May 2016 Photo Contest - Results Out!

Every photograph has a story of its own to narrate. This month, we had plenty of photographs coming in with various stories of trekkers. Our judge, Ravindra, admitted that he had a super difficult time zeroing in on just three pictures! Here are the winners for the May 2016 photo contest. Congratulations winners!

Keep trekking and keep clicking!

Winner

Harshal Mehta – Goechala

The fog-covered forest makes this image an interesting black and white combination. It gives this picture a mysterious touch. You can almost feel the cool damp weather that is typical of Sikkim. Harshal Mehta has won this for the impeccable contrast he has achieved in this shot and timing the photo perfectly.

1st Runner Up

Aditya Bhat – Roopkund 

Asia’s largest high altitude meadows, well captured. Looks like the classic Windows XP wallpaper. The shadows have been captured very clearly. The colours are bright and inviting, and the trekkers on the meadows show is just how vast the meadows are. This beautiful picture that transports us to Ali Bugyal is the first runner up of the contest!

2nd Runner Up

Vignash Dheenadayalan – Rupin pass

Doesn’t this photo just put a smile on your face? The way this image is focused using a telephoto lens and the way where the subject is placed while composing this image. It’s a hearty photograph! We couldn’t help but choose this as the second runner up!

Nominations

Here are the other nominated photographs

1. Harshal Mehta – Goechala

Nothing spells Goechala like a moss-covered forest with a stream flowing in between! Slow shutter to get this silky effect while keeping the surroundings in focus makes this image a good one.

 2. Archana – Goechala

The landscape, the placement of the human-made objects and the cloud behind show the landscape and how interesting the campsite is.

3. Dhiraj Kamble – Pangarchulla 

Amazing panoramic shot showing the beautiful meadows foreground and the sharp Himalayan mountain range in the background.

4. Mohan Raj – Pangarchulla 

Although the mountain goat is the main focus of the image, the forest in the background allowing little light to enter, and the pink flowers, they all tell a story and that’s what we love about this one!

5. Arun Raj – Rupin Pass 

A glorious photo for a glorious trek! A picture captured at the pass, of the Kinnaur mountain ranges. If you zoom in, you can see Kinnaur Kailash in the distance, a perfectly triangular peak. The trekkers add to the grandeur of the mountains, showing just how magnificent the mountains are!

6. Sumit Waghmare – Rupin Pass

This picture has a lot of elements. The pretty silver birch trees, the pine forests on the right hand side and the Kinnaur mountain ranges towering over everything! It’s a very good combination of landscapes in one shot.

7. Gajendra Kumar – Rupin Pass

Amazing panoramic shot, from the Rupin Pass. Gajendra seems to have captioned it perfectly – human insignificance indeed.

8. Rohit Singla – Rupin Pass

Love the clarity of this night shot! The milky way looks fabulous! Almost like a space-time vortex!

9. Omkar Gupte – Sandakphu

I like the way the image is composed considering the framing, leading lines – rope that goes all the way to the other side of the bridge. It’s a very simple, yet beautiful picture.

A note about our judge:

Ravindra Joisa is a resident of Bangalore and has spent his childhood days in Mangalore, Karnataka, India. He is an outdoor lover and has completed several treks such as Kashmir Great Lakes, Tarsar Marsar and Roopkund.

He was gifted with his first camera – Canon Powershot 100/130 IS (Point and shoot) at the age of 23, using which he had experimented different types of photography for about 5 years. At 28, he bought his first DSLR Nikon D600 (full frame, currently using D610) along with a 50mm 1.4D prime lens.

Ravindra now specializes in photographic education and plans for leading photo tours on weekends. He uses a unique blend of illustrations, animations and photographs along with his experience in photography, all of which makes learning photography easy and fun.