APOY 2016 Round 3: Soul Love – Portraiture Results

APOY 2016 Round 3: Soul Love – Portraiture

We’re already in our third month of APOY 2016 and here are the results for the 50 from APOY round 3 Soul Love

This was a near-impossible round to judge owing to the sheer volume of entries and the quality of the images that were sent in. But the winner of round 3, Soul Love (Portrait Photography) APOY 2016 is Kyaw Zaw Lay from Myanmar. Kyaw will receive a Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM lens and EF-610 DG ST electronic flash worth a total of £1,059.98.

The Sigma 85mm f/1.4 is a great lens to consider for portrait photography. It can also be used for a variety of occasions, such as event and wedding photography or even if you’re looking for a lens to use in your everyday photography. Its distinctive focal length and large aperture give it easy movement between uses, no matter what they are. Designed for full-frame sensors, the 85mm f/1.4 will work with APS-C DSLRs with an effective increase in focal length.

Featuring a multitude of Sigma technology to further ensure unmatched image quality, the 85mm f/1.4 is equipped with a Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) for quiet, accurate, high-speed autofocusing; a Super Multi-Layer Coating to reduce flare and ghosting; and a rear focusing system to minimise fluctuation of aberration caused by focusing.

One SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass element and one glass mould element give excellent correction for all types of aberrations and ensure superior optical performance. Designed to optimise available light, it has dedicated lens hoods to block out extraneous light, a glass coating for better results from backlighting scenarios, and a nine-blade diaphragm for superb background effects. All this means that the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM medium telephoto lens ensures
a natural perspective.

Kyaw will also receive an EF-610 DG ST electronic flashgun. With a GN (guide number) of 61m @ ISO 100, this flash is designed to work with the latest TTL auto exposure systems of all popular digital and film SLRs.

1st Kyaw Zaw Lay, Myanmar 50pts

Nikon D3S, 24-70mm, 1/200sec at f/10, ISO 100

Portraiture is one of those genres that takes real confidence to pull off. Sometimes it’s a matter of approaching people in the first place. At other times it’s knowing exactly what to do to bring out the qualities of the subject. Here we find a clear winner. Kyaw Zaw Lay is the winner of this APOY round with his unique portrait of a gentleman smearing coloured paint on a sheet of glass. There’s an intensity about the image in the subject’s concentrating eyes and the beads of sweat on his forehead. The framing of the subject is quite beautiful, as is the mixture of colours. It’s a real stand-out image and a worthy winner.

2nd Jevgenijs Scolokovs, Latvia 49pts

Canon EOS 5D, 85mm, 1/1000sec at f/2, ISO 100

Although not obligatory, as we’ll see over the following pages, one of the key elements of creating a successful portrait is focusing on the eyes of the subject. This picture is an excellent example. The large eyes of the girl draw you right into the image and can make you feel almost as if she is looking through the frame and directly at you. The subtle sepia toning is a perfect choice.

3rd David Fletcher, Tyne and Wear 48pts

Canon EOS 7D, 24-105mm, 1/250sec at f/11, ISO 100

David took this shot while out with his camera club after they were invited to a training session with the Northumberland Lightning American football team. This allowed them to get the players in various poses and experiment with lights. David used three Yongnuo Speedlites on stands, one on each side of the player, to give a rim-light effect, plus one on the ground zoomed to spotlight his face. The lights were positioned so the bars of the helmet would not cast shadows on the eyes.

Here are the top 50 entries for this APOY 2016 Round 3: Soul Love

1 Kyaw Zaw Lay 50pts 2 Jevgenijs Scolokovs 49pts 3 David Fletcher 48pts 4 Mark Anthony Agtay 47pts 5 Claire Meakin 46pts 6 Chris Evans 45pts 7 Dominic Beaven 44pts 8 Pawel Pentlinowski 43pts 9 Ed Burrows 42pts 10 Tomer Eliash 41pts 11 Penny Halsall 40pts 12 Martin Kimchi 39pts 13 Owen Vachell 38pts 14 James Polley 37pts 15 Brian McDonnell 36pts 16 Andrew Blake 35pts 17 Luis Palomino Domínguez 34pts 18 Mick Davis 33pts 19 Richard Eyers 32pts 20 Dani Colston 31pts 21 Xu Ying Zhe 30pts 22 Ana Caroline de Lima 29pts 23 Russ Barnes 28pts 24 Michael Marsh 27pts 25 Bertrand Chombart 26pts

26 Kestas Venzlauskas 25pts 27 Boris Giltburg 24pts 28 Ferdinand von Korff 23pts 29 Piotr Raczkowski 22pts 30 Vince Cunningham 21pts 31 Julie Bowden 20pts 32 Mike Morley 19pts 33 Randall Roberts 18pts 34 Chandan Dey 17pts 35 Matt Crabtree 16pts 36 Aisha Jemila Daniels 15pts 37 Darius Sulcius 14pts 38 James Sullivan 13pts 39 Matej Paluh 12pts 40 Thomas Thompson 11pts 41 Mike Hughes 10pts 42 Sigita Playdon 9pts 43 Mark Massey 8pts 44 Ivan Galic 7pts 45 Khant Zaw 6pts 46 Roger Bryan 5pts 47 Derek Rowlands 4pts 48 David Travis 3pts 49 Mick Greaves 2pts 50 Peter Murrell 1pt

The 2016 Leaderboard

In first place we have Bertrand Chombart with 94 points and in joint second place is Penny Halsall and Tomer Elisash, both with 84 points. In fourth place we have David Fletcher, who scores 77 points, and just two points behind him is Ana Caroline de Lima

Position	Name	Points
1	Bertrand Chombart	94pts
2	Penny Halsall	84pts
2	Tomer Eliash	84pts
4	David Fletcher	77pts
5	Ana Caroline de Lima	75pts
6	James Marsh	61pts
7	George Diagalakis	55pts
8	Russ Barns	53pts
9	Adrian Mills	50pts
9	Kyaw Azw Lay	50pts

This is only the third round of this year’s APOY there are five more to enter and win prizes from Sigma.