Meet our photo competition winner

[Peter_S.]

Bold and bright, the colour yellow was the focus of our most recent photo competition. You cheered us up no end with your entries!

This month’s winner is Helga from Germany. Find out what she has to say about her photo and how she created it in our ‘winner’s interview’.

First of all, tell us where you’re from and what you do.
I live in northern Germany, in Schleswig-Holstein on the outskirts of Hamburg. I have been retired for 2 years and I enjoy having my own freedom.
I spend most of my time in the garden, where I enjoy taking lots of photos.

When did you first get involved in photography and what was your first camera?
Until the age of 50, photography didn’t play an important role in my life. My first camera was a Konica Minolta Digital, which I used to take various snaps. My real interest in photography started when I got a Sony A100.

How did you feel when you received the email saying that you’d won our photo competition again?
LAUGHING The last time I won was 5 years ago. But I was still excited about it. I wasn’t at home – I had used up my data allowance on my phone and I could only see the subject line of the email.
So I was really curious and wanted to know which photo had made it to first place. 

Can you tell us the story behind your photo? Where did the idea come from?
Well, YELLOW is a positive colour, so this theme really appealed to me. The idea was to take a shot that would stand out from the crowd.
Then I experimented with yellow crayons and yellow notepaper.

What equipment did you use to take this photo, what creative methods did you employ and which accessories did you use? Did you edit the photo?
The equipment I used is available to any photographer at home. A camera, a macro lens, a tripod, an ironing board, pins, a desk lamp and some yellow notepaper.
I took the photo in manual mode and RAW format, and developed it using Camera RAW.

What advice would you give other photographers to help them achieve the winning shot?
There are lots of useful tips around. For me personally, I think it’s important to have your own ideas and to be patient, not to force anything. It’s important to show your own individuality.