Meet our photo competition winner

[Peter_S.]

We would like to present to you the winner of our competition on the topic of "Silhouettes". Read the interview and discover more about the photographer and the story behind his image.

Firstly, can you please tell us a little about yourself and why you took up photography?

We - my wife and I - live near Aachen.
As a pensioner, I have quite a lot of time for my hobbies: photography, watercolour painting, jogging, hiking, cycling and travelling.

The decisive factor was probably the talks and the exchange of ideas with one of my wife's uncles. His black and white photos were real works of art. When my wife noticed my enthusiasm for photography, she gave me a Minolta reflex camera. So a lifelong relationship developed, ....uhh, ...yes, to my wife of course :-).

How did you feel when you were told you had won the competition?

Shortly before I received the winning notification, I had looked at the shortlist and was very proud to have been included in this selection of great pictures. When I received the congratulations mail, I couldn't believe it at first, the joy was just huge.

Tell us what inspired you to capture this image and what equipment you used.

I took this picture in Worm Valley. The trees in the background of the picture are standing on the banks of the river. In autumn - depending on the weather/temperature - often very intensive fog fields form above the water. When these then rise and the first sunrays find a way through the fog, many motifs suddenly appear in a completely different - almost magical - light.

When I - looking from the balcony - discovered the morning fog in the Worm Valley, I grabbed my "to-go camera" (Sony RX100 II), sat down on my bike and rode there.
The light mood was simply fascinating.
An extensive post-processing was not necessary (only some cropping/slight tone curve correction).

Can you share some tips that could help other photographers to create photos worthy of entering a competition?

The usual tips (be creative, develop your own point of view, experiment, implement ideas, etc.) should be familiar to everyone.
But I think it is very important not to let the joy of this great hobby be taken away from you, even if - despite submitting a great photo - you were not among the winners this time.