Our first competition of the year had a theme of 'New Year's Resolutions,'  Thanks to everyone who entered, we have some lovely photographs to display. See the entries below:

The winner of our January Competition is Julie Jones with this image portraying saving or even spending money as her new year's resolution theme. 

The judges felt your creative use of depth of field worked well to focus in on the coins and help communicate your narrative. Producing the shot in black and white gives a good tonal range throughout and allows a strong contrast to your image without any distracting colours. The angle at which the image is taken helps the viewer imaging a 'spilling' of coins and makes your shot feel dynamic.

Well done!! You have won a FREE 3 hour 1-2-1 session valued at £85!

To enter our next competition see our competitions page here, it's free and easy to enter, why not give it a go?

1. Position the light source facing your subject 45 degrees above their eye line for good catch lights and to drop shadows down low.

2. Position your subject a few feet away from background to avoid harsh shadows from your subject on the background.

3. When going for a pretty/beauty shot of your subject generally softened light is more flattering so use a softbox/umbrella or bounce the light off the ceiling a reflector or bounce card depending on the location.

4. Clear the background of all distractions or change your angle to avoid getting irremovable distractions in shot.

5. Avoid horizons, structural lines or lamp posts coming out of heads.

6. Use variety in your images, don't photograph the same location for 20 subjects especially from the same angle.

7. Avoid bright eye catching colours in the background of your image if you don't want them to compete as a focal point with your main subject. (posters, shop signs, postboxes, garish clothing, litter etc.) This is especially important in an otherwise dull coloured scene.

8. Try to position the camera parallel to your subject's waist in order to get the correct proportions of your subject. You can shoot higher if you want to make them look shorter or for head shots if you want to help chins disappear.. You can also shoot lower if you want to make their legs look longer but be aware that shooting up the nose is generally unflattering and if your subjects jawline isn't that strong you will need to pose them so their neck and face don't seem to merge into one (that's never a good look!!)

9. Simplify your shot as much as you can, choose a plain background to make your viewer look at your subject. Fill the frame with your subject to make it clear they are your focal point. You can also position them to one side using the rule of thirds, again on a plain background to help show they are the main focus.

10. Keep it relevant, if you're intention is to create a themed shoot make sure your subject works with the theme and isn't wearing clothes that contradict the theme, to make your whole image communicate the theme you are going for you need to considering styling, colours, look of your subject, props, lighting and location.

Comment with your favourite images taken on location or to give feedback on our post.