Happy Accidents

This photo is made more interesting precisely because its a badly panned shot. It heightens the effect of the running legs seen along the leading lines of the composition. I enjoyed the photographers take on Eric Morecambe’s old joke that he had all the right settings but in the wrong order - something that sums up all the successful entries in this competition. Well done.

I’m glad this photographer didn’t delete this photo as originally intended because what is captured here is a piece of impressive Impressionism. There is just enough detail in the animal to recognise that it’s a speeding deer and the blurred background shapes resemble a herd of deer running alongside him. Well done for not trashing your very happy accident.

Lots of entries in this contest were not genuine 'happy accidents' - they were intentional camera movements, planned zoom bursts or just normal regular photos. The most successful entries were the ones that had something go wrong whilst retaining a semblance of the intended photograph. This explosion of colour coming from around the car’s wheel is a perfect example of a 'happy accident' and I completely understand why this is the photographers favourite ‘fluke’ shot - it’s my favourite 'fluke' shot too.

I love this graphic photo made up of elongated triangular spikes representing the buildings and lights surrounding the similarly spiked Tower of London. I think most photographers would be hard pushed to recreate this effect either in camera or in post production. Happily the photographer hadn’t propped up the camera securely thereby accidentally creating an original piece of photo art. A beautiful effect which I'd loved to have created myself.

This photographer advises that we should always check our camera settings before taking a photo but had he heeded his own advice then this photo would never had happened. Sometimes it pays to experiment with unconventional settings in order to capture something unpredictable and out-of-the-ordinary. Congratulations on the way you’ve captured this handsome tiger with his restless stealth movement albeit unintentionally.

This accidental photo is so full of atmosphere and movement that it would have been a shame had the photographer lost the blurred moment and captured his intended sharp shot. The in-focus wisps of snow and the eagles tail feathers give the viewer enough visual information to see that the bird is launching himself off the ground. Well done for creating a great piece of impressionism. Please don't dismiss artistic shots with slow shutter speeds so readily because there’s a lot to be said for them as your photograph so convincingly proves.

I wanted to find a pair of 3D red and green filter spectacles to view this floral arrangement. I felt the 3D glasses would make the foliage leap out more forcefully from the frame. Well done for creating a well balanced, three-dimensional photograph which try-as-you-may you’d be hard pressed to create intentionally

Another successful ‘happy accident’ where the photographer luckily forgot to reset the settings. This time it was the camera’s multi-exposure setting that was left on resulting in a multi-layered lithographic print artwork which any fine artist would be proud of. The straight lines and cubist rectangles immediately lead the eye to the largest recognisable feature - the round clock face with its Roman numerals. A nice balance between lines and curves. Well done.

This is an example of the foolish risks we photographers sometimes take to get our desired photo. Luckily this photographer moved away from the oncoming train in time to be rewarded with this 'happy accident' rather than a potentially 'unhappy accident' had he stayed where he was standing. I love the erratic movement of bright lights in the foreground set against the static night lights of the skyscrapers in the background. Well done for capturing a great action shot but please remember to always stay safe.

This photographer should try moving his mobile phone along his bicycle handlebars more often if this is the kind of result he gets. Most of us just accidentally catch our boring old feet instead of nicely framed shots of bicycle wheels and shadows. I would have cropped the photo a little tighter to get rid of the angled yellow band at the top but this photo really stands out because of it’s unusual perspective and focus. Well done.