Cereals (crops or products)

This image was never out of my top three and for me wonderfully captures a scene played out across the countryside at harvest time, as farmers work to gather the crops long into the evening whilst the weather holds. The wide framing works well with the subject. For me, much of the success of the image is in your choice of a low viewpoint which adds to the action and gives a sense of scale of these large machines, and your capture of the beautiful lighting and peachy blue sky, shot just as the sun slips away for the evening. Congratulations on your winning image!

This image shows the intense work involved in cereal production when the process is not mechanised - I wonder how may hours this man squats in the sun sifting the grain from the stalks? I love the vibrant colours which portray the heat of the sun, and I also really like your composition, and how you have taken a lower viewpoint, rather than standing above the man as he works - this brings us closer and gives a sense that we are part of the action. Great documentary shot, well done!

This image works well for me - I like the panorama and your decision to position the cow right in the centre - central positioning of an object does not always work, but here I think it does. In the background you have captured a great scene, as the farmers work to squeeze every minute out of the light to get the crops in before the weather takes a turn for the worst. Lovely natural colours too, a great image, well done.

This represents a lovely summery scene just before harvest time. I like your decision to show the scene in portrait format, as it really shows off the crops, and the photogenic tree adds interest in the background. Some people would not be happy that you have swapped the original sky, but for me that does not matter here, as it looks natural (the crops looking rich and warm, as if they had been captured on a sunny day) and the sky could have looked just like this had you been able to visit to photograph on a different day. (For me, the problem with sky substitutions is when the lighting in the sky and on the land do not correspond, or when people use a sky off the internet which somebody else has photographed.) A simple, but pleasing landscape image, well deserving of its third place.

This was one of the images which immediately caught my attention. It is clearly a field of cereal crops, but by getting up above you have been able to show the field in an abstract way - the composition being nicely assisted by the circular wheel tracks around the greenery (although I am left wondering about the set of tracks heading straight into the bush!!). Great abstract image - keep up the lunchtime jaunts!!

I really love this image. Often rather mundane scenes of everyday life are presented in a dull, gloomy and grim way. Here we see the opposite, with the vibrancy of the red paint smears on the walls contrasting wonderfully with the indigo blue door and denim, hung out to dry in the heat. Here also we see the main subject for this contest, the drying grains spread out on a cloth, adding more contrast with their golden yellow colouring. Great work, well done!

This is a very strong image of three ladies working the crops in the absence of machinery, giving a good sense of their daily grind. I am uncertain where you were positioned to take the shot as it seems to have been taken from an elevated position, but this gives a more graphic shot. The only thing which could have improved the composition for me, (which would have been out of your control in a candid shot) would have been if the lady in green were a little further back, so the figures then formed a perfect triangle! Still a great image, well done.

This is a well seen and well captured image - simple in the subject choice, but producing an effective and interesting shot. I like the sharpness of the oats against the softer back/foreground of the barley, and your composition with the subject on the right third-line has worked well. I especially like the lighting and colouring you have captured across the whole frame, with the crops having a soft, painterly look. Lovely image.