News: Awards

I am delighted to announce that one of my favourite images of all times, Empty Quarter Pink Sunrise, won this year's "Nature Landscapes" category in the prestigious Memorial Maria Luisa International Mountain and Nature Photo Contest. I took the photograph in the Rubʿ al Khali – the world's largest sand desert and one of the driest places on the planet – back in March 2014. With only desert mice for company and endless sand storms, it was one of the most challenging environments I worked in so far. But the reward came in the form of amazing dune shapes and beautiful light. My image "Glacial Flows" was also highly commended in the "Creative Photo"...

My aerial image "Glacial Rivers in Gold" won second place in the Northern Landscape category of this year's Arctic Photographer of the Year Awards. Over the years, I spent countless hours hanging out of small airplaces shooting glacial rivers above the Arctic Circle, however, this particular photograph remains one of my personal favourites. Late evening sun illumates the glacial river bed in the Highlands of Iceland, beautifully separating the small rivers from the surrounding volcanic sand and creating a truly spectactular atmosphere. I will never forget the moment.

I am delighted one my images from this year's expedition to the Empty Quarter desert won third place in the 2014 Epson International Pano Awards. This follows last year's win of the overall competition. Gale-force winds battered the desert that day, but the light was just incredible. The Epson International Pano Awards showcases the work of panoramic photographers worldwide and is the largest competition for panoramic photography.

One of my Iceland aerial images was commended in this year's Sony World Photography Awards. The photograph is part of an aerial image series exploring Iceland’s hidden gems - glacial rivers flowing out of some of Europe’s largest glaciers. The striking image of the river delta expresses its natural and complex beauty. Different shades of blue, grey and orange both contrast and complement each other, creating a unique image. The Sony World Photography Awards is the largest and most comprehensive photography competition in existence today. The 2014 Open competition saw 65,512 entries from across 166 countries.

One of my favourite images, 'The Serpentine', has been commended by the judges in the ‘Classic View’ category and will be published in the Awards book. In addition, it will take pride of place at the ’Take a View’ exhibition in the National Theatre in London, from December 2013 to February 2014.

At this year’s IPA awards, my version of the ’Iguazu Sunset’ won the 2nd place in the professional nature category. Six further images won honourable mentions. I stayed in the National Park for a few days to get a chance to photograph the magnificent falls – some 80 metres high and 3 kilometres wide – when no one else is around (OK, other than a few tapirs and coatis).

Above is the winning image of this year’s Epson International Pano Awards, a competition which showcases the work of panoramic photographers worldwide and is the largest competition of its kind. I spent several weeks on a project in California at the end of last year and the opportunity to photograph the state's beautiful landscapes came as an added bonus. Studying the route for the way back from Death Valley, I figured that one desert was never enough and headed for Dumont Dunes. A building sand storm chased away a group of dune riders, who obligingly left behind curved tracks providing additional structure to the dunes pattern.