Patience is a virtue - a long exposure photo competition

Good things come to those who wait, or at least good things come to those with the requisite degree of patience required to capture a scintillating long exposure shot. Not only do you land yourself with a fabulous photo, but for this competition, rewards also come in the form of five gift cards valued at £40 to spend in the Triggertrap shop! We're on the look-out for the five best long exposure shots produced by you lovely lot. That's not the royal or editorial 'we', by the way, but Haje, Tom, who's Triggertrap's Head of Photography, and me. We don't mind what kind of long exposure shot you try: from urban scenes to light painting to smoothed waterfalls. What we want to see is a longer-than-expected shutter speed being used to creative effect to tell a story. We want to see images that leave us giddy with admiration.

Flickr is providing the image-hosting power for the competition; all you need to do is share your photos—up to five per entrant—in the Patience is a virtue Flickr pool before British Summer Time ends. So that's 01:59 (BST) on 26 October 2014. Consider it preparation for longer nights if you're in the northern hemisphere. We'll do the rest, and hope to have the results by Guy Fawkes Night. (Or 5 November 2014.)

(Un)Usual rules apply: you need to own the copyright to the images you submit; you shouldn't have done anything icky to achieve them (like sell your granny); you keep the copyright but we (that being Photocritic and Triggertrap) will want to be able to display it in conjunction with the competition; the prizes are non-transferable and can't be redeemed for cash; you can't be associated with Photocritic or Triggertrap to enter; the judges' decision is final; entry is at your own risk (quite what might happen to you because you enter I'm not sure, it's not like we're cannibals threatening to eat you, but we can't be held responsible all the same); photos have to be submitted to the Flickr pool before the closing date of 01:59 (BST) on 26 October 2014; and it's our competition so if we need to change the way it operates or the rules or heaven forfend chuck you out, we can.

That's about that. But if you need any advice on long exposures, you might want to check out our articles on shutter speed, bulb mode, zoom bursting, and light painting. Good luck: we can't wait to see what you produce!

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And the results are in! You can see them here.

Sweet on April

A smore has to be just about the sweetest thing I can think of

I was going to make this month's photo competition theme 'cake', but then I decided that my own preference for cake over sweets or chocolate shouldn't restrict your photographs. So instead the theme is sweet. It can include cake, chocolate, desserts, or sweeties. Just make sure it's sugar- (or honey-) based!

The photographer of the winning image will win her- or himself and 12 inch Fracture, and get to revel in the glory of the announcement, too!

You can participate by submitting your image, just the one, to the Small Aperture Flickr pool and then linking it in this month's thread. (That last bit is important.) The competition opens today, Friday 5 April, and runs until Friday 26 April 2013.

The Rules have been reproduced for your reference, so now it is just a case of good luck!

The Rules

• If you decide to enter, you agree to The Rules.
• You can’t be related to either me, Haje, or Gareth to enter.
• One entry per person – so choose your best!
• Entries need to be submitted to the right place, which is the relevant monthly thread within the Small Aperture Flickr group.
• There’s a closing date for entries, so make sure you’ve submitted before then.
• You have to own the copyright to your entry and be at liberty to submit it to a competition. Using other people’s photos is most uncool.
• It probably goes without saying, but entries do need to be photographs. It’d be a bit of strange photo competition otherwise.
• Don’t do anything icky – you know, be obscene or defame someone or sell your granny to get the photo.
• We (that being me, Haje, and Gareth) get to choose the winner and we’ll do our best to do so within a week of the competition closing.
• You get to keep all the rights to your images. We just want to be able to show off the winners (and maybe some honourable mentions) here on Pixiq.
• Entry is at your own risk. I can’t see us eating you or anything, but we can’t be responsible for anything that happens to you because you submit a photo to our competition.
• We are allowed to change The Rules, or even suspend or end the competition, if we want or need to. Obviously we’ll try not to, but just so that you know.

If you've any questions, please just ask!

A beautifully patterned winner for our March photo competition

March's competition theme was patterns. We wanted to see pictures comprising Fibonacci spirals, ancient mosaics, or even jars on a shelf. You gave us some great images including flower petals, ice crystals, tapestry, and masonry. The winner that we* went for, however, was this row of clouds perching above the crest of a mountain range in northern Italy.

