Charlotte Bellamy Photography - ICM Challenge 10 - People

The ‘people’ challenge is complete, and once again a brilliant turnout from all of you who submitted. As an ICM subject, it is one I really struggle with personally. I love to capture ICM images of places with people in to add to the story, but just approaching an ICM specifically to photograph people is something I tend to avoid, so massive congratulations to all those who submitted this challenge some lovely work.

This challenge the entries were judged by the wonderful Kaisa Siren. I have followed Kaisa’s work since being introduced to her via the ICM photo magazine. Photographing in her homeland of Lapland, she conjures wonderful ICM images of colour and light. They bring a real feeling of location and emotion to the viewer, and I am delighted she agreed to be part of the judging team for these challenges

Kaisa has a new web site https://www.artistkaisasiren.com/ which is dedicated to her ICM work and is an absolute treat for inspiration and passion for ICM. Kaisa also has an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/icm_kaisasiren As a thank you for her judging, please go and check out both and follow her on Instagram if you are on that platform.

I created this ICM challenge, to offer a friendly competition within the creative group I run for all previous course attendees and mentee students. It is to encourage interaction in the group and to offer a reason to share or make photos in reaction to a prompt. From mid July to early December, a new challenge subject will be set in the group. It may be interpreted however an individual wishes, but the ICM technique must be the overriding element in the image. I have chosen an outside judge for each challenge to offer a wide variety of feedback and varying outlooks on ICM photography.

This is a cumulative competition:

• Points 1 10 are awarded for the top 10 placings each challenge. (1st place gaining 10 and 10th place 1)

• A point is awarded to every entrant to say thank you for submitting.

• A bonus 5 points are awarded to each of Charlie’s top 5 each challenge. In December there will be an online awards evening, with some small prizes, and to celebrate everyone’s achievements.

If you are interested in online or in person courses, please check out my website for more info www.charlottebellamy.com

I also have a You tube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CharlotteBellamycreativephotography/videos Please email with any questions or comments Charlotte@charlottebellamy.com

Copyright remains with each of the photographers, please do not save in anyway the images from this document.

Without further ado I would like to introduce you to your winners. Congratulations to the top 10.

Runner up Mary Seddon

Kaisa said This image has a very strong sense of place and I locate it to a market of some kind. I had to look at it quite some time before accepting that it is about people just as well as the market. I feel that the people make the image work and therefore it is about people more than the market. What I like about it so much is the colour palette which creates a very harmonious mood. Markets can be very busy with people hustling about , pushing and rushing but this has such a calm mood. The people and slowly walking by enjoying each other’s company and the atmosphere. The composition is great and the movement of the camera as well. I feel it could have been even stronger had the people been walking towards the camera. But I am one of those photographers who accept people or animals being photographed from the back as well. I feel the image could be just a touch lighter to bring it a bit more brightness. Now it has a slight grey overall cast in it.

Kaisa said Also this picture caught my attention with the wonderful colour palette. It feels just slightly overexposed in the highlights, but somehow it fits the mood. Here I do not need to question at all, is the image about a city or about people. It has a wonderful blending of the two and shows the importance of people in making the atmosphere of a city. In this image people have become an integral part of this street scene. I like the movement the camera has created as well as the way the people move across the whole image surface. And the panoramic format of the image supports those movements. It has a very nice and controlled composition as well.

Debbie Christie

4th Place

Sue Woodbridge

5th Place

Malcolm Brown

6th Place

Camilla Rutayisire Gore

7th Place

Zoe Steel

8th Place

Federica Morgan

9th Place

Østby

Kim Stevens

10th Place

Janne

The other entries

Jackson Birgitta Larsson

Christine Griffiths

Michelle

Mirriam Manners

Reiner Heisel

Christina Webb

Gunilla Steen

Margaret Stapper

Joy Tracey

Valerie Huggins

Barbara Kato Mckenzie

Charlie’s top 5

Now if you were looking for your image in there and it was missing, there is a reason You are in this section.

I really appreciated Kaisa judging the ‘people challenge for me. In addition to her placing I also wanted to award my own top 5. All but one of the images in this challenge appear in both the top 10 and top 5.

Congratulations to Angie Robertson, Zoe Steel, Sue Woodbridge and Debbie Christie for making top 10 and top 5. Congratulations to Jaana Kotoneva for her top 5 placing here.

My top 5 are not in any specific order so all these images have been awarded a bonus 5 points.

For me, images that speak to me and grab my interest are those that will make my top 5 but you will see from my comments on each all for very different reasons.

Jaana Kotoneva

I hear the announcements, the clatter of the train doors and the bus tle of people at this station. I think this image has wonderfully captured a very mundane activity and made it creative and interesting. I love the muted colour palette and the pops of colour in places. The ICM movement lines add to show the direction of travel into the train by the individuals, and the crop and composi tion really add to its strength.

Zoe Steel

I got a wonderful feeling of melancholy looking at this image from Zoe. You can almost hear the chattering and laughing between the 3 friends walking down the beach and the warmth of the sun. The slight lens zoom creates a feeling of movement in the direction to follow the girls on the beach and to enjoy the last rays of the day.

Angie Robertson

As already noted by Kaisa a beautiful and brave ICM entry in this challenge. Unlike anything else submitted, this really stood out for me. I love the softness the ICM brings to this portrait, the light is pretty and I also like the dark background. I like how also the ICM technique has been introduced, it has elevated the image rather than damaging it.

Sue Woodbridge

I’ve photographed bikes here in Holland using the ICM technique countless times, and it still provides a challenge. What I love about this bike ICM is the capture of the bike movement as well as the movement added in the background. All of tis added together brings a feeling of speed, freedom and movement. The dynamic lines and shadows and post processing in B&W to accentuate these are all positive for me.

Debbie Christie

With Christmas shopping fast approaching this image fills me a little with the anticipation for dealing with the masses on the high street! This image has captured the movement of the individuals superbly using the ICM. It has also held detail in the buildings, which is no mean feat to combine the two and do it successfully. I like the colour and the light give it a feeling of upbeat town centre activity.