The winners of The Perfect Moment competition are mindblowing

Capturing the perfect moment sometimes involves planning, but most often it is about being at the right place at the right time. When Our World in Focus announced The Perfect Moment Contest, they received entries from 50 countries. They write: “We were astounded by the variety, ingenuity and quality of entries in this year’s contest. Open to all genres, we were pleased to see images of landscapes, people, wildlife and more.”

The winning images are stunners which certainly deserve a wider audience. The contest was judged by Max Rive of the Netherlands and John Weatherby of the USA. Max was the final round judge. Without further ado lets enjoy the images.

Grand Prize Winner

Grand Prize Winner: Francisco Negroni

Photo Title: The Perfect Fear

Photo Description: “The picture shows a perfect “dirty storm”; the most violent moment during the eruption of the Calbuco volcano in Chile. (“Dirty storm” is the scientific term given to the incredible phenomenon that occurs in some eruption where the force of the elements thrown from the bottom of the volcano collide on the outside causing positive and negative charges which produce lightning.) The eruption of the Calbuco volcano and its violent eruption caused fear in many sectors near the volcano, forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 people. The Calbuco volcano is on the list of the most dangerous volcanoes in Chile.”

Judge’s Note: This image shows a rare moment of the eruption of the Volcano Calbuco with truly spectacular forces of nature that make you stare at the image for some time. It is the combination of the rarity of this natural phenomenon with the technical quality of the image that makes it so powerful and unique. This image left the biggest impression on me and couldn’t fit the subject ”Perfect Moment” any better. ~Max Rive

Follow: You can find more of Francisco Negroni’s work at his Website.

2nd Place

2nd Place Winner: Bence Mate

Photo Title: Eye to Eye

Photo Description: A green-crowned brilliant hummingbird goes eye to eye with a green pit viper. Although the viper does not present direct danger to the bird, it is a threat to its nestlings, so the hummingbird draws attention to the danger by fierce squeaking sounds and dancing around the predator.

Judge’s Note: Images of wildlife often make for strong storytelling photography, especially when a potential confrontation is photographed as in this image captured by Bence Mate between a hummingbird and a Viper. The perfect technical quality in terms of sharpness, focus, contrast and the chosen shutter speed which makes the movement of the wings visible also helps with bringing this image to life. ~Max Rive

Follow: You can find more of Bence Mate’s work at his Website.

3rd Place

3rd Place Winner: Bence Mate

Photo Title: Showtime

Photo Description: Droplets of water form a triangle as the cormorant shakes its wings. I was very sad when I thought this image had been lost forever, but thankfully it turned up again after a month. Cataloging photos properly is an important part of photography.

Judge’s Note: The high contrast of the droplets in the shape of a triangle around the wings of the cormorant gives this image a lot of power. A second later and the image would probably look a lot different. Photographer Bence Mate certainly managed to capture the perfect moment here. ~Max Rive

Follow: You can find more of Bence Mate’s work at his Website.

4th Place

4th Place Winner: Brandon Yoshizawa

Photo Title: Nebulus

Photo Description: A once in a lifetime shot for me capturing a SpaceX rocket launch over Aspendell, CA. I wasn’t fully aware if I would even be able to witness the launch due to the elevation I was at along with launch delays that can happen for a variety of factors. Luckily, it was a right place right time moment and I was able to witness one of the most spectacular events that I have ever seen. The light is from the setting sun hitting the rocket’s exhaust plume. This shot is from when the first and second stage boosters separated and the exhaust almost took on the form of a deep space object. While it may seem somewhat of a juxtaposition pairing a human invented rocket launch with a natural landscape of colorful fall aspen trees and the snow capped Sierra Nevada mountain range, the pairing couldn’t have been more perfect.

Judge’s Note: An image you don’t understand when looking at it for the first time; normally not a good sign, but in this particular case it is the unique conditions and moment that are causing it. Apart from the story, elements like the color and detail in the rocket’s exhaust plume and the second circle in lower brightness around it which gives it a three-dimensional feel that contribute to making this image look so surreal and unique. ~Max Rive

Follow: You can find more of Brandon Yoshizawa’s work at his Website.

5th Place

5th Place Winner: Eliseo Miciu Nicolaevici

Photo Title: Pasarela

Photo Description: Little lamb crossing a bridge.

Judge’s Note: This image shows how an ”ordinary moment” can be made very powerful and evocative by capturing it at the right time and place. Elements that impressed me are the story (how the lamb walks in front of the adult sheep), the bokeh, which works really well here (it brings attention to the lamb and the main subject and also creates a form of tunnel vision and framing with the hang-bridge) and how all the faces of the sheep are lined up in a straight line. ~Max Rive

Follow: You can find more of Eliseo Miciu Nicolaevici’s work at his Website.

About Our World in Focus

It was roughly a year ago that Max Foster and Matt Meisenheimer set out to create photo competitions that would be cheap to attend, but yet could offer great prizes. Our World in Focus is the name they chose for the site where photographers can submit images to the various competitions they organize.

All text and images are shared with permission. The images are also published here.