Burrard-Lucas Blog » Competitions

Mysterious Places Contest Results

Will — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:04:50 +0000

We would like to thank everyone who submitted photos to our Mysterious Places Photo Contest. Matthew and I spent days sifting through thousands of fantastic entries and last week we posted our shortlist of 12 finalists so that you could vote for the “People’s Choice” winner. The voting is now over and we can reveal the overall winners!

Before proceeding, we would like to thank our terrific sponsors, Lensbaby and SmugMug, who generously donated over $2,000 in prizes! All of the photographers below receive a prize as described on this page.

The overall contest winner is Paul Marcellini with his wonderful image taken in a Florida swamp. The spooky atmosphere, the twisted trees and the detail of the alligator drag-marks in the foreground create an image that epitomises the theme “Mysterious Places”. Congratulations to Paul for creating a truly original and striking shot!

Given the success of this contest, we will certainly be launching another photo competition in the near future! If you would like to be notified when this competition is announced then please subscribe to our blog via RSS feed or email.

Winner:

Welcome to the Jungle by Paul Marcellini

“The swamp is a visually intense experience. Epiphytes cover the trees, moccasins hide under logs and spiders build webs across every opening. In the foreground are alligator tracks and tail drag marks, with a few bird and otter prints mixed in. The twisted trees are rather large pond apples. Taken in Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida.”

Equipment: Canon 5dMk2, Canon 16-35II

Paul Marcellini – Began photography in the summer of 2005 and have now focused on South Florida nature and the Everglades.

Website: www.paulmarcellini.com

People’s Choice:

Wang Temple Graveyard by Marek Troszczynski

“This was taken last winter, at night, after heavy snowfall. I was delighted to be there first as the atmosphere was amazing. I found that the best composition was with the light hidden behind the cross. Wang Temple, Karpacz, Poland.”

Equipment: Nikon d300, Nikkor 12-24mm

Marek Troszczynski – Amateur snapper, originally Polish, living in London.

Runners-up:

Tulip Fields by Maciej Duczynski

“Tulip field at dawn near Amsterdam, the Netherlands.”

Equipment: Canon EOS 5D + Canon 16-35 f2.8

Maciej Duczynski – I was born in Katowice, south of Poland in 1975. During my studies in Technical University in Gliwice I discovered my first passion – travelling. After a few years the second passion – photography, followed the first one. Up until now I have spent most of my free time traveling around Europe. I specialize in landscape photography and prefer the cold beauty and wilderness of northern lands Scandinavia. I started with analogue cameras, nowadays I continue with digital cameras and using new techniques giving more possibilities in landscape photography (HDR, panoramas stitching etc) I exhibit my photographs in Poland and write articles about landscape photography and post-processing of digital images for various European photo magazines.

Website: www.lonelywolf.pl

Trichy Temple by David Lazar

“This photo was taken at the top of the 83m high Rock Fort – the only outcrop in the otherwise flat land of the city of Trichy in Tamil Nadu, India. Looking back down towards the hazy city, we see a decorative Hindu temple.”

Equipment: Nikon D70s

David Lazar – I am a Brisbane based film composer, pianist and teacher, as well as a photographer. I love to travel and capture the world’s sights and people, and have been recently working as a photographer through commission work here in Australia.

Website: pbase.com/david_lazar

Highly Commended:

Winter Aura by Wandzel Wojciech

“Jagged peaks of the French Alps.”

Equipment: Canon 5D + Canon 70-200 4L

Wandzel Wojciech – Nature and Mountain photographer working with Canon system.

Website: www.wandzelphoto.com

Road to Mordor by Zoltan Bekefy

“Galway, Ireland.”
iso:100, f/32, 1/30 sec

Equipment: Nikon d300

Website: zoltanbekefy.blogspot.com

Taj Mahal Reflections by Della Huff

“The night before I captured this image, a sandstorm howled in Agra, India and I was afraid the air would be choked with dust for my sunrise photo plans. The opposite turned out to be true, and the morning dawned with an incredible sky. As I was photographing, a local stopped by to say hello. He told me that clear mornings like this happen only a few days per year in Agra. It was a once in a lifetime view, and a morning I’ll surely never forget.”

Equipment: Canon 5D; Canon 17-40L lens

Della Huff – Born in Marin County, California, I’ve always had an appreciation for the intersection of natural and man-made landscapes, and tend to focus on this intersection through my photography, which I like to call atmospheric landscapes.

