Landscape Photo Competition 2015 No 1 : Results

Judges Comment
This round’s winner, a marvelous misty scene down by the pond. Beautiful tones, the light, the dark, the soft contrast, the shapes and lines, the natural mossy feel… Stunning work, well done !
Photographers Comment
My name is Erik Kjaer Hansen, I am 63 years old, and photograpy has been my greatest interest for almost five decades. I live in the city of Skanderborg in Denmark, and the winning photo was captured in a forest near my home an early december morning a year ago. The light was amazing, and it was my very first walk holding my brand new Leica M (240) with a Summilux 50 mm f1.4 ASPH lens. A little post processing: White balance was slightly adjusted in Adobe Lightroom, and using NIK Color Efex Pro 4 I added a vignette. Also using Color Efex I brightened the elements in the foreground and added some fine structure. You are welcome to visit my website, although it is under construction, and not 100% as I want it to be. Size and resolution of the photos have not been perfected, and some of the photos used will not be there, when I hopefully click the "finished" button in a week or two.
kjaerhansen.photography

Judges Comment
Bad weather once again creates those wonderful soft tones and colours which lend themselves so well to that minimal composition. Well spotted, beautifully taken and sensitively developed. Love this.
Photographers Comment
Many thanks for the acknowledgement and your kind comments. The photo was taken during a blizzard that closed in very quickly, obscuring everything around me except my dog, my camera, and the tree in front of us. The location was less exotic than it may appear. Central Park, New York. Without the snow, you'd be able to see the buildings of mid-down in the distance. The camera was an OM-D E-M5 with a Leica DG Summilux 25mm f1.4 lens, slightly underexposed to accommodate the snow. Thank you again.

Judges Comment
I am not usually a fan of sunsets but here you have turned the sunset into an accessory, cleverly boosting that pink and creating a distant anchor point. Depth of field is impressive and the neutral density grad filter really makes those foreground petals pop. Great seaside photo, well done.

Judges Comment
One of Iceland’s many famous views and a common subject in this competition but you have done this so well. The waterflow is just nice, the light on the summit too, the contrast well managed… nice shot.

Judges Comment
This is lovely and so simple and pleasing to look at. The boats are near-perfectly arranged and coloured, so many complimentary and bright man-made colours to enhance this minimal sea view. Well done.

Judges Comment
The nice bottom half shapes of the dunes are set off by the glaring misty top half of sky in this bold half-half composition. Shame the footprints haven’t been blown away, perhaps somewhere along those tracks there’s a nice photo without them in it? They just take away the lost desert atmosphere which you have captured so well here.
Photographers Comment
Photo by Marek Charytonowicz Taken on Canon 5D Mark II / HDR composed of 3 photographs Location: Erg Zahar, Morocco.
www.locussolum.com

Judges Comment
You have cleverly placed the focus and short depth of field to hold our eye in the middle of this colourful leafy composition. Nice work with so much detail but also with strong lines and shapes which really make up the balance here. It is an original and easy photograph to admire.
Photographers Comment
Thank you so much for this honor. My name is Nicki Lautemann and I live in Colorado, USA. We are blessed with colorful seasons and beauty all around! I took this photo from my front yard, lying on the ground, and looking at my neighbor's beautiful oak tree. It's one of my favorite trees and I take photos of it all the time, but it's especially beautiful in the fall. I'm not sure what the other smaller trees are called, but I love their colors! (I used my Nikon d5300.) Thank you again. I'm truly grateful.
joysgirl.com

Judges Comment
It takes great technique to pull off a photograph like this one. A beautiful minimal seascape with no subject other than the moving water and cloud. the textures and colours are fabulous. Just wonderful.
Photographers Comment
Thank you for the Mark of Excellence. My name ist Stefan Puetz-Cordes from Hennef/Germany. Image was taken on Iceland in summer 2013. Camera: Nikon D800E with Nikkor 2,8/24-70.
www.stefanpuetz.com

Judges Comment
Beautiful misty morning. What is really special here is the contact between the stag and the does and the story that tells. This is a lovely landscape but it is also an equally lovely wildlife shot. Well done.
Photographers Comment
Thank you for the Mark of Excellence. My name ist Stefan Puetz-Cordes from Hennef/Germany. Image was taken at sunrise in April 2014 in the "zandvoort waterleidingduinen" (Zandvoort, The Netherlands). Camera: Sony A7R with FE 24-70.
www.stefanpuetz.com

Photographers Comment
I'm Amy Hanson a thirty year old mother of two boys, and hobby photographer. Last fall, I took this photo at 1000 Islands Environmental Center in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. I used my regular old camera, Cannon powershot sx150. I also added a dusk effect on this photo. Fall is my favorite time of year. It's exciting to be chosen among such talented photographers! Thank you for choosing me as a finalist! :)

Photographers Comment
Thank you for the Mark of Excellence. My name ist Stefan Puetz-Cordes from Hennef/Germany. Image was taken on Rügen (Germany) in February 2015. It's a long time exposure while panning the camera horizontally. Camera: Sony A7R with FE 24-70.
www.stefanpuetz.com

Photographers Comment
Congrats to the winner. This image was shot along the Oregon coast at Cannon Beach with a Leica m240 to which the Leica Summarit 90/2.8 was mounted.
www.ralphballerstadtphotography.net

Photographers Comment
Name: "Edge" Location: Unknown... Camera: Leica M240 "Edge" is part of the series called "unknown water" which explore the relationship of people who waits by the shore for those who are out at open sea... the quiet moment of waiting. http://www.nudaphotography.com/unknown-water/
www.nudaphotography.com

Photographers Comment
Hi, my name is Reynold and photography is just a hobby of mine. This photo was taken at Lake Inle, Myanmar during sunrise. I used M240 with super elmar 21mm ASPH.

Photographers Comment
Thank you for this mark of excellence! This picture was taken early in a winter morning on the Belgian sea side.
www.ronaldgrauer.com