Newspapers

This is a super image of an older gent, in what looks to be a bar or cafe, who looks engrossed in reading the paper. Great black and white work, with a full range of tones from black to white, and some good punchy contrasts. The lighting, which appears to be coming from a window out of frame to the left, illuminates the man's face nicely. Good focus throughout, revealing plenty of detail in the environment. Congratulations on your second place finish.

This image caught my attention from the start during my initial review, and was always a likely winner. I think one of the main successes of the image is the viewpoint, taken from low down at table level, which gives a more dynamic and interesting feel to the shot than a standard head-on portrait. From such close proximity, the subject must have been aware of the camera, but you have managed to capture a great candid-looking environmental portrait. The wide aperture, with resulting shallow depth of field, has kept sharp focus on the man's face, with the foreground and background elements, whilst clearly recognisable, falling nicely out of focus. Although I have not seen a colour version of this shot, the image works very well in black and white, which has been very well handled. Congratulations on your winning image.

A great candid action shot of the newspaper being delivered by an enthusiastic delivery boy. Perfect timing to capture the newspaper in motion, isolated from the bicycle in the background so it becomes an obvious feature of the shot. The shutter speed used looks appropriate for the image, as the boy's face is in sharp focus, with the movement being captured by the blur of the newspaper, obviously in motion rather than being 'frozen' mid-air. A wise decision to convert to black and white, as any distractions from colour are avoided. Good tones and contrast in the monochrome conversion, I like the darker look of the image as it seems to show a little more grit and texture. Great candid street image, well done on your top ten placing.

A super candid environmental portrait image of an older gent reading his paper. Well lit, with the natural light coming through the side window creating a lovely feel to the shot and picking out a lot of detail (including the mis-matched socks!). I like the composition and framing, with the subject fairly centrally placed, and just the right amount of his surroundings visible to prevent him being eiher too small in the frame, or loosing any sense of the setting by being tightly cropped. Black and white suits the subject, and has been very well handled with a good range of tones from black to white. There are a lot of very dark areas, but these do not dominate as the subject is clearly picked out by the light. Congratulations on your third place finish.

A great night-time image of a shopkeeper reading his paper. The lighting draws the eye to the subject, well positioned in the composition, but there is just enough light illuminating the darker areas for all the details of the wares on sale to be seen. A peaceful and restful candid moment, very well captured. Well done on your top ten placing.

There is a lovely tone to this still life of newspapers. Your composition works well, and everything is in sharp focus. The black background, which has been kept very clean, helps emphasise the subject, and the reflection in subtle and not distracting or dominating, as can sometimes be the case in images photographed on a reflective surface. Some lovely gentle colours complete the scene. Well done on your top ten placing.

Great environmental portrait of a street vendor with his newspaper. Although you have used a very narrow aperture creating a shallow depth of field with focus on the man's face, the newspaper is still a clear part of the composition to be an ideal image for this contest. Great lighting and tones across the shot, with full attention drawn to the subject. Great work, well done on your top ten placing.

There was another image entered into this contest of a closer view of what looked to be the same lady, but I prefer the wider view which captures the surroundings in which she sits. The sunlight looks to be strong, creating some deep shadows, but the shot has avoided being dominated by harsh contrasts, instead there is a lovely gentleness to the image. The lady reading her newspaper is an obvious focal point, but there is plenty of well captured details in the surroundings for the eye to explore. Great image, well done on your top ten placing.

This is such a simple subject, what looks to be glasses or other breakables wrapped in newspaper for putting in packing boxes when moving house, but it has been so well captured. You have captured the shape and form of the wrapped objects through very effective control of the lighting, and there is a good balance of shadow and lightened areas across the shot. There is a lovely tone to this image, which makes it very appealing to view. Well done on your top ten placing.