Environmental portraits

This striking shot really stood out for us as a winner very early on in the judging process. The photographer has met the brief perfectly and has created a very classic environmental portrait look. The cinematic style is synonymous with the environmental portraiture genre and the lighting in the image is very pleasant. We particularly like the light on the man's helmet. Good environmental portraits tell a story about the main subject and give an insight into the subject's world, and this image does both really very well.

The ability to capture and depict your subject's character is extremely important in environmental portraiture and here the photographer has done that perfectly. We absolutely love the expression on the farmer's face and the fact that he is making eye contact with the camera really engages the viewer. The photographer has also very skilfully used lighting in order to balance the environment with the bright sky and the use of an ultra wide-angle lens has ensured that plenty of the surroundings have been captured adding context to the shot.