Inspirations
STUNNING IMAGERY FROM THE WORLD OF CANON PHOTOGRAPHY
There’s no green around these gills! Photoplus readers show off their winning images in our ‘green’ theme competition
01 THE CANADIAN AURORA BOREALIS BY JACQUIE MATECHUK
What’s better than one aurora in a single image? Two of course! And that’s exactly what Jacquie has delivered in her fabulous reflection shot from the Canadian Rockies. We love the stunning shades of green shimmering throughout the shot in both the sky and water, as well as the central composition with the two downward slopes of the mountains on either side of the image guiding the eye towards the middle peak. The craggy foreground also helps frame the bottom of the shot nicely and guide the eye in too. Brilliant job!
Lens Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8l III USM
Exposure 15 secs, f/3.5, ISO1000
02 EVENING IN THE BLUEBELLS BY NINA MACE
We love the way the low evening sun appears to be spotlighting Nina’s daughter in this stunning outdoor portrait. Using a long 70-200mm lens has helped create a compressed perspective, but still packed in all of the surrounding vibrant greenery of the forest, blurred nicely at f/2.8.
Lens Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8l IS II USM
Exposure 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO400
03 AUTUMN NIGHTS BY MIKKEL BEITER
Mikkel, tells us: “I’m sure that I found a new favourite location in Lofoten during my last trip to Norway back in September. It was my first real solo trip with my camera! Autumn in Lofoten is remarkable – covered in fall colours and during the night the Lady Aurora will appear in the night sky.”
Lens Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8l II USM
Exposure 5 secs, f/2.8, ISO3200
04 STACK OF GREEN BY CLAIRE CARTER
Claire says: “I laid the leaves so a varying amount of light shone through and focus stacked two shots to make the image sharp.” We love Claire’s simple yet effective image and technique. Layering up different leaves on a lightbox has built up a strong variety of tones and the details in the veins of the leaves are incredibly sharp.
Lens Canon EF 100mm f/2.8l Macro USM
Exposure 1/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO100
We love the detail rendered in the snake’s scales and body from John getting super close to this fantastic snake with his Canon EF 100mm Macro lens. His composition also works brilliantly, with the python coiled around itself, it frames its own head rather well. John tells us: “The green tree python is a species native to New Guinea, islands in Indonesia, and Cape York Peninsula in Australia. As its name suggests, it is a bright green snake that can reach two metres in length.”
Lens Canon EF 100mm f/2.8l Macro IS USM
Exposure 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO200
Simon took this vibrant and poised green frog in London Zoo, he tells us: “I planned to get close to the animals with an 85mm lens. Where the amphibians and other similar animals are is underground and quite dark, so that helped, but there is the problem of artificial lights and reflections. However, this image worked well and the lighting effect I feel improves the shot. ”
Lens Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Exposure 1/640 sec, f/1.8, ISO640
07 NATALIA BY ANASTASIYA KUSHNYR
Natalia says: “We often went to rest in a nature reserve and there I saw magnificent pine trees of incredible green colour.
I really wanted to shoot a portrait of a woman in a green dress on the background of these pines. In the photo, my dear friend is expecting a baby. ”
Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.2l USM
Exposure 1/250 sec, f/2.2, ISO400
08 DEEP IMPACT BY SABRINA GAROFOLI
Sabrina has captured a fantastic moment here just before her pet chameleon, Lemon, was about to strike a cricket with its tongue. She tells us: “I don’t usually take photos of my pets, as I prefer to shoot animals in the wild, but I wanted to get some memories of Lemon.”
Lens Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro EX DG OS HSM
Exposure 1/800 sec, f/7.1, ISO200
09 INDONESIAN NATURAL BEAUTY BY RAHMAD HIMAWAN
The rice terraces that ground the bottom two thirds of Rahmad’s fantastic Indonesian landscape are some of the most lush greens we’ve seen in this month’s contest. We love how he’s used the lines in the grass to lead the eye towards the distant mountains, the hazy horizon and faint orange glow from the rising sun is a wonderful touch too.
Lens Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II
Exposure 1/100 sec, f/9, ISO100
10 ELEGANCE BY SAILESH PATEL
This is a great abstract image, showing you don’t need expensive equipment to take great pictures. There’s a fantastic gradation of green tones here and it’s just a joy to look at. “This was my first attempt to create an abstract image using printing papers and it took quite a while before I was able to create curved lines and hues of greens that I liked,” he explains.
Lens Canon EF 100mm f/2.8l Macro IS USM
Exposure 0.3 sec, f/4.5, ISO50