Night shots

Night photography requires great technical skill in lighting, colour balance and focus. Although this may seem like an odd choice for winning a night shot composition, it was the image that kept in my mind the longest after viewing all the submissions - the composition and spotlight draws the eye in to the peaceful figure, and then the delicate lighting leaves you searching and intrigued as to what is in the rest of the image. I would be interested in seeing more from this series.

This is a fantastic piece of night street photography, beautifully sharp focus on the figure, with intelligent composition from the ridged shutters on the right drawing the eye in to the face. The blown-out street lights in the background also create a kind of halo around the subject. The fact that this portrait was shot at night gives it the broad range of tones that make it truly stand out. And the delicate lighting on the face, which creates an air of mystery, was another of the many reasons why this image stuck in my mind.

When you think of night photography, you instinctively think of long exposures and blurred lines of light. This sort of night shot which featured heavily in the submissions for the competition, so choosing my favourite was tough. This particular shot stood out due to it's bold composition, well-executed exposure and shutter speed along with the fantastic small details such as the "hold tight" text repeated around the base of the ride, all together creating this beautifully eery, transfixing, yet slightly unnerving photograph.

This is a great piece of night photography, beautifully framed by the surrounding silhouetted tree branches. The delicate pastel colour palette along with the gentle level of noise all together create a mesmerisingly painterly, and romantic aesthetic.

This image made it in to my Top 5, as it was not your typical night shot photograph - it reminded me of a Tom Hunter or Gregory Crewdson shot. The cinematic aesthetic of this image is fantastic - this shop window front would not have been anywhere near as intriguing if it were shot in daylight, however in this setting the whole image has a slightly unnerving quality to it, leaving you searching for a figure in the top bedroom window and analysing all the small background details through the shop window.