Well done to Maria Antonietta for Queuing! She's won herself a 12 inch Fracture.

We'd also like to congratulate flickphoto10 for the second-placed image In Line:

Thank you to everyone who entered. If you want to be in with a chance of winning a 12 inch Fracture this month, the details of April's competition will be going up soon!

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* The usual suspects have been indisposed for their selection duties this month. I recruited a stunt-double, though.

February's laid back photo competition winner

The theme for February's photo competition was 'relax'. A lot of the entries, unsurprisingly, featured people with their feet up! And it happened to be two of those that we selected as our winner and our runner-up.

First to our winner, by Igor K:

He has won a 12" Fracture for his beautiful image that sums up taking the weight off your feet and letting the day flow away.

Our runner-up is Rob-Shanghai. I love this anonymously captured moment.

Well done! And thank you to everyone who entered. March's competition will open later today. We hope to see you and your entries over in the thread on Flickr.

August's metallic medallist

EMP/SFM by Wntrmute

In a somewhat tenuous celebration of the Olympics, we asked for metallic images in our August photo competition. Judging was a slightly stressful experience, with a flurry of emails bouncing back and forth to decide who'd bag the 12 " Fracture prize. Thanks be to the gods of competition that none of us was expected to provide scores on diving, dressage, or gymnastics in a split second!

Finally, we settled on Wntrmute's enigmatically titled EMP/SFM as our gold medallist. There was something about the sense of texture it conveyed, and the warmth emanating from the structure that did it for us.

As for our runners up, Fred Dunn snatched silver with Stay out, stay in, which we adored for its composition and the ability to make razor wire inviting; bronze went to praire_girl76 for her macro of a wire whisk, which was entry 191 in her 365 project.

Congratulations all of you, and thank you to everyone who entered. We'll be posting details of our September competition later today!

You are bad at photography: Improving your work whilst managing self-confidence

Flipping Nora Madcakes - this is proper rubbish!

After a manic six weeks, I'm finally taking a day off. It will involve Olympics-watching, novel-reading, and cake-baking. Whilst I'm lounging on the sofa, I shall leave you in Gareth's capable hands to tell you that you're a bad photographer, but it isn't as terrible and soul-crushing as you might think.

You'll be glad to hear that I'm not here to shamelessly plug something, or big myself up (I think that phrase went out of fashion in the mid-nineties), or to give you the bottom line on how to use a particular lens, or how you should photograph faces, or plants, or the sky, or... anything, actually. I'm not here to shove a project in your face, either (the next edition of that will be in a couple of weeks or so, I imagine).

I'm here to tell you that you are bad at photography.

You are a bad, bad photo person. Yes, I know that shot you posted got favourited twenty times on Flickr and you were invited to add your image to the group called "Baffling HDRs of Random Nonsense!", but you are bad at photography. I know that portait session with your friend was a lot of fun, and she loved all the images, and she put them up on Facebook where they got dozens of likes, but you are bad at photography.

You are bad at photography and so am I. Why do I say this? To be honest, I mainly say it to get a reaction out of you so you actually bother reading my nonsense (it's known as "The Tabloid Tactic"). Manipulative, I know. I imagine you are currently puce with pure, unbridled photo-rage, clawing and scratching at the screen with your bare hands, fingernails now bleeding, in the (utterly insane) belief that you can physically harm me via The Internet: you're shouting "I think you'll find I came third in The Guardian's Photo Competition last week, you ingrate! The theme was 'tranquility'! TRANQUILITY!", before breaking down and sobbing into your brunch. Which you just took an Instagram photo of. Tear-sodden Eggs Benedict.

Calm down, this is not a personal attack, I promise. What I'm really trying to say, or rather ask, is, what do we gain from considering ourselves "good" photographers? What use is there in looking at an image you've taken and thinking 'Yep. Maximum art achieved. I have mastered the art of photography, right there. Nothing left for me to learn'?

