Feb Photo Contest Winners: Spirit of the Earth

One of the things that has really sent a ripple throughout the community this year is our new monthly photography contest, and we're really proud to announce the winner of the first competition in February.

For those of you who don't know, the Light Stalking Monthly Photography Competition carries a $100 People's Choice Award and a $250 Overall Winner Award. Obviously, the People's Choice is done by a vote of the community, whereas the overall winner is selected by our guest judge, which this month was Jason Rowe.

If you're not familiar with Jason, he has been a stalwart of the photography community for over a decade. In that time, he has taught hundreds of thousands of people how to improve their photography, and his work has been seen everywhere from Etihad Airways campaigns to National Geographic.

Here is what Jason had to say about this month's winners:

Spirit of The Earth Winners

It's been a great honor for me to be asked to judge the first Light Stalking photography competition. The theme, Spirit of the Earth, attracted some amazing photographs of the nature and wildlife on the planet we inhabit. I don’t mind telling you that it was a tough job to choose the winners.

In choosing the winners I tried to keep the theme foremost in my decision making. If the images really suited the theme, then it was down to lighting and composition. I placed technique and editing lower down the decision order for this theme as capturing the beauty of our planet is very often a matter of capturing a fleeting moment, how we set up our camera and edit the image is secondary to capturing that moment.

As with any competition, the result is entirely subjective and there are no losers. So without further ado, here are the winners.

First Place

Cypress Tree Sunrise by Emily K

For me, this shot really sums up the Spirit of the Earth. You have the majestic trees signifying longevity and permanence. The mist that suggests the fleeting and the ever changing weather. Lastly the beautiful dawn light of the sun, without which, none of this would exist.

These elements combine with a beautiful composition. Your eyes wander through the shot being led by the trees and the god rays of the dawn. The image is subtle, beautiful and perhaps a little haunting, a worthy winner.

Emily wins our $250 Prize!

You can check out more of Emily's Work here:

https://www.emilykentphotography.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ekentphotography

www.instagram.com/emilyelizabethco

Second Place

Fist Of Defiance By Peter H

I really like this image as it shows both the fragility and resilience of the Earth. The subtle blue light highlights the decay of the dead forest whilst the vibrant colours of the newly formed leaves show us the forest will rise again. A very striking image that fits the theme perfectly.

https://blue-mountains-photography.com.au/product-category/fire/

https://www.instagram.com/peterdhickey.photography/

https://www.facebook.com/peterhickeyphotography

Third Place

A Day In A Flower’s Life By Jean T

I really like the deliberate use of motion in this image, to convey the fragility of the flower. The subtle blue/purple color draws the eye, led by the golden sunlight coming from the top right. An abstract but powerful way to look at the Spirit of the Earth.

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.

this month the most popular photograph was by Rosemary a longstanding light stalking member whose photography has had a strong following around here for many many years.

As you can see from Rose Marie's powerful photograph of a black sand beach with a mountain behind it her interpretation of Spirit of the Earth was spot-on and really touched a spot with our community. Congratulations to Rose Marie.

Meet her in the forums – https://lightstalking.us/members/rgatscha/

What next?

We're already into the second week of March and our second monthly contest has already started taking entries. This month our theme is natural resilience.

If you would like to join us and enter some images into our monthly contest then take a look at your options here.