Unique and perfect moments that our amateur reader photographers managed to capture during the month of January were simply outstanding. We were surprised by the standard of pictures that were submitted. It was not just luck that photographers sighted the unique moments, but the skill they implied in freezing them was evident. Many of our reader photographers have been working with us for years; today we would like to applaud their learning process. The improvement is clearly visible in their work. Having said this, we would like to clarify that we don’t promote our regular photographers but always look out for new people wanting to contribute. Taken aback by the standard of reader pictures being published in print, online and on our Facebook page, some readers have told us that they are hesitant in sending us their pictures. This is a misconception, we do push readers to deliver better quality, but we also encourage new photographers maintaining a fine balance between the types of pictures we publish. Take a look at the top three pictures and the winning photographer profiles of January 2014 picked by Picture Editor Devadasan K. P.
Editor’s note: Do you have pictures that you would like to see published? Send us your clicks at readers@gulfnews.com or into our Facebook inbox.
FIRST:
Indian national Abdul Salim, 47, discovered his passion for photography when he worked as a manual printer operator in an advertising company in Mumbai, India. He said: “I used to look at stunning pictures every now and then. Eventually they encouraged me to use my lens. Currently, I work as an office assistant in Dubai. With a taxing work schedule I hardly get time for myself, but I try to go out and capture beautiful moments of Nature whenever I can.”
Reason for winning:
“The reader captured a daily life picture of a worker hanging on to a building, doing his everyday job. It is a well composed picture and the expressive face of the worker adds to it.”
SECOND:
Sharjah resident Deepu B. Pillai, 32, who works as an architectural draughtsman in a construction company, got into photography when his parents gifted him a film camera on his 12th birthday. However, he only started using a digital camera when he moved to Dubai. He said: “The variety of people and the beautiful constructions in the city have made some of the best photographs in my collection. I love to freeze natural human expressions and moods, as they make the best memories.”
Reason for winning:
“This is a great action sport shot. The photographer has used the perfect shutter speed to freeze the moment. Great timing!”
THIRD:
Vipin Sharma, 42, was born and brought up in Alwar, Rajasthan, very close to the Sariska tiger reserves in India. He said: “Since childhood I’ve been a wildlife enthusiast, especially of tigers. I have visited most tiger reserves in my country to capture the special moments in my camera. I love being exposed to animal behaviour in their natural habitat. It is simply beautiful and I am completely against captive animals. The Sariska tiger reserve that I was very attached to was wiped out of its tiger population in 2005, as all tigers were poached. This turned my passion to madness, I wanted to help in any way I could. I started doing it through pictures. I want all readers to imagine a world without tigers, the next generation might only see them in books and more importantly they play a key role in Nature’s food chain. We all need to step up and save them before it’s too late.”
Reason for winning:
“The photographer has managed to capture the perfect moment between a sambeer deer and a crow. This is a unique shot with a focus, it shows the variety of Nature.”
