APOY results round 5 ? Here comes the Sun
In round 5 we were inundated with your blinding pictures of the sun.
Michael Marsh, of Kent, wins first place in our Sunrises, sunsets and sunny days round of APOY 2010. Michael will receive Canon?s EOS 550D plus EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM kit lens, worth £1,699.98. Ideal in low light, the 18MP EOS 550D offers an ISO range of up to 6400 ? expandable to 12,800 ? for those environments where using flash is undesirable. Other features include Full HD movie capability, a 3in LCD and a Quick Control screen. The all-purpose EF-S 15-85mm lens boasts a 4-stop Image Stabilizer and tripod detection.
Our second-place winner is Mirela Bogdan, of London, who will receive Canon?s IXUS 105 compact camera, worth £189. The 12.1MP IXUS 105 brings a combination of ease of use, high image quality and design that stands out from the crowd. Along with a 28mm wideangle lens, it boasts face detection, auto redeye correction and motion-detection technology.
Emily Wuetcher, of Kentucky, USA, finished third and receives Canon?s 10MP PowerShot A495, worth £119. This easy-to-use digital compact boasts a 10MP sensor with 3.3x optical zoom and a Smart Auto Mode, which uses scene-detection technology to determine the shooting scene from subject brightness, contrast, distance and overall hue.
1st Michael Marsh, Kent 42pts
Canon EOS 5D, 24-105mm, 1/200sec at f/8, ISO 250
Michael and his wife had taken their youngest son (seen on the far right-hand side with spiky hair) to New York City for his birthday. ?This was shot on Christmas Day and it was very cold,? says Mike. ?Feeling the festive spirit had passed us by, we went for a walk. I had been looking straight into the sunlight when I strayed behind the pillar, which became a giant diffuser for both my eyes and my camera, enabling me to capture the smoke and steam being enhanced by the rays of the sun.
Judges say This is quite simply a fantastic shot, aided by stunning light and depth of field. Even from the crisp silhouettes and details shrouded in mist, this could only be New York City.
2nd Mirela Bogdan, London 40pts
Canon EOS 450D, 18-55mm, 1/3200sec
Mirela says she loves experimenting with angles, light, shade and reflections, and her ethos is that beauty is very often right in front of you if you look closely. This is a small tennis and basketball court that she passes everyday on her way to work. ?The light and emptiness of the place caught my attention one morning, and I felt compelled to freeze this moment,? Mirela says. ?The surrounding fence really contributed to the mood because of its geometric shape.? Mirela took several shots, but chose this version because she liked the light and tones. Later she converted it to sepia and increased the contrast.
Judges say Mirela has captured a wonderful exposure and created a strong, graphic image. The light is fantastic, and this is a scene that most people would have ignored.
3rd Emily Wuetcher, Kentucky, United States 39pts
Canon EOS 450D, 1/2500sec at f/1.4, ISO 200
Emily, who lives in Kentucky in the United States, makes a point of using only natural light in her photography so the majority of her shooting takes place a few hours prior to sunset. People framed by warm, golden skies are some of her favourite images to take and ?always create beautiful, magical photos.? For this image, Emily shot straight into the sun, filling her frame with atmospheric light that creates a soft halo around her subject.
Judges say Emily has created a stunningly atmospheric image, which wasn?t easy to do. She showed great skill by shooting directly into the sun to capture this interesting take on this round?s theme.
The leader board
Remember that while these are our Round 5 results, a hardware error means the Round 4 results have yet to be published. In other words, it is still early in the competition, and if you?re not on our leader board you still could be. There is plenty of time for positions to change. That said, we had a stunning array of entries in Round 5, Here Comes the Sun. This month we didn?t see too many changes in the top ten. Michael Marsh makes his first appearance on the back of this round?s win, while Simonas Valatka also makes his debut.
Look for our delayed results of Round 4, In Bloom, in our 21 August 2010 issue, with results from Round 6 the following week.
To 50 entries for this round
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View the winning images in APOY 2010 Gallery
See the Leader Board after Round 5
In association with Canon
