Hobbies and pastimes

This photo is beautifully executed and I can see why it was a very popular choice in the crowd vote. The colour and tone are great and the observed moment is a wonderful one. The quality is rather Martin Par-esque (although more subtle) and it works really well.

By dropping the actual scene slightly out of focus we can concentrate on the subject and his painting. The photographer has really got up close and personal. The horizontal bars are visually very strong and divide the photograph up into sections quite nicely, which makes the image stand out. It is a great shot.

This is another really strong graphic shot. It almost feels like an illustration and quite 2 dimensional. It is punchy and dynamic with strong diagonals.

Again, the composition is key and showing just a hint of the hole in bottom right of frame and a small slice of the golfer is great. It shows wonderful observation and is really well captured. Just showing the shadow wouldn't have worked as well. The enhanced colour is quite strong but it works with the graphic nature of the shot.

This is a wonderful travel shot. It has good lines, and whatever colour treatment and sharpening it has been given in Photoshop, it really works well and makes this a standout photo.

The image follows the rule of 3rds which makes it visually pleasing. It can easily be divided horizontally into sections.

The viewer has a central route in with the path, the main figure in black and our focus is then taken to the mosque. This is a lovely shot.

This is a classic shot. It could have been taken 50 years ago or yesterday. There is a wonderful feel of space and light and the composition is really strong.

Converting to black and white doesn't always work but in this case it really adds to the image and gives it a timeless historic moment feeling. The viewer is sucked into the middle of the frame by the path to the disappearing figures. It has a sense of nostalgic adventure. I'm assuming the dust speckles / white spots were added in post to give the image a sense of history? It works well.

This stylised colourful go pro shot works really well. There's a lot going on in the image and the enhanced colour work and technique used to create that impact is a real success.

It's very bold and as well as being a good captured moment it feels quite considered. It's the sort of shot that will become better and better as it's a real 'of its time' image. This image in 50 years time will be a good illustration of an era. It's a very memorable image.

Another really good captured moment. The symmetry of the boarders body positions works really well. This is a busy image with lots going on but the colour treatment and slightly metallic feel means its overall effect is great.

I like the slightly lower eye view of the lens / photographer that keeps the space behind the 2 key figures quite clean, i.e. not a busy tree line in the way. Finding different view points is great; it's too easy to stand and shoot from head height.

The immaculate execution of this composite shot has to be applauded. It is brilliantly done and has a slightly surreal painterly / poster quality.

Again it stood out in the crowd and has a great quality and is very professionally produced. Photography is a wonderfully diverse medium and looking at this top 10, each shot has a completely different approach to the brief and way in which they were shot.

The desaturated tones add to the nostalgia of the shot and it has a good narrative.

This reminds me of Andreas Gursky's work and is a great image. I can imagine it printed really large and it would then demand the viewer to spend plenty of time looking at the detail.

The stripes of light through the crowd make this photo stand out and make it a more unusual shot. It adds a bit of direction through the frame. The image has a very textural quality. It works as a whole but you also want to dive in and study the people. A good photo should make you want to look more than once and this does that. A really great shot.

This image is fantastic. As well as being technically very well executed it has a good composition, the colour tones work really well and it certainly fulfils the brief / working title of hobbies and pastimes.

I like the space within the image and any colour work done in post production has enhanced the subject and gives the overall shot a great style. The curved line coming in from bottom left of the frame helps lead the eye up to the subject beautifully. The arm shapes create a good dynamic which circles your eye back down to the shadow. It's a very well chosen captured moment by the photographer.

Well done... this is great! It'd be worth shooting some more in the same vain.

Some shots in black and white feel and look as though they've been converted from a colour frame, but this feels as though it was actually shot with black and white in mind. The trumpeter has great light on the face and in the eye.

One half of the frame feels very clean and beautifully lit with the face in simple space makes for a very strong portrait. You then move into the other half of the frame behind the trumpet, the street scene, which is busy and tells more of a story. A wonderful captured moment.

In complete contrast to the winning image I love the static graphic quality of this image and would love to see it as one of a series of images.

It is bold and ordered and decorative, but is also a record of the collector's found objects. The image has a tribal feel and is visually very pleasing. It is taking the brief a little outside of the box which is great and admirable. The hobby has become the art piece.

Its beauty is its symmetry and simplicity. The image was a surprise amongst the other images and worked on a different level.

This shot had to be in my top 3. The composition is wonderful with the rocks leading you in from the bottom right and up through the frame into the clouds. It takes you on a visual journey and leaving white space at the top gives the air of anticipation and mystery. The atmosphere has been captured beautifully.

The image has a sense of calm although the story it tells could be quite perilous. There is great space in this photograph too, and in the commercial world that works well. It could be a book cover, or a full page ad with text on it.

The colour balance is also very successful and adds to simplicity and success of this shot.

A great captured moment which is a social documentary of today's world. There is a slightly odd element or feeling to the image which is quirky and makes a cultural statement. It's beautifully observed and well executed.

There could be a little more detail in the shadows but apart from that it's a really good shot. It works as a travel shot as well as good documentary. I like the framing of the wooden structure on the left of frame and the hint of a scene behind. Good, rich colours work too.

What an arresting image. This shot captures an extraordinary moment. It's always great to see a frozen frame of something you don't really appreciate in real time as it's so quick.

The shot is all about the expressions. It's been beautifully captured, framed and works well converted into black and white. Sports photography demands speed, focus and waiting for just the right moment. This photographer has done that perfectly. It's a wonderful photograph as you really feel part of the action. Even though it's shot on a long lens you feel as though the photographer was right in there.

A brilliant action shot with good framing. The tree on the left of the frame gives a good edge and sense of scale. The dead tree trunk (rail) creates a good visual line to the subject and it's a really great photo.

The colour and tonal quality is also good as the whole shot sits together well. Again it's good to get different vantage points and angles. A touch lower and the boarder would have been clear of the horizon but essentially it's a fabulous shot with a real essence of mountains and energy.