Competition: black and white photography

We were thrilled with the impressive entries to December’s black-and-white theme. Our last photo competition of 2019 saw almost a thousand photos entered, with an extremely high level of quality. It wasn’t easy choosing the winner, but this photo by Angela Harrod @angela_harrod_lrps really stood out - and took home the £100 MPB voucher. Let’s also have a look at the honourable mentions from Greig Clifford, Michael Clarke, Renos Kostopoulos, Cyril Boyd, Edd Merkle, Paul Goodman and Will Clarke.

Winner

Me and my shadow by Angela Harrod.

I took this a few weeks ago when I was in Cannes, France. Every day I would go for a walk, and that day I initially decided not to take my camera with me. But, at the last minute, I changed my mind and took my Canon EOS 5D Mk III and a 70-200mm f/4 USM with me. I have traded in most of my EFS lenses - with MPB - in favour of my lighter Canon EF-M system, but I will never part with the 5D or this lens. When I was walking back along the Croisette, I saw a seagull perched on the top of a white marquee with the sun perfectly positioned to cast some amazing shadows. I sat for a while and waited for the bird to move. I managed to get this shot just before it decided to fly off.

I am self-taught and have been taking photographs seriously for about 15 years now. I have loved photography since I was a child, starting out with very simple film cameras - I remember the thrill of waiting for my prints to come back in the post. As I want to get back into film, I recently bought an old Canon AE1. Over the years, mostly through practice and pure passion, I have been able to start selling photos as prints. I have done some commercial work and had work published in magazines. My work was featured in two exhibitions, and I sell stock through Getty, Alamy, Shutterstock and Adobe, and video through Pond 5. I also achieved my ‘L’ Distinction with the Royal Photographic Society last year. I am now getting into drone photography to expand my horizons - and take shots where my fear of heights won’t let me!

My advice for anyone starting out in photography - keep at it and keep your passion. I have had many occasions, sometimes months at a time, where I just didn’t ‘feel’ it and worried it will never come back. It always does. Practically, always climb a little higher, look behind you, up, down, all around you. Think of your head as a ball head! The biggest thing I have learned over the years is patience. I now spend a lot of time ‘waiting’. Preempting when a bird will take off, someone will laugh, a cyclist will go by, a wave will hit a rock in a certain way. Watch the world carefully and the moment you are waiting for will come.

You can see more of Angela’s work on Instagram @angela_harrod_lrps

Honourable mentions

Crowd surfer by Greig Clifford

As a music photographer, I have shot a lot of gigs. But more recently, I have been delving into the world of street and documentary photography too, inspired by the work of the great photographers of yesteryear such as Henri Cartier Bresson. I also love the look of a black-and-white image and the timeless feel it creates.

This image was shot at The Arch on Brighton seafront, during Mammothfest, a festival I had worked closely with for many years. Here, I wanted to capture more of the feel and atmosphere at the show rather than a straight band performance shot. I was pleased I caught the ‘decisive moment’ when it presented itself.

I used my Canon EOS 5D, 1/80s at ISO 1250, with a 35mm lens at f2.2. My gig bag also holds a Canon EOS 40D, which I bought from MPB.

You can see more of Greig’s work on Instagram @greigclifford

The watcher by Michael Clarke

This was my first time visiting Dovercourt in Essex. The weather forecast looked promising, but once I arrived there was nothing but clouds. So I decided that a long exposure would work well, especially as there was a fast-moving cloud, which adds a bit of mood to this image. The smoothed-out water helps to show the isolation of this old Victorian lighthouse, which sits off the Essex coast, using a decaying groyne as a leading line to the lighthouse.

I used a Fujifilm X-T1 with the XF 18-55 lens, plus Lee 10 stop ND, on a 30-second exposure, f/16, 32.9 mm, ISO 200.

You can see more of Michael’s work on Instagram @michaelclarke_photography, Facebook @Mclarkephotographyuk

Solitude by Renos Kostopoulos

My three-day trip in the five lakes of northern Greece - Prespes, Zazari, Limni Petron, Himadetida and Vegoritida - looking for subjects to make fine art photography. I stumbled upon this tree, which was living - or dying - in the waters of Vegoritida Lake.

Of course, there was a lot of canes between me and the subject, so I had to take off my boots and walk in the lake for a few metres in order to acquire it.

The gear I used was a Sony A7R II with FE 24-240mm F/3.5-6.3 OSS, 80 seconds at f/18, ISO100, 67mm.

Flower girl by Cyril Boyd

I shot this using a Nikon D810 with a Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens - ISO 100, f/9, 1/125th second at 35mm. I purchased the D810 from MPB a few years ago. The ballet dancer image was taken during a photoshoot, but I felt it needed a bit more impact. I had previously seen a similar image in an old magazine. I took the picture of a daisy in my own back garden and combined both using Skylum Luminar 3.

Cloudy day by Edd Merkle

Shrine Nara by Paul Goodman

The image of a woman was taken at the Todaji Temple in Nara, Japan, in October 2018. It was taken whilst I was on holiday with my wife in Japan. I'd wanted to visit Japan since I was quite young and it is an incredible country. I tried not to be too obtrusive when taking the shot out of respect to the people who were praying/in contemplation. The woman is by a large incense burner at the entrance to the Todaji Temple. I was using a Sony A6000 camera, and the lens I used for this particular shot is an e-mount Sony 16-70mm f/4.

The image info as follows: ISO 1000, 21mm, f/5, 1/800. I decided to try out a mirrorless camera for this holiday and bought a used A6000 to try out. It is a fantastic camera, light and portable, and with my two lenses, the 16-70mm f/4 and the 24mm prime f/1.8, I got some memorable shots.

High rise apartment by Will Clarke

A wild Chacma baboon, taken in the Kruger National park, South Africa. Even in the dry season, with no leaves for cover, trees like this provide a safe space to rest and a great vantage point for baboons. Once night falls, they sleep up in the trees to avoid predation.

I took this with a Nikon D750 with a Tamron 150-600mm lens. Settings were 240mm, 1/1000s, ISO 360 at f/11.

You can see more of Will’s work on Instagram @willclarkephotography.