The My Nightworld challenge was inspired by Mark Kimber’s moody night locales, drawn from his Adelaide childhood. Featured in issue 54, Mark’s photographs inspired us to set a challenge that we hoped would encourage participating photographers to produce their own nocturnal studies. And encouraged they were. Indeed, such was the uniformly high standard of our entries, that we’ve dedicated extra space to the Challenge this issue.
The winner by a short half-head was Royce Holliday’s simple but cleverly constructed picture of a feather by torchlight. In recognition of his effort, we’ll be sending him a Kata Revolver-8PL Backpack.
To overtax the horse racing motif, you could throw a blanket over the rest of the field this time around. Penne Stevens’ sculpture by night photograph wouldn’t have been nearly as dramatic by daylight and Robert Zappia’s frog close-up also benefits from the noirish effect of a single spotlight amidst the inky shadows.
We had our preconceptions about Maroochydore challenged by the gritty urbanism of Luke Smith’s nicely composed street picture. Nick from Showgloss Pics found a striking streetscape himself and although we’re not sure just what’s going on, no one could say Geordie Elliott’s composition lacks drama. Although pushing the limits of his camera’s sensitivity, we found Andy Parkee’s watchful dog a pleasantly peaceful mise-en-scene. And Jarrad Van Beem’s photo reminded us of many a night at camp under a starry sky.
First Place: Feathers at Night by Royce Holliday
I think of the boy I was who, after his bedroom light was turned out, would shine his torch on feathers he found that day.
(No post-capture processing was done. I took a photo of a feather lit by an ordinary torch and printed an A4 copy.Then I placed the same feather in the foreground of the photo, changed the ISO, set the focus on Flexible Spot on the foreground feather and took a second shot. No computer manipulation was used. My camera is a Sony DSC RX1. I have just recently taken up photography and am loving it!)
First Runner-up: Frog Exposed by Robert Zappia
Heard a croaking noise after some recent heavy rain, so I grabbed the camera and a torch and went outside. A lovely big green frog had taken up residence on top of the water tank and was just begging to have its photo taken (seems like humans aren’t the only species affected by ‘celebrity culture’).
Second Runner-up: “The waiting woman and dome of souls” by Penne Stevens
The woman is looking out to sea, hoping to see the ship return, or maybe, she’s turned her back, as it’s all too much to bear. HMAS Sydney II memorial in Geraldton WA.
Honourable Mention: Tagged by Luke Smith
Couldn’t control the weather, but my trusty little Panasonic FT3 weathered the wild storm.
I found this alley the other day when I had to drop my motorbike off for repairs and walked to work. It got me inspired to show a different side of Maroochydore.
Honourable Mention: Untitled by Andy Parkee
When my sons are getting ready to sleep, our dog Rocco will jump up on their beds, look out the window and give any passing dog or cat a good barking at. Here Rocco monitors the street after some rainfall.
Honourable Mention: Untitled by Nick of www.showglowpix.com.au
Honourable Mention: Untitled – Jarrad Van Beem
This photo was taken whilst camping near Steep Point, Western Australia.
I exposed for the sky and filled in the foreground from various points with my LED torch.
Honourable Mention: ‘Lighting Tuesday night’ – Geordie Elliott
Details of the next Photo Challenge are published in Photo Review magazine. Click here to order online or to find out where to buy your copy.
