Intuition is a photographer’s compass. The masterful French photographer and father of photojournalism Henri Cartier Bresson, called it “a creative fraction of a second” — the moment when the photographer, after careful planning and several painstaking minutes or hours, finally clicks his golden picture. Intuition guides the finger to the trigger, but Bresson warns: “Once you miss it, it is gone forever.” In the month of October, several of our reader photographers waited for that elusive moment, and a fortunate few captured it for time immemorial. Picture Editor K. P. Devadasan picked the top three winners and here, we present the photographs that stood out from the rest.
Editor’s note: Do you want to participate in our monthly Reader Picture Competition? Send us your best photographs, with captions, at readers@gulfnews.com.
FIRST PLACE
Profile:
Bipin Mehta works as an information security professional at a bank in Dubai.
His picture is of a rare sight for UAE residents — a killer whale surfacing off the coast of Washington, US. The reader photographer was on a whale-watching trip at the time.
He said: “We were following these amazing, majestic and playful creatures at a distance when one of them turned back and cut across the front of the ship, right where I was on deck!”
Reason for winning:
The appearance of the whale was pure serendipity, and Mehta was quick on his feet to make sure the moment didn’t pass without him getting it on camera.
Devadasan said: “The photograph shows great timing… he captured the motion of the whale in action.”
SECOND PLACE
Profile:
Irfanullah Arif is a public relations clerk in Abu Dhabi.
At the time of clicking his photograph in Swat Valley, Pakistan, Arif didn’t have a professional camera or the luxury of setting up a shot. Unwilling to miss out on capturing the young hunter’s exuberance, Arif used his Nokia 6300 to take a quick picture. And it was worth it.
Reason for winning:
Children make great subjects for portraits. The young boy’s emotive features transcend the two-dimensional frame, and helped our Picture Editor declare it to be a clear winner.
Devadasan said: “It’s a perfect picture, in terms of successfully capturing the expression of the boy. The photographer has executed the picture with a great angle, by shooting from the front.”
THIRD PLACE
Profile:
Arjun Sasi is an area sales manager, based in Dubai.
The reader photographer literally stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of this natural phenomenon, of clouds rising over Jebel Jais in Ras Al Khaimah.
He immediately clicked a picture, capturing for others, a “mind-blowing” scene that one has to see to believe. It was published as part of his Reader Picture Essay on skyscape photography.
THIRD
For Devadasan, the picture is a success for several reasons.
He said: “The reader has composed the picture very well. It is well shot and properly exposed. It complements his series of pictures on unique skyscapes… great variety of shots and mesmerising colours.”
On the web
View more pictures by our winning photographers, at gulfnews.com/pictures