Website: www.dellahuffphotography.com

Reincarnation by Jahl Marshall

“This photo was captured while on a stroll alongside the Daiya River in Nikko, Japan. The peaceful meditating Buddhas inspired thoughts of reincarnation.”

Equipment: Nikon D80

Jahl Marshall – I was born and raised in New Zealand, I have had a passion for photography for over 10 years, I enjoy shooting a wide range of subjects, such as still life, landscape and action.

Website: jahlmarshall.com

Underground Wales by Hugh Penney

“Little Neath is one of the classic Welsh caves; the low wet entrance gives access to this atmospheric place.”

Equipment: OM1n and slave units

Hugh Penney – Outdoory traveller. Caver. Photographic interests are landscapes, travel, caves and adventure.

Website: flickr.com/hughpenney/

Worship by Kyaw Thar

“A monk & novices worshiping in Bagan, Myanmar.”

Equipment: Nikon D300

Kyaw Thar – A life member of Myanmar photographic Society.

In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro by Marc Ehrenbold

“A lone elephant walks in the shadow of Kilimanjaro, the majestic equatorial snow capped volcano.”

Equipment: Nikon D70s 210mm.

Marc Ehrenbold – Steadicam Owner/operator working in the film industry. Keen photographer.

Website: imdb.com/name/nm1774465/

Alaskan Cemetery by Valerie McAninch

“There is nothing like the light at the end of the day in Alaska – the Gloaming hour.”

Equipment: Leica

Valerie McAninch – I have been photographing for 25 years. I studied at The University Of Alaska & The Savannah College of Art And Design. I put my career on hold to raise my family and have recently gone digital and returned to school.

Thanks once again to everyone who entered this competition and congratulations to our winners.

If you would like to be notified when we launch our next contest then please subscribe to our blog via RSS feed or email.

Travel Photography Contest: Mysterious Places

Will — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:47:26 +0000

This competition is now closed!

We are excited to announce the second Burrard-Lucas photography competition! With over $2,000 in prizes, this contest promises to be even bigger than the first!

This is a travel photography contest with the theme “Mysterious Places”. Let your imagination and creativity run wild!

This competition has been generously sponsored by Lensbaby and SmugMug. We have some fantastic prizes on offer…

Prizes

1x Overall Winner:

Lensbaby Composer + Optic Swap System
SmugMug Pro Account (1 year) + $50 print credits
($565 total value)

1x People’s Choice Winner:

Lensbaby Muse with Double Glass Optic
SmugMug Pro Account (1 year) + $50 print credits
($350 total value)

2x Runners up:

Lensbaby Muse with Plastic Optic
SmugMug Pro Account (1 year)
($250 value per person)

8x Highly Commended:

$25 Gift Certificate to lensbaby.com
SmugMug Power Account (1 year)
($85 value per person)

The “People’s Choice” winner will be selected by public vote at the end of the contest.

The deadline for entry is 31st October 2009. Please read the rules before entering.

More about the prizes…

Lensbaby

Lensbaby makes selective focus SLR lenses which work on Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, and Pentax cameras.

The Lensbaby Composer is the prefect travel companion; it is compact, lightweight and full of creative potential! Based on a unique and innovative ball and socket configuration, the Composer delivers smooth selective focus photography with unparalleled ease. Photographers simply tilt the lens to a desired angle and then focus with a focusing ring. The result is an area of sharp focus (the “Sweet Spot”) that can be moved around the frame.

Click here to find out more about the Composer.

The Lensbaby Muse is an easy to use lens that opens up a new realm of fun in focusing! Squeeze the Muse to focus, and bend your “Sweet Spot” around the frame.

Click here to find out more about the Muse.

The new Lensbaby Optic Swap System gives you the freedom to break the rules and express your vision even further. The system works with all of Lensbaby’s new lenses and includes Double Glass, Single Glass, Plastic, and Pinhole / Zoneplate Optics. Each optic has its own unique look and feel.

Click here for a comparison of different optics.

SmugMug

SmugMug offers you everything you need to kick start your online presence! From displaying photos on your own personal website through to printing and selling your work, Smugmug provides an easy to use, customizable and fully featured solution. Features of both pro and power accounts include unlimited storage and bandwidth, customisable themes and web addresses, video hosting, password protected galleries, dedicated support and much more! Pro accounts also allow you to make a profit by setting your own prices for print and digital download purchases – exactly what you need to get your online photography business up and running!