Here's where I get serious for a whole three sentences: I think "good" is a dangerous word in photography, because it lets you settle. You snuggle up in that comfy 'I'm good now' seat and you remain at that skill level; in short, you stagnate creatively.

I know it's not nice, but it's necessary: critique, both self and from others, is what improves our images. If there's one thing you should do to every photograph that you take, it's to evaluate it. It should be noted, however, that it is very possible to go too far the other way: maintaining a healthy balance is the key. Instead of saying 'This photo is great,' I tend to go with 'I'm happy with this shot.' Similarly, it's better to identify what you could have done better with a photo you're not happy with, as opposed to sitting, head in hands, wailing uncontrollably because your subject isn't quite on the rule of thirds. Not that I've ever done this. Nope.

So where the piggles do I get such critique, I hear you collectively ask? Well, I happen to know that Daniela is turning her attentions to this very question in the not-too-distant future, but until then, one place to get some useful feedback is on DPChallenge. It's a good place to begin, but my personal advice would be to take critiques with a pinch of salt – the members of DPChallenge tend to be very focused on technical elements of critique. This certainly isn't an awful thing to focus on, but there will come a time where you are much more comfortable with the technical basics and you want to experiment with rule breaking. It all depends on your current skill level, really, but you'll definitely learn a thing or two, regardless of experience.

Immerse yourself in as much critique as possible – look at images that you really like on the site, images that you think are stunning and you feel a million miles away from, ability-wise. Now have a look at the critiques and what people think the photographer could have done better. The more critique you read, the better you will get at critiquing images yourself, including your own. Hey, look: you're getting better! Soon you'll be looking at work you create six months ago and thinking 'I can't believe all the mistakes there are in that photo – what a load of rubbish!' You see that? That's progress.

Here's your homework, then: get some proper, constructive feedback and critique on your work and learn something from the experience. It's daunting at first, but take it on the chin and keep working at getting better. Not "good", not "great", just better.

Photographing fun - June's photo competition

It's June. June's rammed with some of my favourite events and the weather is supposed to be 'flaming'. Whether or not it will be is another matter, but there's meant to be a whole heap of fun happening. So that's your challenge this month: fun in a photograph. From flying kites on a beach to getting all dressed up for Royal Ascot or covered in strawberry juice, capture a moment of people utterly enjoying themselves.

I bet you can come up with some crackers.

If it's your photo of fun that rocks our world, you'll win yourself a fabulous 12 inch Fracture, thanks to the super people there.

As ever, entries go in the Small Aperture Flickr pool, between today (Thurday 7 June) and Thursday 28 June 2012. Remember: one entry per person, please.

If you've any questions, please get in touch. Otherwise, I leave you with The Rules for your edification.

The Rules

• If you decide to enter, you agree to The Rules.
• You can’t be related to either me or Haje to enter.
• One entry per person – so choose your best!
• Entries need to be submitted to the right place, which is the Small Aperture Flickr group.
• There’s a closing date for entries, so make sure you’ve submitted before then.
• You have to own the copyright to your entry and be at liberty to submit it to a competition. Using other people’s photos is most uncool.
• It probably goes without saying, but entries do need to be photographs. It’d be a bit of strange photo competition otherwise.
• Don’t do anything icky – you know, be obscene or defame someone or sell your granny to get the photo.
• We (that being me and Haje) get to choose the winner and we’ll do our best to do so within a week of the competition closing.
• You get to keep all the rights to your images. We just want to be able to show off the winners (and maybe some honourable mentions) here on Pixiq.
• Entry is at your own risk. I can’t see us eating you or anything, but we can’t be responsible for anything that happens to you because you submit a photo to our competition.
• We are allowed to change The Rules, or even suspend or end the competition, if we want or need to. Obviously we’ll try not to, but just so that you know.

If you've any questions, please just ask!

A stunning silhouette for March

Thank you, everyone, for your fantatsic entries in our silhouette-themed photo competition. What a stunning collection of photos made their way into the Flickr pool. The winner, though, is this stand-out image, Ant on a twig:

Oh it's a simple photo, but it has been tremendously well executed. The detail and sharpness of the ant is superb. It's a wonderful example of a silhouette. Congratulations Drew Eldridge!

