APOY 2014 – Competition Results Round 4 – Portraits in Natural Light

Some powerful images feature in round 4 of APOY 2014. We reveal the top 50 for Portraits in Natural Light












Mike Martin, from Bristol, is the winner of our Portraits in Natural Light round of APOY 2014. Mike will receive an Olympus OM-D E-M10 with a 14-42mm EZ Pancake zoom, a 45mm f/1.8 portrait lens, a 40-150mm zoom, a 9mm fisheye lens, a macro adapter and a street case in which to carry it all.

That’s a total retail price of £1,200. The E-M10 has a 16.1-million-pixel, four thirds-sized CMOS sensor and a TruePic VII image-processing system. The 1.44-million-dot EVF displays a 100% field of view and has a 120fps refresh rate.

The 14-42mm EZ Pancake zoom lens is a slim and compact optic that is equivalent to a 28-84mm lens in the 35mm format. The 45mm f/1.8 portrait lens is ideal for low-light people shots without flash, while the 40-150mm zoom has high-speed AF and is optimised for movies and stills. The 9mm fisheye lens is ideal for capturing wideangle scenes.

 Our second-placed winner is Silvia Landi, from Italy. She will receive an Olympus Pen E-PL5 camera plus a 14-42mm and 40-150mm twin-lens zoom kit worth £500.

The E-PL5 offers serious image quality with its powerful 16.1-million-pixel sensor and a new OM-D component in the TruePic VI image processor. The camera has lightning-fast autofocus, a touch-sensitive LCD screen and full HD video.








Andrew Sole, from Australia, takes third place in this round. He wins an Olympus Stylus SP-100EE Ultra Zoom camera, with an impressive 16-million-pixel sensor and 3in LCD screen.

The camera includes a handy autofocus lock so you need never lose a shot due to fuzzy focusing. The camera features a 50x optical Ultra Zoom lens 
with a focal length ranging from 24mm to 1,200mm, and built-in Dot Sight to make it easier to focus on subjects.






1st Mike Martin, Bristol 50pts

Pentax K-5, 17-70mm, 
1/15sec at f/4, ISO 200

There are a few key things that the judges look for in APOY entries: technical excellence, whether the image fits the brief, and creativity. This image has it all. It features a great subject, beautiful lighting, and a wonderful and evocative location. This was a strong round and for this one to stand out above all others was no mean feat.

2nd Silvia Landi, 
Italy 49pts

Canon EOS 40D, 18-50mm, 
1/10sec at f/2.8, ISO 1600

As with Mike’s shot, it was the excellent use of natural light and location that made Silvia’s image a sure thing for a top-three slot. The fact that a subtle strip of natural light has been used to highlight the eyes (the most important feature of any portrait) really impressed us, and the shallow depth of field means our attention is focused on the subject.

3rd Andrew Sole, 
Australia 48pts

Nikon D200, 18-70mm, 
1/350sec at f/2.8, ISO 100

Andrew has found a fantastic way of framing his subject here. The background adds a sense of depth and location, giving the image a degree of engaging context.

Top 50 entries for this round:

  • 1 Mike Martin 50pts
  • 2 Silvia Landi 49pts
  • 3 AndrewSole 48pts
  • 4 Penny Halsall 47pts
  • 5 Aaron Bennett 46pts
  • 6 Bertrand Chombart 45pts
  • 7 Anh Tu Nguyen 44pts
  • 8 Angela Nelson 43pts
  • 9 Farid Sani 42pts
  • 10 Maja Topcagic 41pts
  • 11 Betina La Plante 40pts
  • 12 Rob Price 39pts
  • 13 Pawel Pentlinowski 38pts
  • 14 David Fletcher 37pts
  • 15 Ana Lima 36pts
  • 16 Robert Haubrich Schweizer 35pts
  • 17 John Osias Jacaban 34pts
  • 18 Mick Davis 33pts
  • 19 Mark Helliwell 32pts
  • 20 Gina Fiene 31pts
  • 21 Sigita Playdon 30pts
  • 22 Steve Clayton 29pts
  • 23 Simona Bonanno 28pts
  • 24 Julian Fraser 27pts
  • 25 Emilija Remezaite 26pts
  • 26 Mike Hughes 25pts
  • 27 Luca Yuki Torelli 24pts
  • 28 Scott Jessiman 23pts
  • 29 Stephen Bolton 22pts
  • 30 Mark Adams 21pts
  • 31 Jevgenijs Scolkovs 20pts
  • 32 Murray Chant 19pts
  • 33 Anthony Jackson 18pts
  • 34 Richard Craze 17pts
  • 35 Erik Walbeehm 16pts
  • 36 Amir Lavon 15pts
  • 37 Andrew Clayborough 14pts
  • 38 Robert Schenck 13pts
  • 39 Robert E Smith 12pts
  • 40 George Digalakis 11pts
  • 41 Adrian Bassanelli 10pts
  • 42 Janos Balda 9pts
  • 43 Brian McCready 8pts
  • 44 Svitozar Bilorusov 7pts
  • 45 Anuraj Anand 6pts
  • 46 Richard Cooper 5pts
  • 47 Raymond Bridges 4pts
  • 48 Adrian Maltby 3pts
  • 49 Eric Begbie 2pts
  • 50 Richard Sheppard 1pt
  • View the winning Images in the APOY 2014 Gallery

    See the APOY 2014 Leader Board after this round.

    Results and Rounds APOY 2014