Planes, trains and automobiles

A simple idea, but it works because of the great depth to the picture and the fact the inside of the cabin is nice and sharp. I love the story it tells of driving through the rain on a busy lit street with the blurring of the street lights and the dim glow of the red and white dials. I think it works all the better because the driver is also blurred so your eye isn't drawn to him - just the dynamic moving scene ahead.

What a powerful reportage shot, with so much to look at and consider. This is such an alien concept to people in Europe, but I'm sure a perfectly sensible solution to getting around if one lives near the railway in an Indian city. I like the way the frame is filled, and I love the fact that many of the subjects appear to be looking at the camera. I also rather like the pastel softened colours - I'm not sure if this is scanned from a colour negative or has received some post-production treatment, but nevertheless it works well.

A classic iconic image from the US. If there is a single element that makes this shot it's the straight road running up through the frame. It demonstrates a great eye from the photographer and real sense of the gigantic nature of the US deserts. The epic landscape combined with the hard-edged truck makes for a lovely pic. I might have retouched out the biker at the bottom of the hill as he is a distraction and your eye is drawn to him.

I do like this - it's possibly a little "overworked" with the HDR treatment for my taste but it catches your eye and is very attractive as a finished piece. It reminds me of a cross-processed negative shot from the late 90s. The signage is lovely and interesting with so many classic iconic designs, and the battered truck is fascinating to look at with all of its dents. I would have rotated the image a little to square it up.

Car-to-car tracking shots are one of the most challenging of environments for anyone shooting automotive subjects. There is much to like in this shot: firstly, it's sharp! This is no mean feat when leaning out of the door of another car. Whilst on this subject, please be careful in these situations - no picture is worth death or serious injury. I use a proper camera grip and strap around my neck to hold the camera, and I wear a full body harness attached to the car so I can't fall out - the boot is also locked open with Manfrotto clamps to ensure it doesn't come down on me. Once snugly secured to the chase car the next challenge is avoiding distortion - don't go too wide, keep the camera low, and use shutter speeds around 25th of a second or less to get movement in the road surface. It's also wise - as was done here - to add headlights in afterwards, because if actually on they will flare into the camera.

Wow! What a photograph. Love it. It's all the more impressive when one realises the care and attention that went into the retouching of smoke and the use of a movement filter to blur the environment. The low angle provides a refreshing take on a much-photographed subject. The tonal range is lovely - no areas are blown out or badly blocked in. I think the only change I would have made would be to have put a small amount of blur on the front wheels.

Where can I start with this shot, other than to say I wish I had taken it. Quite superb, and the Live Crowd winner with good cause. It is an exceptional photograph, both technically perfect and just a thrill to look at. I guess one could get picky about the position of the rudder and ailerons, but that would be very unfair. It is a masterful composite image that has a very high degree of realism. I think the exceptional file resolution of the Nikon D800 and the sharpness of the 24-70mm lens have also helped with the composite work in this instance. I also tend to use a 24-70mm when shooting real world aerial photography as this gives the most useful focal range for air-to-ground work. Always set a high shutter speed, and try to avoid telephoto lenses where possible as they increase the risk of camera movement. A decent 1A Skylight filter will also reduce the impact of haze interfering with the view.

This is a lovely image. The long exposure has been timed perfectly at a quarter of a second. One quarter to 1/2 second is generally a good starting range for this type of blurred image on relatively fast moving objects - just be aware that if the shutter speed is too slow the object can disappear completely! This shot also works well because of the raised viaduct and the water in the middle distance. The colours are great as are the cool clouds. I am assuming it's a train but I guess it could be a truck on a road bridge? It may just need squaring up a bit.

This was a strong winner for me - I love it on so many levels. It has vast amounts of detail to engage the viewer, punchy, surreal levels of colour saturation with a varied range of car colours - something one would never see in Europe. It's great to see a photographer not scared of using colour in all its glory. Whilst not a pre-requisite to a great shot, the use of various post-production techniques here has been highly effective. The tilt-shift filter really plays with your sense of perspective and scale to suggest a possibly miniature world. All the elements are perfectly placed, and the elevated angle - I'm guessing from a bridge - is also key to the shot's success.

This is a spectacular shot: a military jet flying down the valley below the eye-line of the photographers. It is a dramatic depiction of the outstanding skill of these pilots and indeed the photographer for a perfect capture. One second later and the moment would have been missed. I love the fact that the other man taking a picture is also in the frame - it humanises the whole story and adds enormously to the drama of the shot by giving depth and context. Lovely post-production treatment brings out every strand of grass with a rich tonal range and plenty of detail in the cloudy sky. I'm glad the colour saturation has been left at a normal level - on this occasion it would have been a mistake to desaturate it too much.

A really, really lovely shot. Dynamic panning shots of moving machines - whether it's a car, a train or a plane - are never as easy to execute as one imagines. The secret is to start the camera movement before the object comes into frame - this means your movement is already steady before the object enters the viewfinder. These old American cars in Cuba are sensational and a dream photographic subject. In this instance the selective desaturation of the background is complementary to the shot as it looks natural - like sand coloured stone. Be very careful, however, of the old cliché of a pure black and white background with a coloured object.

As with many things in life photography is largely about being in the right place at the right time. It of course helps if your career takes you into fascinating environments that are unique and unusual. This is just such an image and I like it a lot. This again is one of those flying situations where you really have to admire the skill of the crews. But it's also a skilful capture. The framing of the opening draws one's eye into the subject and the perfect visibility gives the shot a perspective of the ground that really helps make it even more dramatic. It simply wouldn't have worked as well on a standard lens - it was shot on a 17mm and that was the right choice.

I read the notes on this and saw that it only became apparent when the images were being previewed on the way home. How cool to discover that you have captured such a great split-second moment. These vortexes can appear on jet aircraft in a random way, so they are almost impossible to plan for. A fast shutter speed, good panning action and the correct telephoto lens have all helped to produce a stunning image. I love the fact that there is also a shadow under the aircraft.

Great, great shot. I love it. I took something similar a couple of years ago for the Breitling Jet Team. These type of display images really exemplify the exceptionally skilled flying of display pilots by showing such symmetry. The red of the aircraft is perfect, and the blue sky and the clouds add enormously to the charm of the shot. The composition works so well, too - it would be a much weaker shot if the formation was in the middle of the frame.

There is something quite compelling about this image, and I like it a lot. No, it's not sharp anywhere in the frame, but does it matter? Not really - it communicates the story brilliantly. I love the light trails from all those elements on the ground during the last moments before landing; the colour combinations are delicious. This depicts a city and the modern technology in a simple kinetic way. I can almost feel the humid heat of a summer's eve in Manila.

This photo made me laugh out loud. What a joyful image, great fun. That in itself, however, wouldn't be enough to get it into the award winners - it also has excellent photographic execution. Real thought has gone into this. The colour of the fireworks matches the paint colour; the lighting on the camper van is good (always challenging with a large flat-sided metallic object); and there is one simple bounce back on the door - nothing too distracting. Turning the front wheels also makes it look more elegant.

I am a great lover of symmetry and this is one of those fabulous clean locations that lend themselves to a high-tech interior shot like we have here. The blurred moving train to the left of frame is just right, helped by the complementary colour of the train matching the opposing wall. The photographer has avoided too much flare from the overhead lights, which is good. I suspect there has been some perspective and distortion correction to the file as it's not suffering from as much barrel distortion as one would expect on a 17mm focal length. Most post-production software will allow you to correct this distortion and I always recommend it to make your shots look more professional.