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Yesterday, on Wednesday October 30th, 2024 the Royal Meteorological Society announced the winners of the Weather Photographer of the Year 2024 contest at 7 a.m. (UK GMT).
Over 4500 entries from 84 countries were received for the Standard Chartered Weather Photographer of the Year 2024 contest. An international panel of experts in the field of meteorology, photography and journalism judged the submissions and picked the winners in the different categories.
I submitted my photos as well to see if I would have a chance but didn’t expect much.
One of the most unexpected things happened in the middle of September, when I received an email that one of my photos got picked for the shortlist of the public vote of the contest (see picture below).
Unfortunately, I didn’t win the price for the public vote. Understandable as the competition was amazing and submitted great photos. Mine was literally a snapshot when I noticed the circular rainbow while landing in Seattle Tacoma after a rain shower which just passed over the airport. I have never seen a full circular rainbow life before. I only had my phone handy as my camera was in the overhead bin and since we were landing and I was in the window seat, there was no chance to grab it. Also I wouldn’t even have enough time to get the camera and snap a picture. But luckily we always have a camera on hand with our smartphones. I pulled it out of my pocket and tried to capture the rainbow. It turned out to be harder as imagined as it was a pretty bumpy descent and this is the best picture I was able to get.
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Unfortunately, the photo was not good enough for the public vote neither the first place in the competition.
However, I was picked by the judges for 3rd place in the Smartphone category.
For me it is a great success and I am still speechless that this snapshot got picked besides all the other amazing photos. The price, even though it is only the 3rd place, means a lot to me. I never even expected that my snapshot would stand a chance.
I will participate again next year and you should too. It is a great photo contest. I didn’t even do it for the price money, my main goal is the recognition which comes with this price. I am not first yet, but I also never paid attention to photograph photos which would fit this contest well. I will keep an eye out for more scenes which would fit the contest.
I also want to congratulate all the winners of the contest and thank everyone who participated. If you didn’t win this year, come back and try again next year. Don’t give up.
You can find all the winners here.
Peter is an award-winning photographer who travels all over the world to capture the beauty of our planet as well as the achievements of humanity. Follow Peter on his travel blog Gate to Adventures for more amazing places to go and explore.
