The International Landscape Photographer of the Year 2019

 THE 5th INTERNATIONAL LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2018

Professional and amateur photographers worldwide were invited to enter the fifth International Landscape Photographer of the Year competition for a chance to share in the prize pool, including US$10,000 cash.

From nearly 3000 entries from 863 photographers, the winner of the fifth International Landscape Photographer of the Year (based on a folio submission of at least 4 images) is Adam Gibbs from Canada.

What makes a great landscape photographer? Persistence? Experience? Luck? Passion? Looking at Adam Gibbs’ winning portfolio, we can see a diversity of views, an understanding of light and the expert use of framing and composition. From sandy aerials to icy mountain locations, Adam’s portfolio demonstrates a range of topics, an essential component when it comes to convincing our judges that you are the International Landscape Photographer of  the Year.

Adam Gibbs lives part-time between New Westminster, British Columbia and Parksville, Vancouver Island, Canada.

“I’ve been a professional photographer since 1992 and up until 2014, my primary source of income was photographing gardens for gardening publications, but since then I have been a full-time nature photographer.” Adam says he was originally inspired by a nature photography book written by John Shaw in the 1980s.  

“Since I’m still a bit old school from the film days, I tend to try and capture the majority of my images in a single frame. I don’t have strong views on image manipulation, other than I find more joy in capturing great light and composition on site, rather than creating something that didn’t exist when I took the photo. My love of nature and the outdoors is much stronger than my desire to make images, so for me, pictures taken at the moment have far more integrity and personal meaning than those made later in a computer. “I generally try to keep the image accurate to form and not use too much post-processing, although when the light is not great, I’ll use a few more tricks to bring the best out of an image. I use Lightroom Classic CC and Photoshop CC 2019 for all of my work.”  

Adam is currently using a Nikon D850 along with 14-24mm, 16-35mm, 24-120mm and 70- 200mm lenses. 

“And I l love the Breakthrough Photography filters, especially the Dark X4 CPL filters that combine a 3 or 6 stop ND filter with a polariser into one filter. “Most definitely, light is the key to great photography. If I don’t have great light, then I search out subjects that go with the light at hand.”  

When we asked Adam if he had any secret locations worth investigating as a landscape photographer, he was quick to nominate one of his homes, Vancouver Island. “It is an exceptional place. The landscape is rugged, but not in your face and extremely challenging, especially the forests. I love it. However, other than the popular Canadian Rockies, the rest of British Columbia and Canada itself are highly underrated, in my opinion, as prime photo destinations for those seeking raw wilderness experiences.  

“And entering contests such as the International Landscape Photographer of the Year is an excellent way to gain recognition from your peers and the general public. It’s also a great way to get your work out there in front of the world to see – and the chance of winning a major prize is always appealing! “I have entered many contests in the past. I tend to enter in waves. Some years I’ll enter a few and other years none. Of course, not placing in a contest is disappointing, especially if you believe that your image is the best that you have ever taken. However, I don’t take it personally because I know that judging in itself is a long and sometimes arduous process. The results are almost always contentious and, of course, subjective, but in the end, I am usually happy for the winners as they have gained the things that I enjoy about winning contests, recognition from their peers.  

“After all, landscape photography is not generally considered a competitive pursuit, but an opportunity to enjoy nature and make a few images along the way.”