As a landscape photographer, one of the most difficult elements when looking at a scene in front of you is to capture the drama as it unfolds and this image does just that.
There is a lovely sky that has been rendered well, with plenty of detail, colour and tone captured. The movement in the waves is just about right for me. The water is soft enough not to jar with me but fast enough to capture the drama and power of the water.
The lighting is the real winner here though and the author has managed to to convey the feel and look of the scene perfectly. Well done.
Firstly, congratulations to the author of this winning image and to those whose images were commended, too. Thank you to everyone who entered too. It really was a very tough competition to judge from nearly 3000 images.
Why did I pick this image as the winning one? I tried sticking to the subject 'Moving Water' and sought to find an image that conveyed just that as well as being strikingly individual and a stand-out subject.
This image of three young boys enjoying life and playing in and with water really struck a chord with me. I love the composition and the colour palette captured. The splashes (no pun intended) of green and pink really lift this image.
The shutter speed used 1/400th ensured that the motion of the thrown water was captured mid-air and in a frozen state which contrasts nicely with the seemingly slightly softer water in the background. The sunlight really lifts the image and allows for both the thrown water and the waterfall at the bottom of the image to stand proud of the water in the background. This gives the image depth and a 3D quality as a result. The image is super sharp too which I feel was required to have it work well.
Overall a very worthy winner and thank you to the author for submitting it. Well done.
2,854 Images entered
I am not normally someone who ranks abstracts terribly highly and especially in the company of some outstanding landscapes but this image captured my attention and held it long enough to place it in the top ten and indeed at one point on the podium itself.
The colour is the most obvious attraction here closely followed by the lovely blurred shapes. The inclusion of the tiniest flecks of raindrops is beautifully and again less is more in this instance.
Why did I eventually drop the image from third place to forth? The bright area top right of the image. Had the author cropped the image down from the right a little to exclude the bright area (and it really is noticeable once you first see it), then I believe this image would have been a top three.
Overall though a really pleasing image and worthy of being in the top ten. Well done.
Meet the expert judge
Brief
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The tranquil stillness of lakes and ponds have their place in the photographic canon, but that's not what we're looking for in this contest. We'd like to challenge you to show us how skilfully and creatively you're able to capture the movement of water. Get with the flow!
2,219 Photographers
159,174 Ratings
My third place goes to the author of this wonderfully simple image.
Firstly, I love black and white images as they quite often stimulate an emotion or a reaction that colour simply cannot manage, and this image is a perfect example of that.
The simplicity of black and white allows the author nowhere to hide when capturing an image on camera, and the success of a good black and white image relies heavily on both the subject matter and composition and to my mind, this scene would have worked far less had it been shown in colour.
I love the composition with at least half of the image in complete mist. The phrase 'less is more' is demonstrated here and the inclusion of half of the image in mist really adds to the sense of drama and has the viewer's eyes focus clearly on the waterfall.
The long focal length used (300mm) has helped to compress the scene perhaps bringing the waterfall more into view and at f/9 allows just enough of the foreground to be just about in focus without being too much of a distraction. I also feel that there's just about enough depth of the foreground captured to give the image some foundation without it being overbearing too.
The image also appears to be well exposed too and while you can push the blacks and whites to their limits, I appreciate the fact the author appears not to the have done so in this case.
Overall a superb image worthy of third place. Well done to whoever took it.
