Scotland 9

Winner of the UK Photo Harmony, '5 to 8' Competition, organised by Bridgend Camera Club.

Judges comments:

“You know when you see the first picture that this is going to be special. The photography throughout is stunning. The Ken Burns effect of gently zooming every image helps keep the momentum going. The "Adagio" from the film "Sunshine" is a wonderful piece and the drama of the music complements the drama of the landscapes completely. Maybe the author should warn the projectionist to keep the volume down during the relatively quiet beginning otherwise the audience will get blown away! The images and transitions are totally in sync with the music. Here is somebody who listens to and knows his music. There is perfect harmony between successive images, shapes, colours, with not a single jarring line or horizon. Great care has been taken constructing this sequence, helped by the fact that the author no doubt has a large number of first class pictures from which to choose. The whole thing builds and develops. Swells in the music are used to highlight the close ups of rocks, barnacles and ice fragments. The percussion is used to show the railway section. When I saw the classic image of the Cullins from Elgol I thought "this is the end", but the final picture was even better. It's clear from the filename (v9) that this has undergone a lengthy period of revision, honing and pruning, so that what we see today is powerful, passionate and intense. This is a good lesson, not to be satisfied with the first attempt. The only criticism I have is that the title is what I would call a "working title". Such a dramatic presentation needs a dramatic title, "The drama of the Highlands" or "Elemental landscape", "Wild Scotland", "Untamed wilderness"...â€

Malcolm Imhoff, FRPS FACI(M)