The lovely people at Fracture are kindly providing a 12" Fracture as a prize for Drew.

April's competition will be opening within the next day or so, so please keep tuned for that. Don't forget, though, that you can always keep up-to-date with the latest competition news - and other photographic shenanigans - by following @SmallAperture on Twitter.

Our photo competition winner takes flight!

Almost Like a Lightbulb, by Giuseppe Maria Galasso

The theme for February was 'flight'. We had some amazing entries, and some of them were very original takes on the theme, so as always, picking a victor was a complete pleasure. But our winner really stood out from the crowd with its gorgeous colours and capture of a moment, so many congratulations are due to Giuseppe Maria Galasso for his Almost Like a Lightbulb.

He's won himself a 12" Fracture.

The theme for March will be going up soon, so keep an eye out for that one. And don't forget that you can keep up to date with our competitions - and other photographic news - if you follow @SmallAperture on Twitter, too!

Our high-key photo competition winner is announced!

For January, we were looking for bright, airy, and positive high-key images to kick off the new year. This was the entry that made both Haje and me go 'Yes!' It's calm, delicate, and gorgeous.

Congratulations, Hooker771 (he doesn't give his real name on Flickr), for your charming First Year of Ballet. You've just won yourself a 12" Fracture.

Details of our February competition will be going up very soon!

Our November photo competition

The theme for November’s photo competition is taking a slightly unusual bent. My brother has suddenly become a key player behind a campaign to force his university to reconsider its decision to close its school of music. To try to bring a smidge of publicity to the cause in my own quiet way, and to bolster my brother, too, I thought that I’d make the theme music.

Anything musical will do. You might want to try your hand at concert photography; you might want to submit a photo of an instrument; hell, even an unusual and well-composed shot of your CD collection could swing it for us. We don’t mind, just think notes, scores, sounds, and performers. The best picture wins a 12″ Fracture.

The competition opens today – that’s Wednesday 2 November – and you’ve until Wednesday 30 November to submit your entry to the Small Aperture Flickr pool. Remember, it’s just one entry per person, please.

The Rules are the same as last month and all the months before, but they’re here all the same in case you need them. If you need me, you know where to find me. Otherwise, good luck!

The Rules

• If you decide to enter, you agree to The Rules.
• You can’t have written for Small Aperture or be related to either me or Haje to enter.
• One entry per person – so choose your best!
• Entries need to be submitted to the right place, which is the Small Aperture Flickr group.
• There’s a closing date for entries, so make sure you’ve submitted before then.
• You have to own the copyright to your entry and be at liberty to submit it to a competition. Using other people’s photos is most uncool.
• It probably goes without saying, but entries do need to be photographs. It’d be a bit of strange photo competition otherwise.
• Don’t do anything icky – you know, be obscene or defame someone or sell your granny to get the photo.
• We (that being me and Haje) get to choose the winner and we’ll do our best to do so within a week of the competition closing.
• You get to keep all the rights to your images. We just want to be able to show off the winners (and maybe some honourable mentions) here on Small Aperture.
• Entry is at your own risk. I can’t see us eating you or anything, but we can’t be responsible for anything that happens to you because you submit a photo to our competition.
• We are allowed to change The Rules, or even suspend or end the competition, if we want or need to. Obviously we’ll try not to, but just so that you know.

Our September photo competition

So my lovelies. We’ve had a few creative themes for the past few competitions. They’ve been marvellous, but a change can be as good as a rest, so this month, we thought we’d go and do something technical. We are, therefore, looking for your low-key photos. Dark, brooding, moody, seductive. Whatever take on low-key you want to give us, that’ll be fabulous. The one that we like the best will win a fabulous 12″ Fracture.

You’ve from today – Wednesday 7 September – until Wednesday 28 September to submit your entry. As ever, it’s one submission per person, and they need to go in our Flickr pool.

If you’ve any questions at all, drop me a note. Otherwise The Rules are here for your reference, and good luck!

