Maha 2020 Contest Winners!

Many thanks for all those who participated in our contest! Doing this yearly with the folks at Maha Energy is fun. I love looking at all manner of pictures and different approaches. It’s enjoyable, and instructional. That’s the beautiful thing about photography. Everyone expresses their heart, their head and their eye on the world in different ways.

Case in point, our two contest winners couldn’t have approached things in a more disparate way, photographer Greg Thomason’s entry was simplicity itself, as it should have been. And Denis Stosic went the other way completely, and lit up a whole rail car with flash. (Apologies, Denis, if anything I might have written or shot has had any influence on this approach!)

They in fact were so different, strikingly so, I chose them both as co-winners. Just felt the simplicity, and the complexity, and the thought process behind both should be acknowledged. And the fun thing is, I’m the only judge so I can keep things loose in terms of interpretation:-)))) As long as Powerex/Maha products were used, it’s all cool by me. I just enjoy the surprise of the photos themselves.

So, here we go! Greg Thomason shot a strong, wonderful portrait. Good subject! And I personally loved the figure in the background as an element that lends scale, a bit of mystery, and color.

Greg graciously provided a BTS grid. And his picture specs.

 

Now, Denis, on the other hand, had a distinctly different approach. Great subject, but his visual impetus here was quite imaginative, and the dancer subject became a collaborator, an actress on his stage, if you will. He dramatically conveys energy and the passion of a dancer with the mix of flash and gels. And, the bottom line….it’s fun. An expression of exuberance and celebration on the part of both the subject and the photog. His approach explained below, in his words.

 

 

 

The two main photos were shot near a wagon which transported athletes during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The wagon ended up in former Yugoslavia as part of war reparations. Costumes for the shots near the wagon were borrowed from the dance performance ”Mystery”. Those two shots required most lighting, in the dark of the warehouse. I used four flashes with orange and red gels inside of the wagon and four on the outside to shine on Petra and the wagon.

Nikon D810, Nikkor 24-70 f2,8, Nikkor 24 mm f3,5 PC, lighting 2x-Profoto B1X – 2x Profoto A1-, 2x -Nikon Speedlight SB -800, SMDV B500 TTL, Reporter 180 and 360ws + colored gels.

Once again, thanks to the photogs. And thanks to Maha for giving us great stuff to work with and power our imaginations.

More tk….