Capturing the epic

When I originally posted this brief, I was hoping that this kind of image would feature in the top entries.

Photographs like this are proof that with a great set of technical skills and a good eye for light, you can achieve epic photography without needing an obviously epic subject.

The composition is spot on, with a lovely slanted weight to the image which guides your eye to the gorgeous "god rays" and a beautiful sharp tree in the foreground.

Fantastic work.

One of my favourite ways of enhancing the "epic" is to use humans to scale the landscape. This is an incredible example of that kind of approach.

The quality of the light is phenomenal. The contrast is just right to bring out the footprints. I must have spent about a minute trying to study the two people and see what they are doing down there!

I really really loved this image. It will be one of my favourites for a long time. Please, please keep making images like this.

After much debate with myself, I just couldn't select a photo from the entries that could beat this one for me.

Something about this shot screams epic and grabs hold of my attention for much longer than most photographs ever do. Some of the qualities that nail this are:

Incredible sharpness in the image (and reflection) which immediately shocks the eye. Tremendous visual weight across the photograph. Beautiful character in the cloud above the mountain and around to the sides of the image. Great reflection work - just the right brightness to be believable and powerful. Not too much foreground, plenty of room for the subject.

But - having said all the above - my favourite part of this whole photo is actually the small stream on the left hand side of the image that catches my eye and puts the sheer size of the peaks in scale, reminding me that they are huge and... well... epic.

Amazing shot.

This photo was an immediate shortlist for me as soon as I saw the thumbnail because it grabbed my attention immediately. It's an absolute corker of a photo. Now I've said that I will try and explain why.

The path of the road through the image creates an immensely pleasing level of symmetry. The peaks of the hills are all clear (and form visual pathways) due to the brightness of the light falling on them. This also gives the photo great 3 dimensionality.

The left side and bottom are really well burned in with that vignette which focuses the viewer on the gorgeous light in the top of the frame. Once you hit the top of the frame, the eye is guided straight back down and along the road again which is why this is such a magnetic and attention grabbing shot.

To add to that - I noticed from the description that this image was a real struggle for you to get. I have a tremendous respect for you for climbing that hill and taking this shot. I, personally am extremely grateful you did take the image, because after reviewing 1300 images over several hours I can say for certain that the quality of my top ten was significantly improved by it's presence.

Amazing work.

This image is absolutely dominated by the intensity and quality of the light within it. The exposure you chose must have been absolutely perfect to be able to keep the detail across the image - either that or it's a composite with some cleverly diffused light added.

Regardless, it is a fantastically compelling shot that has a strong impact on the emotions of the viewer (me!). The composition is also strong, and the sharpness is there for the most part- especially in the centre bottom of the frame.

You've used light brilliantly here to bring out the best qualities of this landscape, and I'd be willing to bet that everyone who sees this image in the top 10 will agree it's about as epic as photography gets.

Great work!