We're happy to announce the winner of November's competition, “The Power Of Scale.”
For those who don't know, the Light Stalking Monthly Photography Competition carries a $100 People's Choice Award and a $100 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 “Power Of Scale” Photo Contest
Scale in photography is a very powerful compositional technique and it helps to show the relationship in sizes between objects, emphasizing the actual size, providing context, and also showing grandeur. This can be applied to landscapes, other subjects in nature like trees, animals, etc., or even manmade structures.
Some of the ways in which the power of scale can be photographed is experimenting with forced perspective to create scenes that play with the viewer's perception of scale, using macro photography to bring attention to the small details of life, emphasizing their scale compared to the human world, capturing images from aerial perspectives to highlight the scale of landscapes and human impact, creating compositions that juxtapose objects of vastly different sizes to emphasize their scale.
For November's contest, participants came up with their creative interpretation of the theme where a lot of natural subjects and elements, man-made subjects and still life were photographed. While some members also used camera techniques or unusual perspectives to capture the power of scale in photos, each photo was unique and stood out in its own way, portraying interesting interpretation of the theme.
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, etc. The results are entirely subjective and there are no losers in any competition as we all know.
Here are November's Winners:
First Place: “Alone” by Tersha
Tersha posted a photo that is a partial silhouette and one that is a great example of scale in photography. The image has a unique type of visual weight where the person is facing the right part of the frame (looking away), but feels balanced by the structure. Also, one can notice the feeling of “alone” in the photo and the composition emphasizes the emotion.
Apart from scale, there are other compositional guidelines in play and the light hitting the elements and the subject from the side adds a visual appeal. The colours and lines also work great together and this is a great photo and an example of scale in photography. Congratulations on the win Tersha.
Second Place: “Mini Flat Iron Building” by Jean T
Jean T submitted a photo with tilt-shift effect to the contest and it is a photo of the iconic Flatiron Building. This photo is also a great example to show scale and this has been shot from a higher perspective, showing humans, vehicles and other elements around as miniatures. The tilt-shift effect works in emphasizing the effect of scale.
The composition used in this photo is also quite interesting with the lines guiding the viewer to the focal point. The tilt-shift effect also brings the viewer's attention to the most important part of the image. Overall this is a great photo that shows scale and congratulations Jean T!
Third Place: “Watching Ice Melt” by Anne Hornsby
Anne submitted a photo with a touching message, “Watching ice melt.” This is a sad thing to witness taking into account the environmental impact of humans on nature and its elements, but this is a great photo that beautifully shows scale in photography and carries an important and powerful story/message – a symbol of climate change.
A lot of compositional guidelines are at play in this image – juxtaposition, scale, contrasting colours, etc. The tiny arches also add a touch of mystery to the image not knowing what lies on the other side. This is a great photo and Congratulations Anne.
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 Light Stalking which they can spend as they please on our blueprints, drills, courses or Presets.
The most popular photo for October, voted by the contestants was “The Rule Of Three”” by Frogdaily, which has won the people's choice award. This photo has a monotonous theme and has been photographed interestingly by Frogdaily, showcasing the rule of odds and photographing the reflection of the elements on the surface. This is a well thought still life photo, to show scale in photography. Congratulations Frogdaily!
We are three weeks into this month's photo contest and still have a few days left to submit photos to our December's monthly contest. This month, our theme is, “Cultural Expressions.”
If you would like to join and enter some images into our monthly contest then take a look at your options here.
