Outside Benches with People

A bench with a beautiful view and I guess a fairly spontaneous shot snapped as it was on an iPhone. To be honest though if you sat down and planned this shot in advance, carefully considered the composition, the position of the girl on the bench and the colour of her clothing then you’d come up with an image very similar to this.

It’s a very subtle image that doesn’t shout for attention but I like it very much indeed.

Congratulations on your top ten placing.

Beautifully processed giving a richness and vibrancy to the colours that fair make this image leap off the screen.

The characters look good in their period costumes and are arranged well throughout the frame. It’s a pity that the guy in the pink blazer isn’t looking into the frame and interacting with the lady looking at him but that’s just me being picky.

All in all this is an engaging image that holds the attention well so congratulations on your top ten placing.

There were a lot of images of down and outs on benches submitted to the competition but this is very much my favourite of that genre.

I love the presentation, the off-centre composition and the grainy retro feel to the whole picture.

Simple, sad and eloquent ....... a beautiful image.

What a beautiful image this is. Lovely colours and light and a carefully considered composition. Better for me with a touch more space to the left and right as it looks a little “squashed in” but that’s a personal opinion rather than a criticism.

As this competition has proved over and over again there are a lot of benches with wonderful views in the U.K. Well done on your top ten placing.

I could wish that there was just a touch more space left and right but oh what a lovely image.

A pretty girl, tastefully posed and fabulous colours, what’s not to like?

Well done on a deserved top ten placing.

Oh I do so like a good composite and this is indeed a good composite.

It fits the competition criteria, it's colourful, well executed and fun. I just love the relaxed posture of the guy staring off into middle distance and waiting for the rain to stop.

Congratulations on a well deserved top ten placing.

The composition is good with the old lady slightly off-centre and the conversion to black and white is most apt as colour has no relevance here. It’s a poignant and oh so sad image which tells a story of loss and the pain of losing and as such is universal in its message. Surely no-one can look at this image and not be moved by it.

Congratulations on your top ten placing.

This is all about the light and those wonderful near silhouette figures scattered through the image. Again I would imagine this to be a fairly spontaneous shot but even so the figures are arranged in a most photogenic way and could almost have been deliberately arranged in those precise positions.

I have a suspicion that this would be an even stronger image if the group of people walking out of the frame far right were cropped out but this is very much a subjective opinion.

All in all a fabulous image and so well deserving of a top ten place.

Thanks to all who entered the competition and for submitting such a variety and high standard of entries. I found that I chose my top ten fairly easily but I’ve had a devil of a job placing the top ten into order. If I could give everyone joint first place then I would as I love all of them in different ways and for different reasons.

Some people may be surprised at my choice of winning image as at first sight it’s so ordinary. No snazzy post-processing, no fancy views or pathos just two people sitting on a bench having fun and striking silly poses.

This image makes me smile so much but it’s also a very accomplished photograph in its own right. Composition and exposure are perfect, it’s as sharp as a pin and the colours really pop.

Perfect for the competition and in my view a most deserving winning entry.