The collection of images for our ‘Beach’ competition category was uniformly high, and the selection of the winner was a tough call.
Australia’s summer period proved to be an ideal time to run our December ‘Beach’ photo competition, and the category attracted significant interest from our contributors. And while we got great numbers of entries, the quality was also extremely high, with lots of interesting ideas and some excellent execution supporting them.
This month the Editor of Australian Photography + digital magazine, Robert Keeley, was our judge, and he found it hard to pick the overall winner, as well as two highly commended images, because the range of entries was uniformly high.
Ultimately he picked as overall winner ‘Corridor of Light’ by Andrew Jones. “Amongst a collection of well thought out and cleverly captured images which illustrated different elements of the beach culture, I was particularly taken by this unusual idea from Andrew Jones. He’s combined the neat idea of drawing with light (via an extended exposure and the use of artificial lighting) with the beach setting around dusk, and then he has repeatedly drawn his light to create a tunnel-like effect. It stood out to me as a creative idea and a unique interpretation.”
The two runners up were also earned high praise. “I really liked the image ‘In the Swim’ by Nathan Brayshaw because it has an almost photojournalistic feel to it. Taken right amongst the waves as a young girl enjoys a refreshing dip, it draws us into the action in much the same way as some of those great in-close surfing shots do. However, rather than capturing the drama and danger of those daredevils in action, in this instance the shot encapsulates something much more attainable to most of us who visit the beach each summer – the simple pleasure of cooling off amongst the waves on a warm day.”
Finally, the other highly commended image, ‘Beach Blues’ by Janet Storer, takes a completely different approach with a combination of six blue-toned images of abstract beach sand. “On one hand, the blue tone is counter intuitive to the warm colours we generally associate with sand and the beach, and on the other the various interpretations of sand reinforce how much the environment of our beaches can change. This was a novel way of exploring the beach, and it continued drawing my eye back to it.”
Thanks to all our competitors and congratulations to Andrew Jones who has won a Spyder4PRO courtesy of Kayell Australia, valued at $240. The theme for our January photo comp is ‘Farm’. You're free to interpret that any way you like, with images of farmers, crops, livestock or anything else you associate with a farm. The best photo will also win a Spyder4PRO from Kayell Australia. This competition is now open.
Our 'Beach' competition winner, 'Corridor of Light' by Andrew Jones.
Highly Commended, 'In the Swim' by Nathan Brayshaw.
Highly Commended, 'Beach Blues,' by Janet Storer.
'Beach,' by Fiona Dalessandro.
'The Beach,' by Brett Clark.
'The Beach,' by Libby Holmsen.
'The Beach,' by Rick Bucknall.
'Buffalo Beach Aerial,' by Alister Cameron.
'Coconut Throwing,' by Barry Kearney.
'Coogee Beach,' by Ralph Alquezar.
'Cottesloe Beach,' by Ben Reynolds.
'Dusk diving,' by Louise MacDonald.
'Early Swim,' by Libby Holmsen.
'Flying High,' by Berni Cameron.
'Halcyon,' by Luke Wood.
'Heading Out' by Kristi Teakle
'Jump,' by Houen Ying.
'Kids at the Beach,' by Anthony Byron.
'Lone Surfer,' by Ben Neideck.
'My Beach,' by Joshua Reuveni.
'Newcastle Beach,' by Brad Smith.
'Rock Pools at Sunrise,' by Nerida Brain.
'Smashing Icebergs,' by LM Cantley.
'Sunday Afternoon,' by David Psaila.
'Sunshine Lifeguard,' by Dave Gleeson.
'Surf Life Saver,' by Ben Reynolds.