We’re off to a great start in APOY 2015. Here are the results from APOY round 1 Night Life
Dave Stewart from Edinburgh is the winner of round 1, Night Life (Low Light Photography), of APOY 2015. Dave will receive a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A lens, an EF-610 DG Super flashgun and a USB dock worth a total of £1,099.97.
Using a cutting-edge design and state-of-the-art production technology, Sigma has honed the performance of its 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A lens to the point where it can do full justice to the expressive power of the very latest digital cameras. With a large f/1.4 aperture, this optic can achieve the highest level of brightness with an attractive blur for wideangle images. The fast f/1.4 aperture also enables you to capture unique pictures in a variety of scenes, such as evening views and indoor handheld portraits.
The EF-610 DG Super electronic flash features a powerful Guide Number of 61m @ ISO 100 and is designed to work with the latest TTL auto-exposure systems of all popular manufacturers’ digital and film SLR cameras. The autozoom function automatically sets the optimum illumination angle in accordance with the focal length of the lens in a range from 24mm to 105mm. When the built-in Wide Panel is used, the flash can cover an angle of 17mm. For bounce flash, the flashgun head can be tilted up by 90°, to the left by 180° or to the right by 90°. It can also be tilted down by 7°, allowing ease of use for close-up photography.
Among the advanced features of this flash is a modelling function, multi-pulse, TTL wireless, FP (high speed), rear-curtain synchro and manual mode, which allows the photographer to set the flash power level by up to 8 stops.
The Sigma USB Dock enables photographers to update firmware and customise features of the lens via Sigma Optimization Pro software, which is available to download from Sigma’s website.
Our congratulations also go to Svetlana Volkova, from Latvia, who was second, and Michael Marsh, from Kent, in third place.
1st Dave Stewart, Edinburgh 50pts
1st Dave Stewart, Edinburgh 50pts
Canon EOS 7D Mark II, 10-22mm, multiple exposures, filter
Shooting at night is not an easy task. With so many aspects to consider (exposure, composing in low light, and so on), it can be difficult to ensure that you come away with an engaging shot. It’s heartening to see so many people take on the challenge and here we have a shot that stood out from the others. This image consists of a blend of several exposures of St Abbs Lighthouse in the Scottish Borders. It’s an incredible image and a more than worthy first place.
2nd Svetlana Volkova, Latvia 49pts
2nd Svetlana Volkova, Latvia 49pts
Canon EOS 5D, 35mm, 0.5sec at f/5, ISO 100
In second place is Svetlana Volkova with a shot that has so much going for it. The atmosphere bleeds from the image and the inclusion of the silhouette with the umbrella lends the scene a near cinematic quality. The diffusion of the light through the evening mist is a particularly nice quality, as are the long shadows leading our eye into the subject.
3rd Michael Marsh, Kent 48pts
3rd Michael Marsh, Kent 48pts
Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 24-105mm, 0.3sec at f/4, ISO 3200
Here we see a shot of Michael’s son taken on a country lane in Hernehill, Faversham in Kent. ‘The temperature was very low, giving good vapour trails,’ says Michael. ‘The light source was provided by my car headlights.’ It is a very cinematic scene and a great example of how shooting at night can give your shot an enveloping ambience
Top 50 entries for Night Life – Low Light Photography:
| 1 Dave Stewart 50pts 2 Svetlana Volkova 49pts 3 Michael Marsh 48pts 4 Alireza Teimoury 47pts 5 Graham Borthwick 46pts 6 Chris Evans 45pts 7 Lee Acaster 44pts 8 Tomer Eliash 43pts 9 Simon Patient 42pts 10 James Mills 41pts 11 Simon Anderson 40pts 12 Amri Arfianto 39pts 13 Matt Parry 38pts 14 Adele Spencer 37pts 15 David Queenan 36pts 16 Graeme Youngson 35pts 17 Elisa Bortolotti 34pts 18 Naf Selmani 33pts 19 Mike Lowthian 32pts 20 John Hartshorne 31pts 21 Jim Tate 30pts 22 Steven Reid 29pts 23 Andrew Howe 28pts 24 Ben Pike 27pts 25 David Ball 26pts |
26 Kevin Crozier 25pts 27 Hayri Kodal 24pts 28 George Fisk 23pts 29 Sirsendu Gayen 22pts 30 Theunis Viljoen 21pts 31 Matt Emmett 20pts 32 Robert Beacon 19pts 33 Matt Crouch 18pts 34 Adam Stephenson 17pts 35 Christiana Artenie 16pts 36 Antonio Rojas Jr 15pts 37 Eduardo Marques 14pts 38 Simon Kernthaler 13pts 39 Derek Robertson 12pts 40 Chris Wood 11pts 41 Jeff Moore 10pts 42 Sue Keeling 9pts 43 Paul Beverley 8pts 44 Matt A Revel 7pts 45 John Blackman 6pts 46 Christopher Day 5pts 47 Ian Cook 4pts 48 Rodney Harrison 3pts 49 John Ward 2pts 50 Ben Holland 1pts |
View the winnng images in the APOY 2015 Gallery
The 2015 Leaderboard
In this first round of APOY 2015, Dave Stewart from Edinburgh takes top spot with his image of St Abbs Lighthouse in the Socttish Borders. Following just behind in second place is Svetlana Volkova from Latvia, while in third place we have Michael Marsh from Kent.
| Position | Name | Points |
| 1 | Dave Stewart | 50pts |
| 2 | Svetlana Volkova | 49pts |
| 3 | Michael Marsh | 48pts |
| 4 | Alireza Teimoury | 47pts |
| 5 | Graham Borthwick | 46pts |
| 6 | Chris Evans | 45pts |
| 7 | Lee Acaster | 44pts |
| 8 | Tomer Eliash | 43pts |
| 9 | Simon Patient | 42pts |
| 10 | James Mills | 41pts |
