01 WINNER NEON BY DOMINIC BEAVEN 

Dominic’s captured a fantastic portrait full of colour. His wide aperture of f/1.6, with an EF 50mm lens on his 5D Mark III, has done a great job of turning the background lights into beautiful bokeh circles, while the neon sign adds extra vibrance to his portrait in the foreground and creates an eye-catching reflection in her glasses too. He tells us: “I took this picture on a shoot at night around Soho in London and used a combination of the light from the neon tubes and an LCD panel to light the subject’s face.”

Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM 

Exposure 1/100 sec, f/1.6, ISO250

All  the images in this gallery were entrants to the  PhotoPlus ‘Wide Aperture Imagery’ competition hosted on Photocrowd –a website where a public vote on the best-liked images is pitted against expert opinion.  To enter our current contest, and vote on your favourite photos, simply visit www.photocrowd.com

02 THE JOY OF SUMMER BY  CAROLINE ALLINGTON

Caroline has captured a wonderful portrait of her daughter Willow. The late summer sun works wonderfully well, giving the image a gentle quality with subdued colours that help draw the viewer’s eye towards the red poppy that Willow is holding.

Lens Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM 

Exposure 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO250 

03  GOLDEN LIGHT JULIE TENNANT 

Julie’s shot impressed us as she’s caught the perfect moment this butterfly had its wings spread, so we can see the beautiful yellow and black patterns in all their intricate detail. The purple flower adds an extra splash of colour and the background has been blurred nicely with a wide aperture.

Lens Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM 

Exposure 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO1000 

04    RED SQUIRREL BY STEVE CAMPBELL

An awesome shot from Steve who managed to bag this brill portrait on his first day photographing them in Inverness. There’s an abundance of colour from the fiery reds in the squirrel’s coat, as well as the lush greens and purples from the grass and heather.

Lens Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L USM 

Exposure 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO320

05 MANTIS BY EVELYNE ZELTNER 

It’s not often we see portraits taken of praying mantis, so Evelyne has pleasantly surprised us with this incredible close up. The simple colours tie the whole image together and the framing works well, as she’s made sure to be extra generous with room above the mantis’s head to ensure its long antennae aren’t cropped out of the frame. We look forward to seeing more great Canon photos from her in the future!

Lens Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM 

Exposure 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO100

06  THE LONE STAG BY JACK DODSON 

When we think of deer images the first thing that springs to mind is the sheer power displayed in the rutting season. Jack’s atmospheric and peaceful image of this lone stag silhouette on a foggy morning couldn’t be more of the polar opposite, so it’s a refreshing change!

Lens Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM 

Exposure 1/125 sec, f/4, ISO3200 

07  FAVARITX LIGHTHOUSE BY MARC MARCO 

Marc stitched together eight individual images to create this fantastic panorama of the Favaritx lighthouse in Menorca. This super wide view works tremendously well, allowing him to include the full arch of the Milky Way in the frame above the lighthouse. “Menorca island has a Starlight Award because it’s one of the best places to see the sky in the night,” he says. “I’m from the neighbouring island Mallorca and made a 24hr trip there to capture this image.”

Lens Samyang 14mm f/2.8 

Exposure 30 secs, f/2.8, ISO6400 

08  CIRCLES BY DONY BARONCHELLI 

Dony’s turned dew drops on a spiderweb into abstract art which looks fantastic up close and with her black and white conversion. What’s more impressive is it was taken on a Canon PowerShot A710 compact, which just goes to show you don’t always need expensive gear to get top shots!

Lens Canon PowerShot A710 IS 

Exposure 1/200 sec, f/4, ISO100

All  the images in this gallery were entrants to the  PhotoPlus ‘Wide Aperture Imagery’ competition hosted on Photocrowd –a website where a public vote on the best-liked images is pitted against expert opinion.  To enter our current contest, and vote on your favourite photos, simply visit www.photocrowd.com

09 THE LOOK OF BEAUTY BY  MARCO TAGLIARINO 

This is a lovely portrait from Marco, he’s made sure the focus is precisely on the girl’s eye and used a wide aperture of f/2.8 to blur the background bringing all of the attention on to his subject. He tells us: “I took this street portrait in Madagascar on the Tsiribina river. It’s an extremely poor region, but I’ve never seen so many smiles!”

Lens Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM 

Exposure 1/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO250 

10  FOX BY JAYNE BOND

Jayne has expertly waited and been patient to win over the trust of the foxes she wanted to photograph. This has paid dividends as it allowed her to bag this awesome portrait. We love the use of a wide aperture and low angle, which makes it feel much more intimate and makes the blurred background more appealing. She’s caught just the right moment when the fox is looking directly at her, making the eye contact in this image strong and instantly draws the viewer’s eye in.

Exposure 1/800 sec, f/4, ISO1250

Lens Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM 

All  the images in this gallery were entrants to the  PhotoPlus ‘Wide Aperture Imagery’ competition hosted on Photocrowd –a website where a public vote on the best-liked images is pitted against expert opinion.  To enter our current contest, and vote on your favourite photos, simply visit www.photocrowd.com