Hundreds of readers submitted their best sporting pictures over the last month in a competition that marked Canon's 30th anniversary of the EOS camera system.
Images that captured sublime sporting moments, the joy and heartache of winning and losing, and treasured achievements on and off the field of play gave the judging panel of legendary Inpho photographer Billy Stickland and Irish Times deputy sports editor Noel O'Reilly a hugely difficult task.
After long hours deliberating, they came up with their choice of the three best pictures. The winner, Keith Elgin, from Coleraine, Co Derry, gets a Canon EOS 750D camera, valued at over €1,000.
1st – Woman in the mud, Keith Elgin
Billy Stickland says: “What is good about this picture is that it would have been easy to just take the image and assume because there was mud and water around that would be an end in itself for a great picture ... that would have been easy. The photographer, however, extended the possibilities here and made it into a b/w image, then darkened the sides so that the viewer is drawn into the centre and the depth of field has put the background out of focus. Put it all together and then get the expression on the woman’s face and you have a really good tight image. It’s good to see the photographer using his imagination in conjunction with the ability of the camera.”
2nd – Fly weight , Patrick Scully
Billy Stickland says: “Boxing, from a distance, looks like it is very easy to get a great picture as you have two people intent on really having a go off each other. You find that it’s really easy to get a fairly high level of image but very difficult to get something different. This picture does that. The photographer has managed to capture a split second moment when one of the boxers has slipped and is falling over. This may look easy but it’s not as things happen incredibly quickly in a boxing ring. I love to see something different from a sports event and this image is definitely in this category.”
3rd – Last ball : three to win, Rodney Smythe
Billy Stickland says: “At cricket matches the photographer’s level of concentration has to be up there all the time. There is so much time filled with nothing happening and then suddenly the batsman gets bowled. To be good you have to get those moments and have the sense of timing to capture it. This picture shows this. It is also helped by the photographer seeing that the background would allow whatever happened on the pitch to stand out and you can clearly see the ball and stumps in a great action moment. People say that there is a big element of luck in getting this type of picture but if you concentrate, use the right equipment and get the right angle then if anything does happen you’re there to take advantage ... it’s only about 10 per cent luck.”
Other notables