The Rules

• If you decide to enter, you agree to The Rules.
• You can’t have written for Small Aperture or be related to either me or Haje to enter.
• One entry per person – so choose your best!
• Entries need to be submitted to the right place, which is the Small Aperture Flickr group.
• There’s a closing date for entries, so make sure you’ve submitted before then.
• You have to own the copyright to your entry and be at liberty to submit it to a competition. Using other people’s photos is most uncool.
• It probably goes without saying, but entries do need to be photographs. It’d be a bit of strange photo competition otherwise.
• Don’t do anything icky – you know, be obscene or defame someone or sell your granny to get the photo.
• We (that being me and Haje) get to choose the winner and we’ll do our best to do so within a week of the competition closing.
• You get to keep all the rights to your images. We just want to be able to show off the winners (and maybe some honourable mentions) here on Small Aperture.
• Entry is at your own risk. I can’t see us eating you or anything, but we can’t be responsible for anything that happens to you because you submit a photo to our competition.
• We are allowed to change The Rules, or even suspend or end the competition, if we want or need to. Obviously we’ll try not to, but just so that you know.

August Photo Competition Winner!

It seems that our usual competition judges Daniela “Editor Extraordinaire” Bowker and Haje “International Man of Mystery” Jan Kamps have gone AWOL, leaving I, Gareth “Owns A Camera, Likes Faces” Dutton to judge August’s photo competition. After Daniela made no less than ten posts announcing ten cameras over two days on Small Aperture, she began to think her hands were small, affordable yet robust compacts with in-camera effects options. I asked her if she’d like to judge this month’s photo competition but I couldn’t get any sense out of her whatsoever: I just left her there poking the palm of her right hand, muttering “how do you turn the flash off?”. As for Haje, he’s almost definitely off doing something cool and brilliant in a place I’ve never been to – I bet he’s photographing a magic bear whilst whizzing down a zipline made of singing gold thread in El Salvador. Sorry? Get on with what, exactly? Oh the competition, right.

This month’s theme was “texture” and we had some great shots to choose from. The entire experience was, quite frankly, texturific. We eventually pared it down to a handful and then agreed upon a winner:

Bark by Herve Sliwa

Congratulations to Herve Sliwa on winning our August photo comp – be sure to get in touch with Daniela to claim your prize! We also felt an honourable mention should go to J.C Chang for his entry:

Mud Curls by J.C Chang

Thanks for the entry J.C and thanks to everyone for their contributions. If you didn’t quite make it this time, never fear – keep trying and submit another pic for our September competition which will be announced in a week’s time. The harder you try, the better you’ll get!

July photo competition winner!

Ooh we have sunshine in London! And it’s not just sunshine, it’s actually verging on the warm. So help yourself to a sherbet, or a glass of Pimm’s if you’re that way inclined, as we have a competition winner to announce. July’s theme was red in honour of my new dress (although it could quite equally be the thermometer right now) and the lovely guys at Fracture have supplied the prize. There were some cracking entries and we had a bit of a ding-dong when settling on the winner. But we got there.

Bubble, by Ivo Vuk

Many congratulations to Ivo for his picture ‘Bubble’. Get in touch, and we’ll sort out your prize for you.

And, seeing as it’s our competition and everything, and thought that we’d give an honourable mention, too. That goes to Vereesh for Gimme-Red.

Gimme-Red by Vereesh

Thank you for your gorgeous entries. We really do enjoy seeing what you come up with every month. August’s competition will be announced soon!

Exploding water balloons and patient girlfriends - a chat with June's competition winner

We loved the winning photo from June’s photo competition so much that we got in touch with Lindsay Stott – the muchly-talented photographer behind it – to ask him how he did it. He very kindly let us in on the secret of burst water balloons and patient girlfriends so that we can all enjoy our own Dainty Rasengen moment. And seeing as it would be a bit mean to just pick his brains and share his knowledge without getting to know him a bit better, we asked a few questions about him and his photography, too.

Daniela: Hi Lindsay. Would you like to start by telling me a bit about yourself?

Lindsay: Sure! I’m from the sunny town of Montrose, but was fleetingly in Dundee, having been born there.

