Atherton & District Amateur Photographic Society

Yes, Freedom! The theme is an idea this time, so please find an image that expresses Freedom. As we slowly move out of Lockdown the idea is already there, but it can be interpreted many ways.

Examples might be...a bird flying free, a landscape wide vista waiting to be explored, the freedom of dance, freedom of the city so maybe a town crier, it could be endless. Even freedom of a teenager to idle away hours of potential activity with actual idleness......or the freedom to have a barbie with friends and family, or the tongue-in-cheek F-IW (Freedom..I won't!) which is the freedom to have Civil Disobedience.

Closing date is midnight Sunday 21st June, giving hopefully plenty of time for a bumper crop of entries.

Freedom at last !!

Freedom of the open road.

Well, this is my idea of freedom - half way up a fell side, looking back down the way I've come. In this particular image I was almost at the summit of St Sunday Crag in the Lake District, and looked back to see this breathtaking view of Ullswater

Freedom to try something different

Lest we forget all those who gave so much for our freedom

Freedom is a great concept and there have been some very interesting interpretations.

Mel gets us off to a flying start and I can totally go with his idea of freedom, be it the freedom to stand nude in the grand vista of nature and feel the soft breeze on our skin, or maybe he is also suggesting that Great Britain is now free of other, more political, constraints. Great image.

Brian has gone for the freedom of the open road. The imgredients are all there and everything is implied in this simple but highly effective composition.

Lesley also hits the spot with a hiker's view of a glorious landscape. Technically excellent and summing up that glorious moment at the pinnacle of a walk where we can view the world and feel our sanity returning. Being in such places has a wonderful balancing effect on the mind.

Simon has a great sense of timing – With a bound Snoop was free! Snoop is even giving us a huge doggie grin that shows the sheer joy of his freedom. Watch those whites though, as they so easily burn out to bald white. I usually have -0.3EV of exposure compensation permanently dialled in, but of course it does depend on the camera's metering system.

Sue is soaring, free as a bird quite literally. And it is a great example of freedom as it sweeps across the sky. Very nicely caught.

Graham's sense of freedom is more one of the philosophy of thought, the freedom to express whatever we wish to express. This could seem difficult to visualise in a photograph, but in fact Graham has done it easily. The technique is also excellent.

Daz is King of his world and looks down at the vast freedom of the sea. Another interpretation that can't be argued with., plus also again we have excellent photographic technique.

Paul has found another different and fine interpretation of the theme. This statue represents those who have fallen to make sure that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have today. Their sacrifice should indeed never be forgotten.

I'm not sure I would personally enjoy Mike's version of freedom, but he's found a character there who most definitely is free. A great example of reportage photography.

Neil rounds off our selection and this is an image that contains quite a few serious a deep connotations. It leaves us needing a moment of reflection as we feel again the depth of pain that Auschwitz engenders in us all. The context of the red shoes is a powerful statement.

This has been a bbrilliant selection of images, with so many different and equally valid interpretations. I have to say that choosing a winner is so unfair as several images vie for the kudos of the top spot. However, choose I must, so this time the winner is:

WINNER is Mel Barnes, just brilliant and truly free.

SECOND is Lesley Davidson, a fantastic view.

THIRD is Neil Higham, giving us something to think about.

To be honest, there are more truly great images but the stuff of competitions is that there have to be winners. So thank you to everybody, and I've been really impressed by all the pictures.