Exterior of Religious Buildings

There were a number of strong images of some of Iceland's iconic churches, but this was the stand out one for me. Although set some distance away, the snowy backdrop to the black church allows the building to stand out as the clear focal point of the shot. What is especially successful is the composition, including the curving patch of snow to add some essential foreground interest. The central placement of the church and the vertical format works well too. A strong black and white conversion allows plenty of details and textures to be visible to produce an image full of interest and impact. Congratulations on your third place finish.

What I really like here is the mood and isolated sense of calm you have captured here. The lighting on the church is well captured, as the sun picks out and highlights the whitewashed exterior. The processing effects added to the image enhance the feel of the shot, with the muted colours and darkened sky and vignette, carefully applied so as not to look obvious. Your positioning to catch the reflection of the building in the water adds to the image too. Super capture, congratulations on your second place finish.

This was a late addition to my top ten, but there is something about the image I find very appealing. I like the wide crop which avoids inclusion of too much sky, instead focusing the scene on the subject. Taken in different seasons or weather conditions, I am sure this view could take on many different guises, but I like the flatness of the autumn mist and the muted colours. Your composition works well, and is well balanced. Great image, well done on your top ten placing.

The second image of Liverpool's modern cathedral to make the placings in this contest, another example of a shot which makes the most of the architecture and shows it off at its best. I like the near-symmetry of the composition, and the inclusion of all the steps in the foreground adds interest and increases the sense of dominance of the building. I am unsure whether the inclusion of the figure ascending the steps was intentional, but for me it adds to the shot and gives a degree of human interest. Very well processed with good monochrome work. Well done on your top ten placing.

Many people would go out of their way to avoid having people in their photographs, thinking they will spoil the shot. Obviously there needs to be careful attention to the positioning of a figure, and in this instance a casual tourist striding past taking a photo on their phone would not have the same authenticity, but here you have shown how important the "right" person in the right place can be in an image, as without the figure the shot would possibly be quite bland. I love the darkening effect, but there are still plenty of light tones to avoid the scene looking too oppressive, and the contrasts show the shape and structure of this rather unusual church. Great work, well done on your top ten placing.

This image is a great example of the use of lead in lines and framing of the subject, as it acts as a perfect invitation to walk through the arch and discover more of what lies beyond. The brighter tones of the tower and sky help make that part of the image a strong focal point. The shady area under the arches in the foreground have been lifted sufficiently to reveal lots of detail in the stonework, but is not too bright that it competes for attention with the main subject. Great image, well done on your top ten placing.

Although fairly distant in the scene, through the use of heavy vignetting and darkening of most of the image, the eye is drawn through to the area of the brightest light over the cathedral, making it the clear focal point of the image. The lines on the paving also act as a lead in for the eye. Composition is good, with the foreground palm tree nicely framing the subject in a subtle and not over-clichéd way. Well done on your top ten placing.

An overall comment on the contest judging: With over 2000 entries, to be placed and commended in this contest needed a extra certain something for the image to stand out and capture my attention. There were a good number of very competently photographed images of religious buildings, but many seemed to give off a message which said "I was there, I saw this church, so I took a photo of it". Here however, I was looking for something more than a great record shot, and images needed to contain something else to be awarded, whether related to the composition, angle of view, lighting, drama or mood etc.

On to the winning image: With all the above said, it was still not easy to determine the final placings, but this unusual composition is my eventual winner. To many this 1960's construction may not be considered a beautiful or photogenic building, but this image has done really well to capture the essence of the architecture. The composition is strong, with the foreground buttress dominant, but the angles give a real dynamism to the shot and invites the viewer to explore further. I like that you have included a view of the front facade too, albeit from the side. A good conversion to monochrome, with a full range of tones from black through to white with good contrasts. The sky looks natural, without any unnecessary added drama or blurring of the clouds to add some special effect. Congratulations on your winning image.

There were a number of images in this contest of this iconic Reykjavik church, but this was my favourite. The photo description says this was a night time shot, although with no evidence of artificial illumination/floodlights etc, I suspect it was maybe shot more during twilight, but whichever, there looks to have been a fair degree of lifting of the darkness in processing to reveal all the details in the architecture, which has a pleasing effect with the slightly "grungy" tones. With a structure such as this, it is vital for a successful image to be spot-on with composition to ensure symmetry, and you have certainly achieved that here. Great image, well done on your top ten placing.

There were several images of the Taj Mahal entered into this contest, and of those entered this was one of my favourites. However, I have not awarded these entries as the brief asked for entries of religious buildings used for worship and as a mausoleum/burial tomb, I do not think the function of the Taj Mahal to have been a religious building for worship, so I did not consider it on brief for this contest. A great image telling a story with the inclusion of the figure, but unfortunately not for this contest.