Click here for an overview of SmugMug’s services.
Click here for a description of SmugMug’s Pro service.
Click here for a full listing of SmugMug account features.

Rules

This competition is open to participants worldwide, aged 18 or over on the closing date.
There is no entry fee.
You must be the photographer and owner of the copyright for any image entered.
Entrants can submit a maximum of three images to this contest.
Please keep digital manipulation such as cloning and compositing to a minimum; your photograph should faithfully represent the scene as you saw it. HDR images are allowed.
Submitted images should be a minimum of 1024 pixels along the long edge.
Images must not include a watermark or border.
You will retain copyright of your entries at all times and will always be credited alongside your picture.
By entering this competition, you grant us a non-exclusive licence to display your photograph in connection with this contest. This may include syndication of the 12 winning photographs by the media (but only in connection with this contest). Winners will always be informed if their photographs are syndicated and will always be credited next to their image.
Under no-circumstance will we use submitted images for commercial gain unless it has been agreed on a case by case basis with the photographer.
The deadline for entry is 31st October 2009.
People’s Choice prize voting will run from 7th-14th November 2009.
All winners will be announced on 16th November 2009.
You can enter online here.

This competition is now closed!

Wildlife Photography Competition Results

Will — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:30:50 +0000

We would like to thank everyone who entered our recent Wildlife Portraits competition. Matthew and I have been overwhelmed by the response and have spent the last week sifting through the 3,500 photographs that were submitted.

The overall standard of photography was fantastic and we had an extremely difficult task in whittling the submissions down to a final selection. We had to be very harsh and eliminate any photo that wasn’t technically perfect. We then took into account more subjective factors such as composition, originality, atmosphere and character to pick the images that stood out the most.

In the end Matthew and I unanimously settled on Thomas Vignaud’s Tompot Blenny as our winner. The perfect framing and spot-on exposure combine to beautiful effect. Thomas has used the strobe light masterfully to gain a sense of the blenny looming out of the darkness. Ultimately however, it was the blenny’s characterful face and frilly appendages that clinched it for us! Congratulations to Thomas – he has won a Olympus SP-570UZ digital camera.

We have also selected two runners-up and eight highly commended entries which we feel exhibit the wonderful quality and diversity of the images that were submitted. All of the photographs appearing here fought off stiff competition and deserve special praise.

Given the success of this first competition, we have decided that we will launch another photo competition soon! If you would like to be notified when this competition is announced then please subscribe to our blog via RSS feed or email updates.

Now without further ado, click here for the winning pictures!

Winner: Tompot Blenny by Thomas Vignaud

Tompot Blenny by Thomas Vignaud

“This male Tompot Blenny was trying to keep me away from the precious eggs he was guarding.”

Equipment: Canon 400D, Canon 60mm macro

About Thomas Vignaud

I’m a 23 year old marine biology student, working with the shark population of French Polynesia. I started photography with underwater photography, and now it’s a big part of my life.

Website: www.flickr.com/photos/thomasvignaud

Runners-up:

Timidity by Mark Simms

“I was so lucky to be in the right place at the right time. The deer stood like this for a matter of seconds before running away.”

Equipment: Canon 5D

Mark Simms – IT engineer (and part time wedding photographer!) who loves to take pictures of nature! Some of my best work (such as this photograph) is taken at Richmond Park in London – an amazing place to go!

Lion in a Tree by J.L. “Woody” Wooden

“This male Lion was injured. He positioned himself in this tree so that he would not be dinner for another predator. Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.”

Equipment: Canon EOS 10D & 100-400 L lens

J.L. “Woody” Wooden – BA & MS Brooks Institute. Commercial Photography for 25 years. Photographed lightning 30+ years. Wildlife photography 8 years.

Website: JLWoodyWooden.com

Highly Commended:

Lean on Me by Lesley Smitheringale

“A pair of rainbow lorikeets getting cosy in my garden on a rainy afternoon. Queensland, Australia.”

Equipment: Canon EOS 400 D plus EF70 -200mm f/4L IS USM Zoom Lens

Website: www.lesley-smitheringale-fine-art.com

Stretch by Andy Nguyen

“A breeding Avocet takes a breather at the local wetland. Irvine, California.”

Equipment: Nikon D300, 300mm f4, TC17E

Website: www.ndshow.com

Nurse Shark Sunset by Matthew Potenski

“I found two nurse sharks mating in the shallows and ran to the boat to get my camera. By the time I got back they had finished, but were resting on the bottom. I though I would take a shot of them romantically enjoying the sunset together. Sandy Cay, Bahamas.”

