SalfordOnline.com has managed to track down the winner of its first ever Autumn Colours Photo Competition, which we’re delighted to be able to announce today.
After a huge amount of engagement the winner with 24% of the public vote is: ‘Hay Bales on Irlam Moss’, by Jack Stansfield.
Jack is – annoyingly for one so talented – is just 18 years old.
Now working in an office in his home town of Irlam, he produced a stunning panoramic pastoral scene lit with all the changing colours of autumn.
Jack Stansfield – Hay Bales on Irlam Moss
He told us: “I’m amazed to have won, I didn’t think I would do because there were so many good pictures. I spotted the competition on Facebook and thought, ‘Why not?’
The former Irlam and Cadishead College student, who completed A-Levels in History and Geography this past summer, lives very close to the field on Irlam Moss where the hay was being baled.
He only started dabbling in photography around a year ago after buying an entry-level DSLR camera, a Canon 1200D.
“I’m very much an amateur,” he said, “mainly taking landscape photos but I would like to get into sports photography at some stage.
“The picture was taken one evening with the low autumn sun lighting the hay bales and casting long shadows.
“It was slightly adjusted using the Canon software which came with the camera which lifted the colours slightly and brought out the golden colours of the bales.”
The open reader competition saw over 150 entries, with the best whittled down to a still impressive 34, which were then ranked by public vote.
It was very close in the end, with Antony Mills’ Weaste Cemetery scene just being pipped to the post, picking up 19% of readers’ top choices.
Anthony Mills – Autumn in Weaste Cemetery
Also highly commended were Carol Wolstenholme’s image of native wildlife on the Bridgewater Canal, and Zoe Norris’ semi-surreal shot of Ellesmere Park, which each scored 13% of the vote.
Carol Wolstenholme
Zoe Norris – Ellesmere Park
The competition brought in scenes of robins in gardens, an incredible Ordsall sunset captured on a smartphone, leaves falling in Winton, stunning shots of Buile Hill Park, the Bridgewater Canal reflected in changing colours, and so much more.
Such was the strength of entries, we even extended the competition as more great photographs flooded in.
As we’ve said many times before: SalfordOnline.com has some of the most talented readers out there, contributing pictures on an hourly basis to keep us the most relevant daily local newspaper in Salford.
SalfordOnline.com is now shortly due to launch its Winter Scenes Photo Competition. Hopefully without quite such a wait to track down the winner.
The full gallery of shortlisted entries is republished below.
