, landscape, still life and even street photos. The submitted photos portrayed unique interpretations of the theme with images shot under great lighting and also some submissions making use of light and shadow to enhance the layers and depth in the image.
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, etc. The results are entirely subjective and there are no losers in any competition as we all know.
Here are July’s winners:
First Place: “Wet, Layered, and Blooming” by Pat Garrett
Pat submitted this image of a Hosta along with its flower and this image really stood out in terms of composition, light and is a great example for the contest theme. The textures, colours on the leaves and flowers complement each other while the light used is great to highlight the elements, reveal the layers and in the process add depth to the image.
Pat’s choice of perspective and angle has made use of the lines in the leaves leading to the flower, making them natural leading lines to draw the viewer’s attention to the flower. Also the leaves act as a natural frame for the flower.
The light and shadows in the image are used cleverly to reveal depth by choosing the right choice of lighting and the water on the leaves add a fresh mood to the photo. Congratulations on the win Pat and for capturing this interesting and unique shot.
Second Place: “Organic Textures and Layers” by Frogdaily
This organic textures and layers photo by Frogdaily is interesting taking into account how it was executed and photographed. The monochrome colours in the photo make it even more visually appealing without much distraction in terms of colours.
The water and oil droplets on a glass plate with kale at the bottom is a very interesting concept making every element in the frame almost organic too. The textures created by kale and the tiny droplets are really beautiful and the light is just right with details in all parts of the image.
Congratulations Frogdaily on this cleverly executed shot.
Third Place: “Liquidambar bark” by Beverley Kirkby
This textural image by Beverly really stood out in terms of the textures, colours and the amazing light and shadows — the star shaped leaves really add so much visual interest to the image. The Liquidambar bark would not have looked very interesting if it was photographed without the shadow of its leaves.
Besides the above, Beverley has made use of the right light when photographing the bark – it is neither too harsh nor too soft but the right amount to reveal the bark details, add some depth and provide those interesting shadows with enough contrast.
Congratulations Beverley on capturing this beautiful photo.
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 Light Stalking which they can spend as they please on our blueprints, drills, courses or Presets.
The most popular photo for July, voted by the contestants was “Start with a List…” by Pat Garrett, which has won the people’s choice award. The many textures and layers formed by reflections on glass makes the photo more interesting and at the same time a very engaging one, making the viewer quite curious.
Pat has managed to avoid any light reflecting off the glass, which may have otherwise created bright spots and ruined the image. The subject is beautifully illuminated with soft light and Pat has captured the right amount but still very sharp details in the photo. Congratulations Pat on the win.
We are about two weeks into this month’s photo contest and still have a couple of weeks left to submit photos to our August’s monthly contest. This month, our theme is “The Art Of Reflection.”
If you would like to join and enter some images into our monthly contest then take a look at your options here.