Equipment: Canon 20D, Tokina 10-17 FE zoom, Canon 580 Speedlight Flash

Website: www.matthewdpotenskiphoto.com

Eye Contact by Steffen Binke

“Minke Whale after a spy hop. Great Barrier Reef, Australia.”

Equipment: Nikon D200

Website: minke.com.au

Foggy Roost by Winthrope Hiers

“A pelican’s reflection on a foggy day. Savannah, Georgia.”

Equipment: Sony Cybershot R1

Website: blp.ifp3.com

Snowy Owl in Flight by Brian Hansen

“After a missed vole the bird turned to make another pass and I was able to capture it just as it was starting to come back around. South-East Wisconsin.”

Equipment: Canon 1D Mark III and Canon 500mm f/4.0 IS lens

Website: www.brianhansenimages.com

Frog by Andre Boto

“Nature can give us awesome things such as colors, forms or simply life. Estombar, Portugal.”

Equipment: Canon EOS 30D + Tamron 24-135mm

Brown Spider by Alexander

“Portrait of a spider.”

Equipment: Canon 450D, MP-E65/2.8

Thanks once again to everyone who entered and congratulations to our winners.

Remember, we will be launching another competition soon so make sure you subscribe to our blog via RSS feed or email updates so that you don’t miss out on the fun!

Wildlife Photography Competition

Will — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:52:19 +0000

Update! Click here to view the winning pictures from this competition

We are excited to announce the first Burrard-Lucas.com photography competition!

The theme is “Wildlife Portraits”. A photograph of any animal is eligible as long as it was taken in the wild. The competition is open to participants worldwide, of any age. Scroll down for a complete listing of rules.

We have a fantastic prize on offer for the winner: an Olympus SP-570UZ, a camera with a 10-megapixel sensor, a 2.7-inch LCD screen and 20x optical zoom with image stabilization – a perfect combination for wildlife photography.

This competition is now closed

Rules:

Anyone is free to enter this competition.
There is no entry fee.
All entries must be photographs taken by you.
Please do not submit more than three images to this contest.
You retain all rights to your images.
By entering this competition, you give us permission to display your photograph in connection with the contest.
Please keep digital manipulation such as cloning and compositing to a minimum.
Winning photographs will be selected by us and our decision is final.
Deadline is 30th April 2009. Winners announced 7th May 2009.

This competition is now closed

Prize kindly donated by Matthew Burrard-Lucas.

12-18yr old Winner in RSPCA Young Photographer Awards

Matt — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:16:42 +0000

On Friday I attended the Awards Ceremony for the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards 2008. I won the 12-18 year old category with my fox image. My elephant photograph was also placed as highly commended. The awards were presented by TV personality, Matt Baker.

Leopard cub photograph in Washington exhibition

Matt — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:35:27 +0000

I have just returned from a trip to Washington DC to see my Leopard Cub photo in the Nature’s Best Windland Smith Rice International Awards exhibition. My winning photograph, which has been reproduced at 4×6 feet in size, features alongside the other stunning images from the 2008 competition. The exhibition is being held until May 2009 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

See all the winning photos here: Nature’s Best Windland Smith Rice International Awards

European Wildlife Photographer of the Year – Category Runner Up

Matt — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 22:07:58 +0000

We have spent the day at the GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition in Germany. Will and I got the runner up prize in the “Other Animals” category of the competition. Here is a picture of us standing next to our photograph in the exhibition gallery.

See all the winning photos here: GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008

Runner up prize in European Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Will — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:00:28 +0000

Our photo of a Caiman under Stars has been named runner up in the “Other Animals” category of the GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008 competition!

We took the shot together during our recent trip to the Pantanal in Brazil.

Youth Photographer of the Year in Nature’s Best Competition

Matt — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:49:47 +0000

I have been awarded the title ‘Youth Photographer of the Year’ in the Windland Smith Rice International Awards. The competition, run by Nature’s Best Photography in America, attracted over 20,000 entries this year. My winning photograph was taken in Botswana’s Okavango Delta and features a Leopard Cub relaxing in a fallen tree.

Commended in Garden Photographer of the Year

Matt — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:07:33 +0000

My mosquito image was commended in this year’s Garden Photographer of the Year competition, sponsored by Kew Gardens and the AA. The photograph is featured in the competition’s portfolio book.