Lightbox
Be inspired by six pages of stunning images from fellow Nikon users
The latest inspirational images from photographers around the world
Amazing Rio Juan Carlos Ruiz San Millán, Spain
When I travelled to Rio de Janeiro I wanted to take a unique shot representative of the beauty of this amazing Latin American city, where the mountains (called ‘morros’) and the beaches come together in such an incredible way. I shot this from the top of the Sugarloaf mountain with its amazing view over the city, taking the picture at dusk to combine the last of the light in the sky with the lights of the city. I used a graduated ND filter to tone down the highlights in the sky.
FINALIST The Beauty of Plants
Common Thistle Lotte Christina Andersen Pedersen, Denmark
The thistle is probably not the plant that first comes to mind when you have to connect a plant to the word ‘beauty’. But a plant’s beauty is to me much more than what you see at first glance. A plant can be beautiful because it is part of the memories and thoughts in a person’s mind. The thistle takes me back to my childhood, when we were playing in the fields and meadows, where we sometimes brushed against thistles and blew the wispy little parachutes into heaven. The thistle is a part of my childhood landscape.
FINALIST The Bountiful Earth
Cranberry world Jacky Hobbs, UK
Cranberries can be grown in shallow bogs (as here in Cape Cod, Massachusetts), which are flooded to facilitate ease of harvest. The gathered masses of heavy fruit necessitate airlifting by helicopter to avoid damage to the residual cranberry plant. I managed to get a ride in one such working helicopter. Scared of heights but unable to resist the opportunity to fly over the cranberry bogs, I was inspired to take the photo as much by adrenalin as aesthetics. In a lurching, rattling, noisy chopper I managed to regain my wits and get my camera into action to try to capture the stunning scenes racing away below me.
FINALIST The Beauty of Plants
Dancing petals Magdalena Wasiczek, Poland
I really enjoy autumn in my garden, as I like the subdued colours. Twisted leaves and flower petals take on interesting forms, and the frost on them looks like icing sugar. You have to hurry to photograph this delightful early morning phenomenon; the moment the sun’s rays lick the icing sugar the colours disappear and everything becomes brownish-grey.
SECOND PLACE Breathing Spaces
Morning in Bushy Park Kasia Nowak, UK
I visit Bushy Park out outskirts of London several times every month, usually early in the morning. Even when the weather is not very photogenic I spend time looking for new viewpoints and try to come up with new ideas for what to photograph next time. It is a personal project that started nearly three years ago. Before each visit, my preparations include checking a detailed weather forecast and the place where the sun will rise that day.
FINALIST Wildflower Landscapes
Woodland delight By Sarah-fiona Helme, UK
The bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) is one of Britain’s most loved flowers. I wanted to find a new perspective from which to photograph it. In May and June, bluebellclothed woods form part of a steep braeside leading to a river below. Storms and erosion had left the landscape cluttered with fallen branches and muddy slopes. Although there was no clean composition to be had in photographing the wider landscape, I felt inspired to find a way to capture the essence of the bluebell woods.
FINALIST Trees, Woods & Forests
Sorbus Commixta ‘Embley’
Jacky Parker, UK
I am always drawn to this specimen tree in the Savill Garden in Windsor Great Park: on this particular day, the light was soft and hazy and the berries appeared to have a natural vibrant red sheen. I like to get underneath the leaf canopy and shoot outwards towards the light, and spent a while trying different angles in between waiting for the foliage to settle as it was a breezy day.