Photo 24: The Winners

The Photography News Photo 24 event, sponsored by MPB, took place earlier this summer in London on 25 and 26 June. As an extra incentive for attendees, we had a photo contest for pictures taken during the event with three categories – and the winner of each receiving a £500 MPB voucher.

On the same day, we also ran the Super 24 Challenge, an hourly photo competition that anyone, anywhere could get involved in and have their own 24-hour photo experience. For this, we also had three £500 vouchers awarded to the best images submitted.

Thanks to everyone who took part in Photo 24, both in person or online.

Two of the categories covered key London subjects, but there is so much more for a photographer’s lens to feast on, either with subject matter choice or a fresh technical approach. Basically, anything goes in the open category. It could be a zoom burst, night scene, shot of a stairwell or creative montage – provided all image elements were taken during Photo 24. Essentially, your imagination can run wild with this subject, and we certainly saw a diverse selection of images.

Winner David Jenner comments: “I arrived at Adams Plaza Bridge in Canary Wharf just after 10pm, in the hope of having the tunnel to myself. As it happened, there was one other person diligently keeping the walkway clean. It turned out that he proved to be the ideal focal point for my composition.

“Knowing I needed a quick shutter speed, I opened up the aperture to f/1.8 and set ISO 1600, allowing me to use 1/250sec on my Nikon D850. All I needed to do was wait until my subject was in the perfect place. The lead-in lines created by the vivid light panels are a visual sensation and reminded me of those psychedelic album covers from the seventies.”

Two of the categories covered key London subjects, but there is so much more for a photographer’s lens to feast on, either with subject matter choice or a fresh technical approach. Basically, anything goes in the open category. It could be a zoom burst, night scene, shot of a stairwell or creative montage – provided all image elements were taken during Photo 24. Essentially, your imagination can run wild with this subject, and we certainly saw a diverse selection of images.

Winner David Jenner comments: “I arrived at Adams Plaza Bridge in Canary Wharf just after 10pm, in the hope of having the tunnel to myself. As it happened, there was one other person diligently keeping the walkway clean. It turned out that he proved to be the ideal focal point for my composition.

“Knowing I needed a quick shutter speed, I opened up the aperture to f/1.8 and set ISO 1600, allowing me to use 1/250sec on my Nikon D850. All I needed to do was wait until my subject was in the perfect place. The lead-in lines created by the vivid light panels are a visual sensation and reminded me of those psychedelic album covers from the seventies.”

Best open: shortlisted

EDITOR’S COMMENT: With London offering such an expansive palette of photo potential, it’s always a delight to see what everyone got up to on their Photo 24. The open category reflected this great diversity in terms of subject matter and technical approach, which made judging a challenge and a pleasure – with many fabulous shots to consider

Best icon winner: Darrell Godliman

For this year’s Photo 24 we were forecast a good sunrise. Keen to make the most of it, I abandoned my comfy MPB beanbag and headed down to the Thames with time to spare. Shooting towards the sun with my long lens, I used my hand to block the flare. Then I realised that, if I dropped my hand a little bit further, I could use it to improvise a graduated filter effect. It was then just a case of waiting for a bus to pass and pressing the shutter at
the optimum moment”

Best icon winner: Darrell Godliman

For this year’s Photo 24 we were forecast a good sunrise. Keen to make the most of it, I abandoned my comfy MPB beanbag and headed down to the Thames with time to spare. Shooting towards the sun with my long lens, I used my hand to block the flare. Then I realised that, if I dropped my hand a little bit further, I could use it to improvise a graduated filter effect. It was then just a case of waiting for a bus to pass and pressing the shutter at
the optimum moment”

Photo 24 Super Challenge winners

 

Best icon: shortlisted

EDITOR’S COMMENT: Best icon is probably the category that inspires me most, seeing how other creative minds interpret much-photographed scenes and subjects. This year saw many stunning shots

Street photography is a challenging and increasingly popular subject. Plus, as most of us live in urban areas, it’s an easily accessible topic. In a city like London, there’s massive photographic potential, and you can approach the subject in many ways. A current trend is using strong light and contrast for graphic shots, or you might take the avenue of wandering around busy streets and markets, camera in hand, looking for the decisive moment. We saw entries of all types in this year’s contest, but well done to the winner and shortlisted entries shown here. 

Photo 24 Super Challenge winners

New for this year’s Photo 24 was an hourly photo challenge that camera users from all over the world could get involved in. There were three prizes of £500 MPB vouchers for the best images, as judged by Photography News. 

Subject themes were announced on the hour, and topics included straightforward goals such as shooting a logo, silhouettes and twilight. We also threw in a few more open to creative interpretation, like time and life through glass.

Thanks to everyone who got involved and well done to the winners.

Special thanks to…

Our gratitude goes to all the PN readers who supported the event back in June; MPB for sponsoring, offering free kit loans, providing prizes and photographer survival kits; Brian Lloyd Duckett and Alex Duckett of StreetSnappers for hosting free walks. Plus TimeLine Events for organising the night bus and re-enactors; photographer Corinne Cumming for putting on a portrait workshop; Dan Clarke of UK Spinners for his light-painting talent; and the team at The Dilly, our venue.

Best street winner: Martin Amery

I was inspired to take this photograph while on Brian Lloyd Duckett’s West End photo walk, looking for subject connections within street scenes. I really liked the composition of the woman on her phone standing by the corner alleyway in her work uniform, and the relationship between the couple in the foreground – the woman looking at her phone with great interest and the man watching and waiting for her.

I would like to give a massive thank you to Photography News and everyone involved in organising this year’s fantastic Photo 24 event – and to MPB for being such great sponsors.

Street photography is a challenging and increasingly popular subject. Plus, as most of us live in urban areas, it’s an easily accessible topic. In a city like London, there’s massive photographic potential, and you can approach the subject in many ways. A current trend is using strong light and contrast for graphic shots, or you might take the avenue of wandering around busy streets and markets, camera in hand, looking for the decisive moment. We saw entries of all types in this year’s contest, but well done to the winner and shortlisted entries shown here. 

Best street: shortlisted continued

EDITOR’S COMMENT: Entrants in the street category showed great skill in catching the decisive moment

Special thanks to…

Our gratitude goes to all the PN readers who supported the event back in June; MPB for sponsoring, offering free kit loans, providing prizes and photographer survival kits; Brian Lloyd Duckett and Alex Duckett of StreetSnappers for hosting free walks. Plus TimeLine Events for organising the night bus and re-enactors; photographer Corinne Cumming for putting on a portrait workshop; Dan Clarke of UK Spinners for his light-painting talent; and the team at The Dilly, our venue.

MPB has transformed how image makers sell and buy pre-loved kit, with its streamlined website and efficient service. If you’re looking at moving your equipment on or upgrading an existing outfit (or both!), make MPB your first port of call for prices and stock. With centres in Berlin, New York and Brighton, MPB deals with over 350,000 items each year.

Our thanks to MPB for its support of Photo 24 2022. The website is its trading nerve centre, and features engaging technique and inspirational content for stills or video photographers.

Originally featured in Issue 101 of Photography News.