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Sony World Photography Awards 2023 winners revealed

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Shortlisted entry for the lifestyle category (Kathryn Mussallem)

Among the images was a moving shot of a horse and cowgirl barrel racing and an incredible winter landscape photograph of mountains in Greece.

Professional and amateur photographers from more than 200 countries and territories submitted to the open competition, presenting some of the best photography from around the world.

Winners were presented with an over £4,000 cash prize, and a chance for their work to be presented in the award’s exhibition.

The Independent’s picture editors have selected some of our favourites along with the winners in the 10 categories including portraiture, street photography and architecture.

Winner of the lifestyle category (Azim Khan Ronnie)

Azim Khan Ronnie’s photograph titled Childhood shows children weaving in and out of scores of giant cones (topas) at a Bangladeshi rice processing plant as they play with a cart used by workers to carry and dry rice. Reacting to his win, Ronnie said: “Really, I am very excited and happy to read this email that my photo wins a category. After five years of continuous participation, I finally heard this wonderful news. It will be a big achievement and milestone in my photography journey.”

Winner of the motion category (Zhenhuan Zhou)

Zhenhuan Zhou’s action-packed shot Slam on the Brakes wowed the judges. Remembering the story behind the photograph, Zhou says: “Barrel racing is a competition where cowgirls ride quickly around barrels; the one that does this in the shortest time wins. Every time a horse reaches a barrel it needs to brake sharply, turn around the barrel and then race to the next one. The whole race is exciting, especially at the turns.”

Winner of the natural world and wildlife category (Dinorah Graue Obscura)

Dinorah Graue Obscura called this winning image Mighty Pair. The black-and-white portrait taken during a trip in South Texas, features two crested caracara birds standing still and looking out beyond the camera in the same direction, as if posing for the photographer.

Winner of the object category (Mieke Douglas)

Mieke Douglas’ photograph Recycled won the object category award. The image is a creative rendition of flowers made from paper and ribbons. Sharing her excitement about the results, Mieke says: “It’s a dream come true to be successful in this competition and in such great company too. Huge thanks to the World Photography Organisation and the judge. I am honoured!”

Winner of the portraiture category (Sukhy Hullait)

The winner of the portraiture category was Sukhy Hullait with an image of skateboarder Charlie. Sharing the subject’s story, the UK-based photographer says: “During the Covid-19 pandemic a lot of people found they had time on their hands. With most skateparks closed, Charlie – and many others – helped turn an abandoned pub car park, which had laid derelict for eight years, into a DIY skate park.”

Winner of the street photography category (Andreas Mikonauschke)

Andreas Mikonauschke is the street photography category winner for Exhausted. Giving us context to this striking image, Mikonauschke explained: “In Andalusia, the traditional Easter processions are a fascinating event to watch. The different brotherhoods (Hermandades) with their uniformed brothers (cofrades) are an everyday sight during the holy week, Semana Santa.”

“Central elements of the processions are the heavy wooden frames (pasos) showing biblical scenes with one or more statues. These are carried through the streets by volunteer paso carriers underneath – usually one only sees their feet, but sometimes during the rare breaks one gets an impression of the tough job they have.”

Winner of the travel category (Max Vere-Hodge)

Ghosts, by Max Vere-Hodge won in the category of travel. The photographer explains: “The Mundari tribe of South Sudan appear like apparitions among the nightly fires they light to keep the tsetse flies and mosquitoes off their beloved Ankole-Watusi cows. Each night, as the cattle return from grazing, the herders tend to them by massaging ash into their skin to prevent bites.”

Winner of the architecture category (Mark Benham)

This striking image by Mark Benham calledThe Silos swiped the architecture prize. Speaking about the image Mark says: “Taken from afar, this photograph of silos and associated buildings at the Port of Brest, France, appears to be a montage composite rather than the group of buildings that it actually is. To enhance this idea I changed the sky to a simple colour vignette that complimented the colours in the composition.”

