We're happy to announce the winner of December's competition “Light and Shadow Play.”
For those who don't know, the Light Stalking Monthly Photography Competition carries a $100 People's Choice Award and a $250 Overall Winner Award. The People's Choice Winner is selected by a vote of the community, whereas our guest judge selects the overall winner.
The “Light and Shadow Play” Photo Contest
The entries to the “Light and Shadow Play” photo contest were varied and it was quite interesting to see the participants' interpretation of the theme. Images submitted to the contest included varied genre like, still life, nature, landscape, architecture and some abstract. The ideas behind the photograph and how they were executed, were brilliant and the images made use of stunning light and shadows which was the theme of the contest.
When choosing the winning photos, we wanted to make sure that the decision process was based on a good interpretation of the theme followed by other factors like light, composition, story, details, creative vision and thought, etc. The results are entirely subjective and there are no losers in any competition as we all know.
Here are December's winners:
First Place: “Holei Sea Arch” by Kaleem S

The sea arch photo by Kaleem makes use of stunning light and shadow to reveal the different layers of the cliffs and the sea arches. The light falling at the right angle and the misty atmosphere created by the crashing waves make this image more compelling. The shadow areas are not completely dark, but reveal the necessary details and the tonal range is preserved too.
Kaleem has also chosen the right perspective and angle to capture this shot. The wave crashing on to one of the cliffs is a wise decisive moment that adds more interest to the photo. Also the idea to convert the image to black and white has worked very well allowing the viewer to focus on all the textures, shapes, forms, light and shadows.
This is a great photo that has been captured and treated well to get the final results. Congratulations on the win Kaleem!
Second Place: “State of Play” by Patrick

This still life photo by Patrick has made use of beautiful soft light and the elements in the frame are correctly lit, so the whites are just bright enough. This photo has been composed well to maintain the right balance in the frame – the bottle supported by the cards and the dice on the right to just balance the cards in the frame.
The elements, light and composition work well to keep the viewer engaged without any distraction, but the image is at the same time intriguing in terms of the story. Again the black and white treatment has brought the focus to the subjects, light and shadows, hence eliminating any distractions that the color version may have had.
Congratulations Patrick on this clever and perfectly captured shot.
Third Place: “Roses” by Tersha

This still life photo by Tersha makes use of light and shadows as a compositional guideline to compose and illuminate the frame. This is a classic example of leading lines where the light and shadows lead the eyes of the viewer to the subject, adding more depth and drama to the image. The same light also illuminates the subject, which is the bunch of roses in the vase.
The muted almost monochrome edit works very well, allowing the light and shadows to define the subject by accentuating the shapes, forms and textures. A simple yet beautiful image and congratulations Tersha!
People's Choice Award Winner
Our monthly photo contests also come with a People's Choice Award. The winner of this part of the contest receives $100 worth of store credit on Lightstalking which they can spend as they please on our blueprints, drills, courses or Presets.
Just an Egg by Pat Garrett

The most popular photo for December, voted by the contestants was “Just an Egg” by Pat Garrett, which has won the people's choice award. This beautiful still life photo highlights the shapes / forms in the image, making clever use of light and shadows. Pat has brilliantly used the right light at the right angle that has helped to preserve details in the shadows and highlight areas as well as added depth to this image. The textures also stand out on the egg and its stand making it a brilliant shot. Congratulations Pat on the win!
We're already into the second week of January and our monthly contest has already started taking entries with a lot of interesting submissions already. This month our theme is “Color Theory In Practice.”
If you would like to join and enter some images into our monthly contest then take a look at your options here.