One Lone Person

It wasn't until I'd got this shot up on the desktop Mac to have a closer look that I began to appreciate its quality. The contrast and sharpness is superb but above all - it's the overall detail that does it for me - from the tiny speckles of snow on the tree trunks to the myriad of tree branches throughout the entire image which, to my eye, appear to have been softened slightly in post-processing - much to the shot's benefit I hasten to add. Again, compositionally it's spot on with the lone person taking centre stage towards the bottom. Well done, and my thanks for your entry.

Whatever the case, this shot was always going to be in the reckoning and, admittedly, I initially deliberated somewhat over its inclusion within the top 10....but here it is. The more I look at it, the more I like it. Compositionally, it's perfect with the three main mountains all roughly taking up the bottom 2 thirds of the frame, with the lone person perfectly silhouetted against the bright sky and which immediately draws the viewers eye. However, it's the overall gritty contrast and sharpness you have here which is the icing on the cake for me. I will always be a sucker for a good high-contrast black and white landscape shot - and this is right up there with some of the best in my opinion. Well done and my thanks for your entry.

A shot after my own heart...the wide open beach, not another soul in sight, the reflections in the sand - not only of the surfer - but of the clouds above, coupled with the relatively washed out cool colours all coming together to portray - what I think - is a beautiful shot which meets the brief perfectly. Well done and my thanks for your entry.

Another beautiful shot. Like many others, I can sometimes get completely caught up in the lack of detail within the darker areas of photographs - be they my own or others - and I did wonder about that aspect as I took a closer look at this shot. Having said that, some thought has clearly gone into this aspect - with the side of the hill top right perfectly lit with just the right amount of detail being brought out. The same can be said of the shore mid left and - of course - the mountains in the distance. As per the brief, what tops it off rather perfectly is the lone young lad bottom left with his fishing rod, with this fantastic mountainous landscape as a backdrop. Well done and my thanks for entering this contest.

Another shot which grabbed my attention straight away. It has atmosphere, contrast and moodiness in spades. Not only do I very much like the processing employed here but I also particularly like your capture of how the sun has lit the whole scene...with, again, that all-important element of the lone person perfectly silhouetted against the background. I love it - and my thanks for your entry.

Firstly - as always - my thanks to those who took the time to enter this competition abiding by the brief in the process....onto the winning image...and one word sprung to mind - spectacular! I love the overall moodiness of this shot with those angry clouds hovering above centre stage, the detail of the rocks lower left, the pathway lower centre that leads the viewer into the shot...and that bright light seemingly coming up from below...and all topped off with that all-important lone person silhouetted perfectly against said bright light. Perfect. My congratulations on your winning entry.