The theme for the November 2023 round of the Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year (CJPOTY) competition was ‘The World in Black and White’. As usual, the standard of submissions was very impressive and selecting our top ten was not an easy task. However, the discussion is over and we can now reveal that the following images will be added to our shortlist to be judged by our illustrious panel of judges at the end of the year.
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 November 2023 ‘The World in Black and White’ shortlisted images
Abi Coop
You don’t often see monochrome images of butterflies and this image works extremely well, revealing the fine details and subtle tones of the inset’s wings. Abi captured her beautiful image using her Canon EOS 5D IV with a 100mm macro lens. She says, ‘The directional light hitting this butterfly meant the ugly fence behind the flowers fell into shadow. I used this to show off the intricate shapes and textures of the cabbage white without anything distracting the eye’.
Jo Martindale
Jo tells us, ‘This photo was taken on an old steam train (using a Canon EOS R6) – my son had been ill the night before and was tired. I chose black and white as it highlighted the emotion, and also brought out the rain on the window which was a detail that I loved.’
Fotini Scherer
Fotini captured this image using a Canon EOS R6 and an RF 70-200mm lens with a 15-stop ND filter to enable a long exposure. It’s a wonderfully atmospheric image from the Greece Axios Delta Lake. The only element that is completely sharp is the post to the side of the boat while the rest is attractively blurred because of the movement.
Sara Jazbar
Sara tells us that this is her first image of contemporary architecture, and what a first image it is! Sara used a 10mm fisheye on her Nikon D500 and it’s a winning combination that has added drama to the scene. We love Sara’s composition.
Carol Watson
Carol has two images shortlisted in this round. The first is a beautiful minimalist photograph of a tiny tree in Rydal Water in the Lake District. The foggy conditions enabled Carol to focus attention on the tree while still having a hint of the context beyond. We can ‘hear’ the silence. It was shot using an Olympus OM-D EM5 II.
The second of Carol’s images, ‘Windswept and Interesting’, is a wonderful portrait of a highland cow on the Isle of Lewis. Carol says that she liked the way that the wind was blowing the cow’s hair, we love the direct eye contact and the texture that she captured.
Carmen Drake
Carmen’s image stands out because of the movement she has introduced to a photograph of a normally static subject. It works exceptionally well in black and white, almost replicating the movement of a ballerina.
Linda Wride
Linda’s environmental portrait of Necmi, a charcoal burner she met near the small village of Kalfa in northwest Turkey is full of character and texture. Shooting from an unusually low angle enabled her to capture the storm sky above, which sits well with the rather anxious look on his face. Linda shot the image on her Nikon Z7 II using the Nikon Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 S lens.
Melanie Sharp
Melanie tells us that this Galada Baboon is the magnificent head of a very large troop. He spends his day running around keeping all his ‘family’ in check and letting them know that he is the boss and not to be trifled with. Just for a second, he sat down and looked directly at her while she was poised with her Sony RX10 IV. Melanie says, ‘It was a magical moment, a real connection with this wild beast. I couldn’t have been more thrilled.’
Peter Murrell
Peter tells us that he shot this superb portrait on the way back from his photo exhibition. He shot it with a Nikon D700 and a 50mm f/1.8 lens as he sat directly opposite the girl. He’s still baffled why she didn’t notice a large DSLR in front of her let alone the shutter noise. Those earbuds might hold part of the answer Peter.
CJPOTY November 2023 winner: Sara Jazbar
Congratulations, Sara, a voucher worth £500 from MPB is heading your way!
Sara’s image joins the other 9 images selected this month and goes onto our shortlist for the overall prize. It will be decided by our panel of VIP judges at the end of the year.
CJPOTY December: Sunrise or Sunset
The theme for the twelfth and final round of the 2023/24 Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year (CJPOTY) competition is ‘Sunrise or Sunset‘.
This round is open for submissions until 23:59 BST (00:59 CET and 15:59 PST) on 31st December 2023.
To submit your entry, follow the link to cjpoty or click on the CJPOTY button at the top of any of our website pages. You can submit up to three entries for £2.00 plus payment processing costs (£0.26). Images should be Jpegs at least 1920 pixels along their longest side but no larger than 2MB.
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 December 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’ve done this each month in 2023 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.
The photographer of the first-placed image overall, as decided by the panel of judges , will receive 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.
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.
Well done Sara Jazbar on her winning image. First attempt at architectural photography and what a result!