DEB: When and how did you get into photography?

LS: I’ve always tried to be arty, but my wants never translated to talent. I sucked at painting, my drawings looked as if I’d done them left-handed (I’m right-handed), and the only sculptures I could do was carving my name into trees. I was better at the scientific side of life with a fair amount of talent in physics and maths. Stubborn to the end, along came photography: something that physics blended into and was arty.

DEB: Any exciting photographic projects on the go at the moment?

LS: I have a huge project going on just now, that is taking up a lot of my time. I am currently opening a photography studio with my business partner Steven Bedford, under the name of Mnemonic Photography (shameless plug). We are busy snapping away images of anyone we can get our hands on with our new studio kit and the surrounding area as it’s quite scenic.

DEB: Ooh! Good luck with that! But now it’s time to spill the beans. How did you capture that amazing bursting water balloon?

LS: Sure thing! I got the idea from a magazine or website a long time ago and always wanted to try it. When your competition came, I thought it would make a strong entry for the theme. Convincing my lovely girlfriend to get drenched for it was another matter entirely.

Dainty Rasengan, by Lindsay Stott

Anyway, this is the how. I placed said lovely girlfriend in a shower, made her hold a water balloon and a pin. I zoomed in close so that I had filled the frame full of face and balloon.

The exposure was set so that the ambient was darkness and my flash strong enough to bounce off the ceiling and all around the white shower tiles to give me a nice exposure at f/9. The flash is what will freeze the action here and not the shutter speed.

We did an ‘on three’ thing, with me counting and Ella, the lovely girlfriend, boldly applying ample pressure to the water balloon with the pointy needle to make it explode all over her. The balloon contracts far quicker that the water falls – tension vs gravity or some such nonsense – and you get a lovely little ball of water on her finger tips, only for a moment.

You then take the image into Photoshop, play around with the white balance, exposure, colour hues, vibrance and tonal curve until you are happy and your model is dry. Taa-dah!

DEB: That’s rather awesome. Thank you! And now finally, is there anywhere you’d especially like to take pictures, given half a chance?

LS: I actually have the privilege of going to China this year, with hopes to photograph the Terracotta Army. I can’t wait to flash ‘em!

Many thanks to Lindsay for the chat. Don’t forget to check out Mnemonic Photography!

Our July photo competition

Hello All. It’s the first Wednesday of the month, which means it’s photo competition day. For no other reason than we felt like it, this month’s theme is red. (Okay, so maybe me buying a brand new red dress had a little something to do with it, but only a tad.) Let your imaginations run riot with red. We can’t wait to see what you drop into the Flickr pool, and to choose a winner, who’ll get a gorgeous 12″ Fracture.

You’ve three weeks to submit a photo, so you have from today (Wednesday 6 July) until Wednesday 27 July. It’s only one photo per person, and they need to go in the Small Aperture Flickr pool.

If you’ve any questions, please be in touch. Otherwise, I’ve reproduced The Rules, just in case. Good luck and have fun!

The Rules

• If you decide to enter, you agree to The Rules.
• You can’t have written for Small Aperture or be related to either me or Haje to enter.
• One entry per person – so choose your best!
• Entries need to be submitted to the right place, which is the Small Aperture Flickr group.
• There’s a closing date for entries, so make sure you’ve submitted before then.
• You have to own the copyright to your entry and be at liberty to submit it to a competition. Using other people’s photos is most uncool.
• It probably goes without saying, but entries do need to be photographs. It’d be a bit of strange photo competition otherwise.
• Don’t do anything icky – you know, be obscene or defame someone or sell your granny to get the photo.
• We (that being me and Haje) get to choose the winner and we’ll do our best to do so within a week of the competition closing.
• You get to keep all the rights to your images. We just want to be able to show off the winners (and maybe some honourable mentions) here on Small Aperture.
• Entry is at your own risk. I can’t see us eating you or anything, but we can’t be responsible for anything that happens to you because you submit a photo to our competition.
• We are allowed to change The Rules, or even suspend or end the competition, if we want or need to. Obviously we’ll try not to, but just so that you know.

June photo competition winner!