Boris Eldagsen won the creative category with Pseudomnesia | The Electricia (Boris Eldagsen)

Winner of the landscape category (Giorgos Rousopoulos)

Giorgos Rousopoulous’ image of a Greek mountain won the landscape category. Thinking back to the moments before he captured the photograph, Rousopoulous says: “I had to stop and gaze at this stunning view during a hike in Pindus National Park, Greece. The peak in the distance is Mount Tymfi, which stands at a height of 2,497 metres.”

Shortlisted entry for the motion category (Andres Moreno)

Shortlisted entry for the street photography category (Takahiro Toh)

Shortlisted entry for the lifestyle category (Ruth Chamberlain)

Shortlisted entry for the natural world and wildlife category (Protap Shekhor Mohanto)

Shortlisted entry for the portraiture category (Mateusz Żurowski)

Shortlisted entry for the motion category (Francesco Junior Mura)

The overall winners of the photography awards will be announced on 13 April. The winners and shortlisted entries will also be shown as part of the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House from 14 April – 1 May 2023.

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CJPOTY round 2 winners – Camera Jabber

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The theme for the second round of the Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year (CJPOTY) competition was ‘Close-up’ and it’s taken us a long time to make the final selection because there were so many amazing images! So we’re sorry to keep you all waiting, but it was for the best of reasons.

However, the debating now finished and we can reveal that the following images will go onto 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 February 2023 Close-up shortlisted images

Chris Hall

CJPOTY February shortlisted image - a light bulb illuminted with colour

We saw a lot of close-up images of subjects from the natural world, so Chris Hall’s image stood out. We like the use of colour and reflection to add interest to an everyday object. The coloured lights also help emphasise the shape of the bulb.

Christine Holt

CJPOTY February shortlisted image - Fugi

Christine managed to get very close to these mushrooms yet has rendered them perfectly sharp with a beautifully blurred background. We love how this isolates her subject and there’s a fabulous amount of detail visible, including the delicate spider webs.

Lee Frost

CJPOTY February shortlisted image - spider

This fuzzy little creature is a Phidippus Adumbratus, a type of jumping spider. Lee’s decision to shoot it surrounded by yellow means the background tones nicely with its lighter hairs while the black markings pop. The low shooting angle adds some drama and makes the tiny animal seem huge.

Marketa Zvelebil

CJPOTY February shortlisted image - Wasp

Marketa has done a great job of capturing this wasp as it steps into a small pool of water for a drink. The sunlight brings out the details of its hairs and injects a bit of sparkle.

Melanie Sharp

CJPOTY February shortlisted image - Victoria Crested Pigeon

The intense red of the eye of this Victoria Crested Pigeon against the blue-grey of its plumage really caught our attention. Melanie’s focusing and choice of aperture is perfect as it delivers plenty of detail in the eye, beak and face while the crest and background are nicely blurred.

Molly Hollman

Molly managed to have two images shortlisted in this round and although they both feature flowers, they are quite different. In this image, the orange insect in the foreground stands out boldly from the purple-blue flowers in the background. It must’ve taken some quick work to get the insect sharp and so perfectly exposed.

CJPOTY February shortlisted image - Nigella flower

This Nigella flower takes centre stage in Molly’s second shortlisted image. It’s a perfectly execute flower portrait with a wonderfully well-selected background.

Philippa Huber

CJPOTY February shortlisted image - Signet foot

Philippa’s image is of one of the more unusual subjects that we saw in this round and it made us stop and look. It might look like a wisened animal, or perhaps a lizard, but it’s the foot of a signet – a young swan. It’s a well-spotted detail that many would miss, but we think it makes a great photograph.

