UKC

Just found out that two of my photos have been shortlisted for the Trail Magazine's UK Mountain Photo of The Year 2014.

The first was taken from the summit of Sgurr na Stri after spending 4 days in the bothy at Camasunary. Each day I'd got up early enough to be on the summit by dawn and this involved fording the river and climbing the rocky slopes in the dark. So a lot of effort but certainly worth it as far as I'm concerned.

The second was taken at the end of a two day traverse of the Cuillin Ridge and hopefully portrays some of beauty of a late evening high in the mountains combined with the pressure of finding a level place to sleep as night rapidly approaches.

If you are interested in the competition see the link below;

http://www.livefortheoutdoors.com/Latest/Search-Results/Competitions-and-of...

Seems like there are some great entries.

In reply to atrendall:
some of those images are great and some are terrible. You're not going to get my vote if you've not even straightened an image with a horizon at 5 degrees off horizontal. Can't believe some of those were shortlisted.

In reply to Parrys_apprentice:

I think most of them are very good. I can't see any in which the horizon is tipped at 5 degrees. The one from Castell y Gwynt is, I think, perfectly horizontal - it's the distant cloud line that isn't. The east ridge of Snowdon is certainly no less steep than that, in fact I think it's at exactly the angle shown in the photo.

In reply to atrendall:

Congrats! Based on my preferences, I'd say you're in with a good chance.

In reply to Fraser:

Thanks, Fraser.
Might just be my defective eyesight, but I can't see this 5 degree tilt.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
I keep looking at it and it still looks odd. Every layer of cloud seems cocked by the same angle, mist down low, cirrus up high as well as what looks like a horizon / front.

It's the Castell y Gwynt in winter that I'm referring to, not the Cuillin ones.

I know photography and these peaks less than many on here, so will backtrack to a position of "it looks odd, like it's tilted and that puts me off the photo".

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
Personally I'd be very surprised if any inversion cloud layer like that wasn't within a gnat's whisker of being perfectly horizontal. I think the photograph is tilted but I don't think it's a big deal. Probably a big enough deal to stop it winning a competition though!

atrendall, your end of day Cuillin shot is the best imho, though not by a big margin.

In reply to atrendall:
Your photo from the descent of Sgurr Mhic Choinnich (I think?) would definitely get my vote from the 22. The b&w shot of blencathra is also very good.

Well done too.

reply to gerryneely:

Thanks Gerry. Good guess and close but not quite right. It was actually tarn slightly earlier on the traverse descending slabs towards King's Chimney.

In reply to atrendall:

Thanks everyone for voting "Black Cuillin, Red Skye" Photo of the week. Much appreciated.

In reply to atrendall:

Voted for your cuillin descent shot - the rich colours, atmosphere and climber all add interest.

In reply to Skyfall:

Thanks, Skyfall.

In reply to atrendall:

There's still time to look at the finalists and vote;


www.lfto.com/photocomp

In reply to atrendall:

I personally like the shot taken from the summit of Tryfan (captioned Vertigo). It is a stunning viewpoint as it really makes the mountains appear rugged and remote. It's what I want mountains to be. Your sunset shot in the Cuillin is also very good but sometimes it's nice to see the detail in the landscape. I must admit that a lot of photographers think a good photo has to be one that is taken in that 'golden hour' but once you have seen one , it really has to be special to stop you in your tracks. Incidentally, I have a very similar shot Tryfan) on my gallery taken about 9 years back. I agree with some of the other posters that there are a lot of very ordinary photos here!

In reply to atrendall:

I voted for my favourite without looking who took it, then saw afterwards it was one of yours!

In reply to Rachel Slater:

Thanks for that Rachel. There are still a few days left if people want to check out the finalists and vote;

www.lfto.com/photocomp

In reply to Sean Kelly:

I agree that the Tryfan shot is special. I know what you mean about detail in a landscape and usually agree but in this case I hope the photo portrays being high on the Cuillin Ridge with darkness rapidly falling, a tired climber at the end of a long day high above dark valleys.