Mountain sunset takes first place in Slovakian photo contest

27 July 2017 Forests in photos

A stunning mountain sunset, three baby owls, and the light glinting through the trees: what do they have in common? They are the subjects of the winning photos of PEFC Slovakia’s ‘Objavuj les, objavuj PEFC’ photo contest!

In first place was ‘Mountain Sunset’ by Jaroslav Vyhnička, winning the photographer a weekend for two in the beautiful Zrub Veronika log cabin in Kríž.

Mountain Sunset

"If there is a horizon in the photo, it should be either one third or two thirds of the photo," said Milan Longauer, a member of the jury, explaining why they chose this as the winning image. "If the horizon is in the lower third, logically, there is more emphasis on the sky and clouds, which is the case for this photo. This part of the photo is more colorful and more interesting than the bottom of the horizon."

‘Čudujúce sa mláďatá pôtika kapcavého’ (wondering babies of boreal owls) by Miroslav Sanig was awarded second place, winning Mr. Sanig a Polar M400 GPS sports watch.

Wondering babies of boreal owls

"The photo has a strong spatial effect due to the low depth of field of the blurred background. The main object then emerges directly from the background," said Milan Longauer.

‘Hra lúčov’ (game of rays)

In third place was Emil Rakyta's work entitled ‘Hra lúčov’ (game of rays), winning him a 150 Euro GRUBE voucher of his choice.

"It is not easy to capture the sun rays passing through the forest," concluded Milan Lungauer.

"In this photograph, the term ‘Decisive Moment’ is used. It's the magical hundredth of a second, in which all the elements of the picture unfold as they should, and when you press the shutter button, you capture a unique shot."