Travel Image of the Month - November 2020 : Squirt! (Thailand) by Steve Jones
At the end of the November competition we received 39 images from colleagues across the world. As ever there were some really remarkable shots from group members. Increasingly I am left in awe of the skills of our members, it not just the technical skill, but being in the right place the right time to 'see' the shot in the first place.
We will each have our own favourite, but in terms of simplicity Sue Lambert's minimalist 'Mad Dog's and Englishmen, Namibia, simply seemed to sum up the whole picture, while Lynda Golightly's crisp mono 'Counter Service' caught my eye again for it's simplicity and balance.
But the winner for this month was chosen by one of our new committee members Justin Cliffe ARPS, who selected Steve Jones's 'Squirt' as his image of the month. Justin commented:
"This month we had a great set of images and it was a real challenge, albeit an enjoyable one, producing my short-list and, even more so, selecting my winner. After a considerable amount of deliberation, I picked, as my November Travel Image of the Month:"
Squirt! (Thailand) by Steve Jones
"This image works really well, for a number of reasons – the nice timing with the elephant on the right spraying its mahout who’s trying to defend himself with his basket, the triangle created by the three men, all of whom are wearing blue tops and straw-coloured hats and the diagonal line of the three elephants which are enhanced by the tusks of the 3rd one helping to keep the eye moving around the image. All in all a really nice travel photograph."
"I have three Highly Commended images, each of which could have been the winner and each of which also provide a strong sense of place:
‘Following the Leader, Mongolia’ by Tony Au Yeong
"This image is made by the lighting – the way that the camels and the rider are beautifully back-lit which also lights up the ripples on the dune in the background. There’s a nice sense of movement here as well - with the sand being kicked up by the lead camel."
‘When Spiderman meets Old Men’ by Sanjoy Sengupta
"What a lovely photograph – it certainly made me smile when I first saw it. Lovely light on the group of old men in the bottom right of the photograph with a nice composition of the right-hand two looking into the frame at the speaker in the centre of the image and then, very much out of place – but making the picture - Spiderman striding purposefully across the frame behind them."
And
‘Steps to the Fortress, India’ by Andy Ferrington:
"A real sense of place here – the two boys coming down the stairs towards the photographer and the line of the staircase drawing your eye back up to the imposing fortress in the background. Nice composition and even though this was shot into the sun, well exposed."
"One other photograph worthy of mention is Nur Tucker's ‘Sunset at the Red Sea’, a clever image taken with the lens half in and half out of the water. It won’t have been easy balancing the exposure for the underwater element with the sunset above it however the photographer has done this really nicely."
Congratulations then to Steve, and his 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, or here to 2020 winners to date.