Ryan Dale

CJPOTY February shortlisted image - insect

Ryan used focus stacking to capture this incredible close, detail-rich image. Focus stacking is a time-consuming process of capturing several images with different focus depths and then combining them on a computer to create an image with more depth of field than any individual image. Helpfully, some cameras have focusing stacking built-in, but it takes skill to get a result like this which reveals details that can’t be seen with the naked eye.

Sara Jazbar

CJPOTY February shortlisted image - three butterflies

This is another image that stopped us in our tracks. Sara’s focus is absolutely perfect and you can see every detail of the wings of the three butterflies. If we didn’t know better, we’d say they were deliberately posing for the shot.

CJPOTY February 2023 winner: Melanie Sharp

Congratulations Melanie, a voucher to the value of £500 from MPB is heading your way!

Melanie’s image joins the other 9 images that have been selected this month and goes onto our shortlist for judging by our panel of VIP judges at the end of the year for the overall prize.

CJPOTY March: Spring

Spring is a fickle season with false starts proceeding chilly spells that remind us that winter isn’t quite over. But with snowdrops, daffodils and crocuses all putting in an appearance in the UK, spring is on our minds. This month we want to see photographs of whatever spring means to you, be that colourful flowers, sharp showers, leaping lambs or bobbing blossom – but the shots can be taken at any time.

This round of our monthly competition is open for submissions until 23:59 GMT (00:59 CET and 15:59 PST) on 31st March 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 March 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 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.

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The story behind Einstein’s most iconic photo and how it was almost lost to history

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Famous photo of Einstein with his tongue out. — Albert Einstein loved this image so much he requested multiple copies to send to friends.Bettmann / Contributor

Albert Einstein’s most iconic photo of him sticking out his tongue was almost lost to history.
Editors hesitated to release it because they feared the expression downplayed his eminence.
Author Mike Rucker explains how Einstein’s fun and curious nature played to his greatness.

The following is an excerpt from Mike Rucker’s new book, “The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life.”

Book cover of Mike Rucker's "The Fun Habit" — Simon & Schuster

Despite his complex mind, Einstein was known to be a lot of fun.

You inevitably know the cropped version of this iconic portrait, but you might not know the backstory.

The photo was taken by Arthur Sasse, on March 14, 1951, Einstein’s 72nd birthday. In the uncropped photo, we can see Einstein sitting in a car, between his wife, Elsa, and Dr. Frank Aydelotte, the head of the Institute for Advanced Study.

The story goes that as they were leaving his birthday celebration for their home in Princeton, New Jersey, Einstein was repeatedly asked to smile at the cameras.

When Sasse asked for one last photo, he defiantly made a funny face. Einstein liked the resulting image so much, he immediately ordered multiple copies so he could sign and send them to friends as a joke.

Famous photo of Albert Einstein with his tongue out. — Editors hesitated to release this photo of Einstein to the public.Bettmann / Contributor

Later on, he used this photo to make greeting cards. Einstein rarely let others get in the way of his fun.

He was quick to joke, rarely wore socks (he thought that the shoes should do the job), let his mustache and hair grow, and gave interviews on his porch in fluffy pink slippers.

Photo of Albert Einstein on his porch at home in Princeton, New Jersey. — Albert Einstein on his porch at home in Princeton, New Jersey.Ernst Haas / Contributor

His commitment to fun ran deep — and yet when Sasse sent his photo to editors for publication, they debated whether it was even appropriate to make it public, given Einstein’s eminence.

It only ever saw the light of day because Sasse related how much the great scientist himself loved the image.

According to Walter Isaacson’s biography, “Einstein: His Life and Universe,” the personality traits that contributed most to Einstein’s greatness were curiosity and nonconformism.

Photo of Albert Einstein taken on December 30, 1932. — Einstein was known for his nonconformism.Bettmann / Contributor

Scientific studies suggest that humor and intelligence are associated. People who show an aptitude for fun also seem to have superior cognitive abilities.

