Photography News Issue 55

Photography News | Issue 55 | photographynews.co.uk

Outdoor Photographer of the Year 16

The great outdoors Last year’s Outdoor Photographer of the Year competition attracted over 17,000 entries from across the globe, with the overall winner scooping a prize package worth £3000. Here are some of our favourite images

Words by Will Cheung

The Outdoor Photographer of the Year competition is now in its seventh year and its growing popularity meant that last year it attracted over 17,000 entries across its nine categories. At the Water’s Edge, Live the Adventure, and Spirit of Travel are among the most popular categories, and to reflect the boom in aerial photography (whether from drones or aircraft) a new category, View from Above, was added last year. The contest is organised by Outdoor Photographer magazine, and editor Steve Watkins explains the thinking behind it. “When we launched the competition in 2010 there were a few ground rules we put in place about how it went forward,” he says. “One of the critical ones is that we don’t want it to be ‘just another competition’; there has to be photographer-centric progression each year in terms of what it offers and delivers to the people who enter, and those who engage with it in other ways. It’s a tough path but I think we’ve largely managed to achieve that so far. The development of the prizes and sponsor partnerships with Fjällräven and Spectrum Photographic, and the addition of the exhibition and book, have been significant steps in the right direction. It’s great, too, that the national and international media now have the competition firmly on their calendars for coverage. “As the competition has grown, the standard of entries has improved and the number of top photographers entering has also gone up. One of the great things about the competition, though, is that there isn’t any bias towards professional entries; anyonewho enters, whether they take a few photographs a year or are out there shooting every day, can scoop the top prizes if they have the skills and knowledge (and perhaps a little bit of luck) to capture an extraordinary photograph.” Mikolaj Nowacki’s overall winning image is very powerful but perhaps not a traditional outdoor shot, so what attracted the judging panel to it? Steve explains: “Mikolaj’s image of the yacht captain getting a battering in a storm works on many levels. There is the obvious human drama of the situation they are in, which grabbed our immediate attention, but then it comes down to the small details: the relaxed pose of the captain bracing himself against the stomach-churning roll of

the boat, the ice-calm expression on his face, which counters the edginess of the scene, and the storm cloud on the distant horizon. The captain is completely immersed in the experience, and Mikolaj’s viewpoint from behind the mast not only readily puts the viewer into his position but also leaves no doubt that Mikolaj is fully connected to the experience, too. Most photographers would have their cameras tucked safely away in a waterproof bag, but Mikolaj is an experienced photojournalist who could see the power of the scene before him and couldn’t resist the urge to capture it.” Well done to Mikolaj and all those photographers who got recognised in this year’s contest. If the idea of grabbing some glory appeals to you, the 2018 contest launches this September, so keep your eye on opoty.co.uk if you want to enter.

Most photographers would have their cameras tucked safely in a waterproof bag

Overall and Live the Adventure category winner, Mikolaj Nowacki

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