Your Best Shot Feb-Mar 2024: The winners!
Your Best Shot is a photo competition open to Australian residents. There's a different theme every couple of months, and a selection of the winning shots will be published in AP mag and online.
Each issue, AP's Editor Mike O'Connor will choose six images to be published both in print and online, with both a winner and a runner-up selected. Our winner will also receive an amazing prize thanks to Blonde Robot, the Australasian distributors of Peak Design, 3 Legged Thing, and Angelbird.
You can find out all the details for entry and the themes for 2024 here.
February/March 2024
Theme: Portrait
We’ve run the theme of portrait a few times over the years, and it never fails to bring plenty of interesting shots out of the woodwork! As always, images that try to show a glimpse into the life of the subject are the ones that really catch our eye.
This issue's winner
Owen Jenkins, Marie
Editor's comment: What makes a great portrait can often be the feeling it evokes in the viewer – in fact we’d argue an image that raises questions is oftentimes more interesting than a technically perfect shot.
Case in point this month’s winning image captured by Owen Jenkins during covid. He tells us that visits to his mother Marie were through a window with a table providing a couple of metres of separation.
At first glance this is just a traditional portrait, but Marie’s expression of puzzlement and the details in her face makes the viewer question the context of the image.
Is she unhappy being photographed, or just unsure of what’s happening? It’s a portrait that makes you think, and for that reason it was a winner this month.
Technical details
Sony A7R III, Sony 50mm F1.8 lens. 1/200s @ f2.5, ISO 800.
Highly commended
Rob Lord, The break
Editor's comment: Rob Lord’s self-portrait is a great example of getting in low and close to the action – something we love to do with portraiture. Here, he tells us this shot was taken after mounting the camera on a tripod at the other end of his snooker table.
“I triggered the shutter remotely with a 10 second delay to allow me to get into position for the portrait,” he explains. The low angle, gripping expression, and lovely bokeh in those out of focus balls brings the viewer right into the drama of the shot, something you just couldn’t have captured by being far away.
Technical details
Nikon D750, 60mm lens. 0.6s @ f7.1, ISO 100.
Special mentions
How I did it: This image shows my brother in his happy place, on his farm and with his cat on his knee.
Technical details
Apple iPhone 14, 1/50s @ f1.8, ISO 125.
How I did it: This is my godson Brandon, who was in the struggles of teenagehood and trying to find himself. The tattoo was new and his way to capture his heritage. The image was shot in my little home garage studio with a beauty dish.
Technical details
Canon 5D Mark IV, 24-105mm f/4 lens @ 74mm. 1/125s @ f8, ISO 160.
How I did it: This shot was captured several years ago, in a tin shed in the Omo Valley of Ethiopia. We were photographing the beautiful Nagudo of the Suri tribe - they love body scaring and many bracelets for adornment. They are a happy and engaging people, but were serious when having their photos taken.
We just used natural lighting from the doorway. The background was blackened with burning in Photoshop. In Lightroom I increased the exposure, clarity and vibrance slightly and decreased the shadows.
Technical details
Fujifilm X-T2, 18-55mm lens @ 50mm. 1/80s @ f4, ISO 3200.
How I did it: I took this photo of my nine-year-old grandson when he visited me last year. We were out for a walk, and he stopped to look at the reflections in the shop window. I think he really just wanted to check out his hair!
Technical details
Leica Q2, 28mm lens. 1/400s @ f1.8, ISO 100.