Winter Landscapes Photo Contest Winners

Thank you to all the photographers that participated in the Winter Landscape Photo Contest _in collaboration with NANPA (North American Nature Photography Association), sharing their best winter sceneries. Congratulations to the winners and finalists, and a special round of applause for the Grand Jury Winner who wins great prizes from NANPA.

A special thanks to our friend and professional photographer Hank Erdmann for his collaboration as a guest judge. Hank Erdmann is a professional natural history photographer and photographic educator who resides in Will County, Illinois. He has photographed throughout North America, making the Midwest his primary geographic area of interest. He teaches photographic workshops and presents for camera clubs and organizations since the late 1980's. His work has been published in numerous magazines, calendars and guides including National Geographic, and The Sierra Club. Hank is a member of NANPA, The North American Nature Photography Association.

Congratulations Grand Jury Winner "Magic light" by varemo

"Backlight is as challenging as any light we face in the natural world. It is also as dramatic and special as any light we can use and when used correctly, backlight makes stunning images. It takes being in the right place at the right time and a knowledge of how to read, interpret a histogram and set your exposure to create a stunning image. To do so in a single capture in my humble opinion shows the ultimate level of skill for a photographer.

It is a rare image that succeeds with any loss of detail in a highlight, but “Magic Light” succeeds greatly. Compositionally I see two image elements that take this image beyond a simple backlit mist image. The backlit grasses on the small hill on the left and the backlit iced branches add detail to an image that has at its essence the softness and mystery of the mist. Subtle repetition of the “tree” shape, not only in the tree behind the center of interest tree but in a third one barely perceptible at the right edge of the frame creates the sense of depth and dimension in the image. That third tree shape is what I call the enhancing element of this image. An enhancing element elevates an image without being the center of interest. Not all good images have one, but all great images do. Exquisite composition and exposure equals award winning imagery!" - Hank Erdmann

Congratulations Runner Up "Winter Beauty 5903_13" by IanDMcGregor

"Softer less dramatic backlighting is a rare commodity and while it may be a slightly easier exposure to make, it still makes stunning photographs. “Winter Beauty” is just that, a stunning image. The soft feel of the haze of the sky is enhanced by the subtle detail of the frosted tree. The bench adds the human element and a sense of place. The distant shoreline or cloud line (whichever it is doesn’t matter) adds depth and dimensionality. I pay as much attention to corners and edges as I do to the subject in an image. In this image my eye is drawn ever so slightly to two image elements on the sides of the image, the tracks on the bottom left and the small dark bush on the right. Both elements pulled my eyes repeatedly off of the main subject. I’ve always heard it said and totally agree that any image element not adding to an image is thereby detracting from it. It’s not a major detraction here, but enough to drop the image to runner up status, although it is till an amazing image." - Hank Erdmann

Congratulations Runner Up "Winter reflection / Reflet hivernal" by chassamax

"I’ve always been drawn to patterns, textures and such in nature and found when making such images one should include nothing but the pattern, or the pattern plus its source, or the pattern and a counter point within to make such imagery successful. “Winter Reflection does a very good job of this, but not a perfect job of it. I suggest the maker perform a slight crop of the right side, only about a tenth of the image to eliminate two white spots and different patterned trees and then see what he/she thinks of the image. It comes down again to realizing where the eye is drawn to, when looking at the image. Usually we don’t want our eyes drawn to an edge of the image away from the center of interest. Speaking of a center of interest, what a pattern image usually is missing when it doesn’t have a visual counter point is a center of interest. It can be a subtle but still very effective center of interest though, as it is here, with the whiter small shrubs just left of center on the shore being that center of interest. What that provides is a place for the viewer’s eye to rest of so it doesn’t wander the pattern image endlessly looking for such a place. And the horizon is exactly where it should be in an image that has at its essence, peace and symmetry; in the middle. This is a beautiful, stunning photograph, but play with a crop and see what you think." - Hank Erdmann

Congratulations Runner Up "Morning Light" by JStroud44

"The wonderful warm side lighting makes this image. I look for side lighting when I can as it gives depth and definition to a subject. I rarely look for “subject” when out making images, instead looking for contrast, looking for something that stands out against its background. “Morning Light” does this well, using contrasts of color; warm versus cool, of texture or physicality; the frosted braches against a featureless sky, and of light; highlight against midtone. This image has excellent composition positioning the large tree closest to an edge (but giving it the needed room to breathe) and placing the smaller tree farther from an edge, creating a sense of depth and distance. I might think about a slight crop of the bottom foreground to further anchor the trees in the bottom of the image giving more “weight” to the trees and more openness to the sky. Ultimately I might not use such a crop but I’d look at it. I often make a crop and go back and forth from cropped to un-cropped to get a feel for it the crop helps or detracts, but I usually look for such possibilities in my own images." - Hank Erdmann

Congratulations People's Choice "Moon on the Maroon Bells" by wishiwsthr