We picked water as our photo theme for June. It seemed somehow appropriate, what with large swathes of the UK being told that they were in drought conditions and then hours of play at Wimbledon being lost to rain delays. You did the theme proud, though, submitting some gorgeous photos for us to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ at whilst we tried to settle on a winner. We managed to pick one, though; it’s amazing what you can do with one pin, one girl, and one water balloon…

Dainty Rasengan, by Lindsay Stott

Many congratulations to Lindsay Stott for this perfectly captured moment. We were very impressed! Do get in touch so that you can claim your fabulous prize from the dudes at Fracture.

Thank you to everyone who entered. We really enjoyed selecting a winner this month and we’re looking forward to seeing what you come up with in July!

February photo competition winner!

Last month, being February and February having Valentine’s Day smack in the middle of it, for our competition we set you the task of photographing your camera kit to show us just how much you love it. The awesome dudes at Fracture even offered to supply a prize! Some of you really took this to heart (snigger) and this really made us smile. Thank you to everyone who entered. After a bit of umming and ahhing, Haje and I are delighted to announce the winner…

Canon Love, by James Emery

Congratulations, James! We loved the partial desaturation and the use of mirrors. Get in touch, and we’ll arrange for a prize for you!

Well done and thanks to everyone who entered. We’ve a great theme lined up for March. We can’t wait to see your entries.

Our March photo competition

Seeing as Haje is gallivanting across the globe and I’m starting to plan what can only be described as a crazy-mental-trip that might not come off (but I really, really hope that it does; finances and Middle East stability permitting), we’ve taken that as the inspiration for this month’s competition theme. We’re looking for pictures of skylines. At dawn or dusk, in silhouette or technicolour, give us some new horizons to explore.

There will of course be a fabulous prize for the winner supplied by the lovely people at Fracture.

The competition is open as of the very minute that I press the ‘Publish’ button (which will be on 9 March) and it’ll run for three weeks, until Wednesday 30 March 2011.

The rules are exactly the same as last time, but for completeness, I’ve put them below. Now we just want to see your gorgeous, gorgeous photos. Good luck!

The Rules

• If you decide to enter, you agree to The Rules.
• You can’t have written for Small Aperture or be related to either me or Haje to enter.
• One entry per person – so choose your best!
• Entries need to be submitted to the right place, which is the Small Aperture Flickr group.
• There’s a closing date for entries, so make sure you’ve submitted before then.
• You have to own the copyright to your entry and be at liberty to submit it to a competition. Using other people’s photos is most uncool.
• It probably goes without saying, but entries do need to be photographs. It’d be a bit of strange photo competition otherwise.
• Don’t do anything icky – you know, be obscene or defame someone or sell your granny to get the photo.
• We (that being me and Haje) get to choose the winner and we’ll do our best to do so within a week of the competition closing.
• You get to keep all the rights to your images. We just want to be able to show off the winners (and maybe some honourable mentions) here on Small Aperture.
• Entry is at your own risk. I can’t see us eating you or anything, but we can’t be responsible for anything that happens to you because you submit a photo to our competition.
• We are allowed to change The Rules, or even suspend or end the competition, if we want or need to. Obviously we’ll try not to, but just so that you know.

(If you really want to know, the featured image is one of mine. I took it in Edinburgh, just after a thunderstorm.)

January photo competition winner!

‘Crimeney – awesome stuff – it’s great to see that people are posting such fantastic images! I’m very impressed indeed.’ That was Haje’s reaction when we sat down to judge the January competition entries. So before I announce the winner, and invite you all to have a drink (alcoholic or otherwise, depending on your timezone and personal preferences) and a slice of cake to celebrate, to everyone who entered: thank you and well done. You made our lives difficult in the best way.

We delighted to unveil the winner of our monochrome photo challenge:

Mix, by Geoff Ridenour

Many congratulations! Please drop me an email, Geoff, and I’ll arrange a prize to wing its way to you.

Check out all the entries on our Flickr pool page. They really were phenomenal and everyone deserves credit. We’re looking forward to another great set of entries for February’s competition. Details will be going up soon.