Dark Light – Paul Shears
The early bird most definitely does catch the worm. Don't believe us? Just ask photographer Paul Shears about this shot. "It was taken in January 2014 during a period where London was covered in thick fog during the early hours of the morning," he says. "I arrived at the 30th floor of my office to find that I couldn't see a thing through any of the windows; the fog was that high and thick. However, after waiting a few minutes, as the sun started to rise, the fog began to clear and these two buildings became visible as the light started to hit them."
Evening Light on the Shard – Stephen Bright
This shot by Stephen Bright was taken just before the sun set, taking advantage of an amazing natural colour palette. "It was made all the more striking by a lower band of cloud in the distance," Bright says. "Clearer skies to the east reflected off the Shard, giving it a complementary blue tone. The photograph was taken from Canary Wharf's One Canada Square, the UK's second tallest building." Let there be light...
The Bankers' Lair – Billy Currie
There's more to the City than meets the aperture, according to Billy Currie: "London's financial district, with its mixture of old and modern architecture, offers many options for a photographer. When concentrating more on the more modern buildings, a long exposure seemed the most obvious choice. Once the sky is softened along with the water the image is transformed into a totally different scene. This is then a perfect starting point for a moody and artistic mono conversion."
Wembley Stadium and Olympic Way – Arpad Lukacs
This action-packed picture of a load of police horsing around was captured by Arpad Lukacs, who utilised a minute-long exposure to achieve its dreamlike quality. But we jest, it’s not actually the police who are in action, it’s the “thousands of fans as they walk towards Wembley Park Tube station after a football match, with the on-duty police officers standing still while the shutter was open.” We hope it was a draw...
Wheel at Sunrise – George Johnson
“Within 45 seconds of the shot, the reflection was destroyed,” says George Johnson. No, he didn’t drop his camera in the river, a speed boat arrived and disrupted what is termed the ‘slack tide’. Johnson “waited until the last second to catch the sun peeking over the buildings.” Good things come to those who wait, clearly. Unless of course you wait 45 seconds too long.
Titanic Museum – Kris Tritt
Kris Tritt had already taken this photo before he’d taken it, if you catch our drift: “The image was taken last summer on my holiday to Northern Ireland. I had ‘previsualised’ this image of the Titanic Museum building, so I knew in the first few seconds that the photograph must be black and white.” But what else is it that makes this shot so visually arresting? “I decided to crop the bottom of the building to give viewers time to look and think about what it actually is.” It certainly works for us.
All winning and shortlisted images can be found in Landscape Photographer of the Year: Collection 8 (AA Publishing, £25). The Awards are held in association with VisitBritain and Countryside is GREAT. For more information, see take-a-view.co.uk.