Einstein was excellent proof of that. Legend has it that Einstein said his other great idea (after relativity) was adding an egg while cooking a bowl of soup, so that you can boil an egg without making an extra pot dirty.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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5 planets will align on March 27 and you won’t want to miss it. Here’s where to look.

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On Mar. 27, a planetary parade made up of Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Uranus will march across the sky.

© brightstars via Getty Images
On Mar. 27, a planetary parade made up of Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Uranus will march across the sky.

On Mar. 27, a planetary parade made up of Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Uranus will march across the sky.

At this particular time of the year, amateur astronomers are participating in the Messier Marathon. Originally conceived by the late comet hunter, Don Machholz, it takes place around the time of the new moon, and within a week or so of the Vernal Equinox.

It is during this particular time of year, that all 110 of the various deep sky objects cataloged by the French astronomer, Charles Messier, come into view. Those with telescopes and a good knowledge of the sky, will stay up from dusk to dawn, looking for and logging as many Messier objects as they can. Sometimes, there are organized marathons scheduled, such as at the recent International Star Party in Flagstaff, Arizona. Even for assiduous amateur astronomers, the Messier Marathon poses a significant observing challenge

Related: Night sky, March 2023: What you can see tonight

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A different type of challenge will be posed for sky gazers on the evening of Mar. 27. Maybe we could echo the 1986 hit song by The Bangles, for that night will truly be a “Manic Monday” as there will be an opportunity to catch sight of five planets, a famous star cluster and the moon all in one evening.

But like the Messier Marathon bagging all of these objects is going to be a challenge, especially with some of the planets.

In fact, I would strongly suggest that you stake out an observing site with a clear and unobstructed view of the western horizon if you hope to see two of these distant worlds. Make sure you do not have any tall objects — buildings or trees — in that direction. Your best option is looking out over a westward-facing shoreline that is perfectly flat and wide open with nothing to block your view.

And also make sure to have a good pair of binoculars, as they will be extremely beneficial in your making a sighting. The best kind is either 7 x 35 or 7 x 50. The first number refers to magnification — in both cases, “7 power.” The second number refers to the size of the objective lens — the large lens at the front of the binocular — measured in millimeters.

If you’re hoping to catch a look at the planetary parade, our guides to the best telescopes and best binoculars are a great place to start. If you’re looking to snap photos of the night sky in general, check out our guide on how to photograph the moon, as well as our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.

Twilight time

Interestingly, our first two planets are studies in contrast. One is the smallest planet (Mercury) and the other is the largest (Jupiter).

Once you have found a proper viewing site, and with binoculars in hand, wait until approximately 20 to 25 minutes after the sun has set. And your viewing time is going to be short. Both planets will set beyond the horizon only 25 to 30 minutes later.

Both planets will be shining brilliantly, Mercury will glow at magnitude -1.4, which is just a trifle dimmer than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. Jupiter will appear even more dazzling at magnitude -2.1, which is twice as bright as Mercury. But what will make a sighting problematic will be that both may be very difficult to see through the bright evening twilight.

And that’s where your binoculars come in.

Your best chance to pick both planets up is initially to slowly sweep low along the western horizon with the binoculars; then after you hopefully have found them, seek them out with your naked eye. Mercury will be to the right of brighter Jupiter. On the evening of Mar. 27, they will be separated by just 1.3 degrees (just over one-finger width at arm’s length.)

If you sight them, congratulate yourself. It is no mean feat to catch two planets positioned so close to the setting sun. Within just a day or two, Jupiter will disappear from view into the glare of the sun. Mercury, on the other hand, will be moving away from the sun’s vicinity and will become a bit easier to see during the next couple of weeks.

Evening Beacon

In contrast to Mercury and Jupiter, the third planet on our list will be very easy to see: dazzling Venus, the so-called “Evening Star” (although “Evening Beacon might be a better term). It’s the first planet to look for when the sun goes down. Venus is becoming increasingly prominent as it slowly gets higher in our western evening sky with each passing night. Right now, it’s setting around 10:15 p.m. local daylight time. But two months from now, Venus will be noticeably higher in the west-northwest sky about an hour after sunset, and not setting until close to midnight.

