Travel Image of the Month - May 2021 : Lisbon Night Tram - Jane Tearle

As we move into northern hemisphere's summer months there may be more opportunity (as far as individual country pandemic restrictions allow), for those of us that live in that zone, to get out and capture shots a broader range of shots. 

Those restrictions however, have not stopped members of our travel group from submitting a selection of photographs from a huge number of locations this month ... and the process of choosing winners remains as ever incredibly difficult given the quality of the images. 

Apart from those selected by our judge, catching the eye for me were two very different images. Sue Lambert's 'Portal', a monochrome taken in Oman give me a sense of space and serenity, and was set off by the lone figure in the shot. David Cumming's 'Lucky Drive-By' is a very different shot. Striking in its presentation, and vivid in its colour palette, the lighting alone made me feel as if I wanted to be there.

However, the selection of our winning shot, and his choice highly commended, fell this month to our judge Richard Lewis ARPS who commented:

"Again, a difficult task to select the winner from the several candidates for that position.  All were technically very good and in their different ways each had something on offer to make it a contender.

"However, a winner has to be chosen, and my choice this month is: 

Lisbon Night Tram - Jane Tearle 
"This embraces the key requirement of travel photography, in that it strongly conveys a sense of place.  The image really captures old Lisbon by night emphasised by the foreshortening  – the iconic Tram 28 on the hilly cobbled street with its embedded shining rails, crowded by the typical buildings each side.  The street lights have given the tram and the street just right amount of lighting to create a very moody atmosphere, enhanced by the lighting within the tram, and emphasising the lovely textures of the street surface."

"I have chosen four images as Highly Commended:

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi - Connor Donnelly
"The striking architecture and strong designs of the mosque are well captured and emphasised by the colours and lighting of the arches.  The sense of scale is nicely caught by including the figures just visible at the other side of the space."

Early Morning Gibson Steps, Victoria Aus. - Gareth Hughes "An unusual image conveying its sense of place and time with the sea shore and cliffs receding into the distance in the hazy early morning golden light behind the silhouetted rocks and their shadows.  Through contrast, the clearly lit yet also silhouetted figure at the right adds depth, both physically and tonally."

Boats, Beer, Devon. - Jo Kearney  
"A very simple image of fishing boats hauled up onto the beach, but nicely grouped and framed in gorgeous golden hour evening light.  Effectively combines strong saturated colours with silhouettes, shadows and texture."

Boarding the Barra ferry, Gambia. - Margaret Ann Hocking  "A very striking image portraying a mass of colourfully dressed passengers, many with their equally colourful baggage and parcels, pouring aboard the ferry. The sense of place is very clear."

 • Congratulations to Jane, her winning shot will be added to the Travel Image of the Month page on the website, with the overall monthly winners competing to be the Group’s best travel photograph of the year.

Click here to see winning images from previous years or here to see 2019 winners, here to 2020 winners, and here for 2021 winners.