December 24, 2013

Readers’ travel photograph competition: December – colour

When we asked for your best travel photos with a theme of 'colour', these entrants all leapt off the page. Scrolll through to see the final winner of the year

Readers' photos: colour: Boxer, Havana, Cuba — Louise Morgan: I was watching the young boxers training at the Rafael Trejo Gym in Old Havana, Cuba. It was a sweltering day in May and the gym was outdoors and shabby. The dedication and skill of the trainers and participants was outstanding. Photograph: Louise Morgan/GuardianWitness

Readers' photos: colour: Bsmall village near the Buddhist monastery town of Tawang in the Himalayas, I spotted this shy little boy all in yellow watching me from behind a door. I managed to coax him out and was invited into his house by his grandmother and sat drinking traditional yak butter tea while she worked on her loom and he hid in her skirts. The whole village is made from tarred black wood and it was a cold and grey day, so his outfit really stood out. This area of India is ethnically Tibetan and is largely off limits to outsiders. It's a truly amazing place with such kind people, and is unbelievably photogenicoy near Tawang in the Himalayas — Holly Hewitt: Wandering through a small village near the Buddhist monastery town of Tawang in the Himalayas, I spotted this shy little boy, all in yellow, watching me from behind a door. I managed to coax him out and was invited into his house by his grandmother and sat drinking traditional yak butter tea, while she worked on her loom and he hid in her skirts. The whole village is made from tarred black wood and it was a cold and grey day, so his outfit really stood out. Photograph: Holly Hewitt/GuardianWitness

Readers' photos: colour: Bridge, Cambridge — Katarzyna Drabek: I took this photo in Cambridge during my lunch break. I am a young mother and I do not have much time for taking photos (which I miss a lot), but walking around Cambridge made me want to take my camera and just shoot. Photograph: Katarzyna Drabek/GuardianTravel

Readers' photos: colour: Blue Lagoon, Iceland — Liam Arthur: This was shot at the Blue Lagoon, Iceland. It was -1C outside and the water was 39C. I love the steam on the gentleman's glasses and the wonderful colour of the water. Photograph: Liam Arthur/GuardianWitness

Readers' photos: colour: Casa Mila, Barcelona — Nora de Angelli: Casa Milà, better known as La Pedrera, or The Quarry, in Barcelona, was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. I visited on a stormy October evening, holding my camera under my jacket to protect it from the rain, when, all of a sudden, the stormy clouds broke, letting the last rays illuminate the undulating curves of the rooftop. I took my camera out, climbed the safety fence and took the shot. Seconds later, the sky darkened and the guards came running to get me down from the fence. Photograph: Nora de Angelli/GuardianWitness

Readers' photos: colour: Crowds gather for Hindu festival, Udaipur — Lucy Buckroyd: On our first afternoon in Udaipur, India, we stumbled upon this scene. Crowds were gathering on the temple steps waiting for a dance display, which was part of the celebrations for a local Hindu festival. It was taken just before a monsoon downpour. There is a combination of women engrossed in conversation, alongside people deep in their own thoughts, such as the boy in red near the top. Photograph: Lucy Buckroyd/GuardianTravel

Readers' photos: colour: Dancers, Pingliang, China — Sean Randall: At the entrance to the temples in Pingliang, China, we were greeted by a traditional dance. The girls waiting just off stage made such a colourful contrast to the miles of grey concrete and car parks that surround the attraction. Photograph: Sean Randall/GuardianWitness

Readers' photos: colour: Lumbini, Nepal — Iselin Shaw: This majestic scene met my eye when visiting the Buddhist pilgrimage site, Lumbini, in Nepal. This beautiful place of peace is known as the birthplace of Buddha and has been a Unesco world heritage site since 1997. Photograph: Iselin Shaw/GuardianWitness

Readers' photos: colour: Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, Canada — Mark Randall: The vibrant colours of these canoes together with the startling colour of the lake behind caught my eye while staying at Moraine Lake in Banff national park, Canada. It was morning and the canoes were lined up ready for visitors to use on the lake that day. Photograph: Mark Randall/GuardianWitness

Readers' photos: colour: Reflected lights, Piccadilly — Steve Jack: Snow had started to settle in London in the early hours, during the morning with the movement of people and traffic it soon melted. It left the pavements greasy and reflective and by the evening the lights of Piccadilly Circus were splashed all over the ground. I very much enjoyed finding silhouettes of passersby captured in the slippery, illuminated flagstone. Photograph: Steve Jack/GuardianWitness

Readers' photos: colour: Street scene, London — Christos Richard Hatjoullis: The combination of a crisp, cold night walking around London and a long exposure brought out the saturated hues of artificial lights, washing the road in a silky rainbow. Photograph: Christos Richard Hatjoullis/GuardianTravel

Readers' photos: colour: Illuminations, Vancouver — Mary McMahon: On a warm summer's night this year, my friends and I went to an illuminations event held in Vancouver, Canada. There was a fire show taking place (ie various performers doing crazy things with fire), but it was this guy's creatively illuminated umbrella that caught my eye. Photograph: Mary McMahon/GuardianWitness

Readers' photos: colour: Colour run, Medellin — Jonathan Carvajal: Participants in the Colour Run in Medellin, Colombia. Considered the world’s most joyful 5km race, as different coloured powders are thrown in the air every kilometre. Over 5,000 competitors raced in September 2013 and it was the first time the event had been held in South America. Photograph: Jonathan Carvajal/GuardianWitness

Readers' photos: colour: Rice field, Bali — Monika Mukherjee, runner-up: This picture was taken in one of the most popular rice fields in Bali, named Tegallalang. When we were going uphill, I saw this man sitting and relaxing during his work.

Natalie Mayer, judge: Lovely composition and colour. This image could have benefitted from a shallower depth of field – pushing the background more out of focus in order to focus our attention on the subject. I would also usually prefer to have the subject looking into the empty space of the image; we look where the subject looks, thus taking our gaze a little too far to the left. Photograph: Monika Mukherjee/GuardianWitness

Readers' photos: colour: Fisherman, Hoi An, Vietnam — Erlend Dalhaug Daa, winner: A fisherman uses a plate to bale out his boat amid a sea of green plants covering the surface of this river close to Hoi An, Vietnam.

Natalie Mayer, judge: While not an explosion of colour, this image was unique among this month's entries in having captured a decisive moment in time. The composition is very nicely, and also cleverly, balanced. If the subject had been throwing the water in the other direction, it would have thrown the weight of the composition off and made the image bottom heavy. As it is, our attention is focussed on the bottom of the shot, and then gets pushed up though the image, to the splashing water and into the heavy block of colour. Photograph: Erlend Dalhaug Daa/GuardianWitness

Leave a Comment Cancel comment