A planet racing away

The fourth planet on our list is Mars. Several months ago, Mars shone brilliantly because it was relatively close to Earth; back on Nov. 30 it was 50.6 million miles away from us and appeared like a very bright fiery hued star, shining with a steady glow. A week later, like two racing cars going around on a track, we passed Mars in our respective orbits — Earth on the inside and Mars on the outside. And ever since then, we’ve left Mars far behind — in our side view mirror, preverbally speaking.

On Mar. 27, Mars will be 131.4 million miles (211.4 million km) from Earth — more than 2.5 times more distant than it was late last fall. It has correspondingly faded, appearing only 1/13 as bright compared to early in December. Yet it is still fairly conspicuous because it still ranks among the 21 brightest stars in terms of brightness.

And you can make an instant identification of it, by simply looking up at our fifth celestial object of the evening, the moon. On this night, our natural satellite will resemble a fat crescent phase. And if you look off to the moon’s upper left, that bright yellow-orange “star” will be Mars.

Have a Life Saver!

Now, use the binoculars again, and look just off to the left of Mars and you’ll catch sight of M35, a star cluster in the constellation of Gemini the Twins. It ranked fifth among my list of personal deep-sky favorites in the wintertime sky. Long-time deep-sky columnist for Sky & Telescope, Walter Scott Houston wrote: “I feel that M35 is one of the greatest objects in the heavens. Observers with small telescopes will find it a superb object. The cluster appears as big as the moon and fills the eyepiece with a glitter of bright stars from center to edge. With 15 x 65 binoculars it was like a fat Life Savers candy, all white and glistening.”

Seventh planet from the sun

Our fifth and final planet is the next-to-last out from the sun: Uranus.

Barely visible to the unaided eye on very dark, clear nights, use Venus as a benchmark to find it. On Monday it will be just three degrees — roughly equal to one-third of the width of your clenched fist held at arm’s length — to the upper left of that dazzling planet. Again, use your binoculars to scan this region of the sky. What you’ll be looking for is a faint star, but the tipoff will be its pale greenish tint. That will be the third largest planet and next to the planet Neptune, the most distant planet from the sun.

There you have it: five planets, a famous star cluster and the moon. Think you’ll be able to sight all seven? As we’ve noted, a few will be easy but others will be more difficult. If skies are clear Monday evening, good luck and good hunting!

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers’ Almanac and other publications. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Photographer Anne Geier Stunningly Captured The Photos Of Iceland’s Canine Residents

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Hey, I am Anne, a professional dog photographer from Austria. I live in a really beautiful region called Salzkammergut with many lakes and mountains. I have always been really close to nature and animals. Therefore, my goal since I started with dog photography was to capture the beauty of nature combined with dogs. In the last few years, I traveled a lot with my own two rescued dogs, called Yuri and Finn, to take photos of them in other beautiful countries like Norway, Italy, Switzerland and so on. If you are curious about our adventures you will find more about them in my previous post.

I visited so many breathtaking places with Yuri and Finn but still, there was one big dream: TO TAKE PHOTOS OF DOGS IN ICELAND. Sadly with my own dogs, it’s not possible due to quarantine restrictions. So I searched for dog models and found the best dog owners and dogs who made such a huge effort to help me. Therefore, I dedicated this post to the amazing dog owners and their fantastic dogs who made it possible to make my dream come true. Thank you a thousand times for everything.

One last thing I want to mention: the dogs were safe. Sometimes photos may look a bit dangerous because of the chosen perspective and so on – but safety for the dog is always first. I think I took thousands of photos – but here are my favorite moments for you. Enjoy fairytale Iceland with the magic of our furry companions. I am really curious, what’s your favorite photo?