The theme for the fifth round of the Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year (CJPOTY) competition was ‘Beautiful Planet’ and it’s taken us ages to select our favourite ten images because the standard was so high. We were treated to some superb images of spectacular scenes.
Now, we are delighted to reveal that the following images will go onto our shortlist to be judged by our illustrious panel at the end of the year. There are three entrants who have not one, but two images shortlisted!
One of these ten shortlisted images has also been selected as the round winner with the photographer being awarded a voucher from MPB worth £500 – scroll down to find out who.
CJPOTY May 2022 Beautiful Planet shortlisted images
Sara Jazbar
We were immediately drawn to this image by the wonderful autumnal colours, but we also love Sara’s composition with the boathouse on the right of the frame and the lovely reflections blending with the foliage. Sara captured this using her Nikon D500 and a Nikon 24-120mm f/4 lens.
Sara is the first of our May winners to have two images shortlisted. Like the previous image, Sara shot this one during autumn, this time when she was out hunting for mushrooms in Artviže in Slovenia. She picked the perfect time of day, shooting with her Nikon D500 and a Tokina 11-20mm f/2.8 lens. The sunstar injects a certain something.
Pawel Zygmunt
Pawel captured this stunning image of Reinebringen, Lofoten, Norway with his Nikon Z7 and Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S lens. He tells us that he had decided to go for a hike up Reinebringen on the first morning of his visit, but there was so much snow that he had to wade through knee-deep powder. He lost count of the number of times that he fell or got stuck in the snow, and he almost gave up. But eventually, he got to the top and was greeted by the wonderful golden light in this image, instantly making him feel better. Well done, Pawel!
Pawel shot his second shortlisted image on Kalsoy in the Faroe Islands using his Nikon D810 with a 16-35mm f/4 lens. He tells us that he walked around Kallur for about an hour or so, just to see the cliff from every angle. When he found this shooting point, he sat and waited until the setting sun appeared from behind the rolling clouds to give the mountain a golden glow.
John Thorndike
There were a few images of waterfalls in this round, but this one by John Thorndike is our favourite. The autumnal colours are lovely, but we especially like how John has composed the shot so that there’s a sense of flow in the water, from above the fall, down to the left and then around to the foreground.
John’s choice of shutter speed (1.3sec) on his Canon EOS 5D Mark II is also spot-on because there’s just the right degree of blur in the water, adding to the sense of movement.
Jennie Judd
This is the Duke of Portland boathouse on the shore of Lake Ullswater and it’s a popular destination for photographers, but we think Jennie has captured an outstanding image. Using a 10-second exposure on her Canon R5 (with an EF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM lens) transformed the water into a smooth reflection of the wonderfully colourful sky to deliver a truly memorable image. We hope you have this hanging on a wall in your house Jennie!
Jennie’s second image is of Corfe Castle in Dorset. She says that she was ecstatic with the weather conditions on her first ever visit to photograph this epic location, but she’s never disappointed by the landscape that surrounds us.
Helen Cherry
Although Mull is famous for its wildlife, Helen’s stunning image shows us that it’s also a fabulous location for shooting landscape images. We love Helen’s choice of aspect ratio and composition, they put the emphasises firmly on the land and its reflection.
Carole Zimmerman
Carole is the current Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year and her photography has impressed us immensely. This image, shot in the Luray caves, just outside of the Shenandoah National Park by the Ridge Mountains in the USA, is a little different from what we’ve seen from her before. Carole tells us that the network of caves is beautifully lit, but taking a photo with lots of people passing through was a major challenge. There was no room for a tripod, but thankfully there were some boulders that made a perfect camera support.
Amy Bateman
Amy shot this lovely image of Ullswater from the flanks of Gowbarrow during tumultuous weather conditions. The mixture of sunshine, deep shade and showers is simply stunning. Amy captured the image using her Sony A7R III.
CJPOTY May 2022 winner: Pawel Zygmunt
Congratulations Pawel, a voucher to the value of £500 from MPB is heading your way! Let us know what you spend it on. Your image will also join the other nine in our shortlist to be judged for the overall prize at the end of the year.
CJPOTY June 2022: Sport and Action
The theme for the sixth round of the Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year (CJPOTY) competition is ‘Sport and Action’. We’re interested in seeing images of all kinds of sport and the definition of action is very wide, it could be your dog leaping for a ball, a pirouetting ballerina or even a water droplet splashing – anything with a sense of movement.
This round of our monthly competition is open for submissions until 23:59 BST (00:59 CET and 15:59 PST) on 30th June 2022.
To submit your entry, visit cjpoty.com. You can submit up to three entries for £2.00 plus payment processing costs (£0.26).
Sport and Action inspiration
One of the great things about sports photography is that it’s very easy to find willing subjects because most athletes, whatever their sport, would love a photo of them in action. So if you’ve never tried it before, it’s well worth getting in touch with a local club, your mate with a snazzy bike or the skateboard-mad kid next door.
Eddie Keogh, the official photographer for the England men’s football team, has some great tips for sports photography, with advice about preparation, shooting angle and composition. And our competition sponsor, MPB also has some advice on mirrorless kit selection for high-speed sport photography.
There are also lots of creative possibilities with action photography. Instead of freezing it with a fast shutter speed, for example, you might decide to use a slightly longer exposure to blur it. It’s up to you and what makes a great image.
Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year prizes
At the end of the month, the Camera Jabber team will pick one winning image and nine runners up from the June entries. The photographer of the winning image will receive a voucher from MPB.com to the value of £500 which can be spent on anything from a huge range of kit from the World’s biggest platform for used photographic gear.
All 10 of the selected images will go into our shortlist for the year.
We’ll do this each month in 2022 so that by the end of the year, there will be 120 shortlisted images. These will then go before our fantastic panel of judges who will decide the 1st, 2nd and 3rd-placed images. You don’t have to enter the competition every month, but you are welcome to do so and the more shortlisted images you have at the end of the year, the greater than chance of winning the top prize.
The photographer of the first-placed image overall, as decided by the panel of judges, will received a voucher to the value of £1000 from MPB.com as well as a trophy and the title ‘Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year 2023‘. The photographers who come second and third will receive vouchers worth £500 and £250 respectively.
The judges are:
Ben Brain – Photographer, journalist & Sigma ambassador
Sophie Collins – Chief Marketing Office at MPB
Donna Crous – Food photographer, author, Nikon Europe ambassador and Rotolight Master of Light
Kate Hopewell-Smith – Wedding, portrait & boudoir photographer, Sony ambassador
Sanjay Jogia – Wedding photographer & Canon ambassador
Pete Reed OBE – Three times Olympic gold medal-winning rower and keen documentary photographer
Dominique Shaw – Photographer and co-founder of York Place Studios and Fujifilm ambassador
Craig Strong – Lensbaby founder
Christina Vaughan – Founder of Cultura Creative, the home of inclusive stock photography
Jeremy Walker – Landscape photographer, author & former Nikon ambassador
About MPB
Founded by Matt Barker in 2011, MPB is the world’s largest platform for used photography and videography kit. MPB has transformed the way people buy, sell and trade equipment, making photography more accessible, affordable and sustainable.
Headquartered in the creative communities of Brighton, Brooklyn and Berlin, the MPB team includes trained camera experts and seasoned photographers and videographers who bring their passion to work every day to deliver outstanding service. Every piece of kit is inspected carefully by product specialists and comes with a six-month warranty to give customers peace of mind that buying used doesn’t mean sacrificing reliability.