We’re running a year-long photo contest that shows off stunning photography. Here are each month’s winners of the readers’ choice and editor’s choice awards.
My grandson Declan and his family moved to Hay River in the Northwest Territories for a job opportunity. My husband and I (who live outside of Ottawa) took the opportunity to go visit them in August one year as a way to learn more about what they were experiencing in Canada’s North as well as see more of the area ourselves.
This particular photo was taken at the top of the Alexandra falls as Declan was skipping and throwing stones. I caught him with both feet slightly off the ground in a typical Declan gesture. (Sherry Galey)
At 150, Canada merits the best possible photo album, and Maclean’s wants to capture the country in all its cultural and geographic glory. For each month of 2017, we’ll ask readers to submit photos based on a particular theme. We’ll publish the winning photos in our weekly tablet edition, and online every month. At the end of the year, a gallery show will exhibit all the winning work, and we will announce the single best photo of the year. You take the photos, and we’ll provide a national frame!
Here are the winners for each month, as well as a link to all of the finalists.
Capture Canada’s coldest season. A shot of a single drip of an icicle can be as stunning as a panoramic shot of a ski slope, but the scope of this challenge is up to you. Check out the month’s top 10 submissions.
READERS’ CHOICE: Photograph by Erik McRitchie
EDITOR’S CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Susan Robertshaw
Make someone look good. A grandparent, aunt, boyfriend, neighbour, pet dog—pick someone close to you, and take a portrait that brings out their best. Check out the month’s top 10 submissions.
READERS’ CHOICE: Photograph by Isaac Paul
EDITOR’S CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Sherry Galey
We aren’t picky. From a portrait of a cook to a scene at a potluck, from celery to cutlery, we welcome all photos related to this glorious word. Don’t forget markets, bakeries, farms—feel free to get outside your kitchen zone. Check out the month’s top 10 submissions.
READERS’ CHOICE: Photograph by Kailee Mandel
EDITOR’S CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Ben Benvie
April is the coolest month. With pranks on Day One, petunias by the end, and Passover and Easter in between, April brings a cornucopia of photo potential. Get outside, if you please; get wet, if you dare. Consider cities unthawing, or nature, nurturing her offspring. Check out the month’s top 10 submissions.
READERS’ CHOICE: Photograph by Lenna Lalonde
EDITOR’S CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Ayiaz Kaderali
With summer on the horizon, you might photograph photosynthesis in action, or a little miss in her sundress. You could catch the light peaking through curtains or bouncing off a parasol. The picture doesn’t have to be playful—a painful squint, sunburn, hot tin roof—and don’t shy away from shade.
READERS’ CHOICE: Photograph by Curtis Dauphney
EDITOR’S CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Amy Shaw
Destinations might offer images, but you can also photograph the trek. Pit stops, pitfalls, or the carnival in the backseat—you might frame a shot with your sunroof or roof rack, or maybe you make a game of it, taking a photo with every left turn, for every dog snout you spot poking out a window, or for every variation of “are we there yet?”
READERS’ CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Jerry Kambeitz
EDITOR’S CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Yolande Gaudet
For the sake of tints and shades, photograph something you might otherwise not—a hazel eye, pale ale or dark roast. Notice a Dijon-yellow, shrimp-pink or cheek-rose, or the national hues of the Blue Jays or Red Green Show. Pay attention to contrast—black flies above white caps, or a Golden Retriever in a bog.
READERS’ CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Chantal Marsolais
EDITOR’S CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Bri Hamlyn
Keep your head up. Clouds might bubble like thoughts, or peel back from each other like the opening credits of The Simpsons. Planets or planes, or a golf spectator ducking from an unidentified flying object–you don’t necessarily need to photograph the sky itself. You might shoot towers that scrape it, a trampolinist tumbling through it, or a person with an arm stretched above head, reaching for it.
READERS’ CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Veronica Reist
EDITOR’S CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Amanda Brockhoff
With a camera and camouflage, you might crawl into a tree fort or capture a game of Capture the Flag. Your escapade needn’t be sign-a-waiver cliff jumping or parasailing, but rather perhaps a hunt at a yard sale, or an encounter with a racoon at the compost bin. School field trips might add adventure, or you might simply find a neighbour singing in the lane.
READERS’ CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Shawna Holmes
EDITOR’S CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Kira Cherneski
Macintosh-red, duotang-bright, or the blackness of burnt pumpkin seeds at the bottom of the pan: October awaits like a colouring book. Thanksgiving might swirl in yellow and browns as you dress the Thanksgiving salad or dress a scarecrow. Costumes might bear bloody colours or fairy tale colours, or in the case of ghosts, the absence of all.
READERS’ CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Boyd Cameron
EDITOR’S CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Stephen Underhay
Iconic species might not be reachable, so don’t get stuck on catching a bear or beluga in action. Farm sheep, goldfish, or a spaniel on a veterinary’s bench—animals in your shot might be cultivated, domesticated or soon-to-be evaluated. You might get down to snout-level, or frame your shot with four legs. The subject might be neither vertebrate nor cute – consider an earwig – but it simply must not be human.
READERS’ CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Boyd Cameron
EDITOR’S CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Stephen Underhay
Polar fleece, balaclava, a onesie on a two-year-old: you might conduct a northern fashion shoot, maybe set by the fire with a log, dog and eggnog. You could photograph boxes of ornaments squirrelled away in an attic, or the wax dripping down a Menorah. Perhaps try framing your shot with a window—looking out at shovel-ready slush, or standing amid awful conditions looking inside, ready to hit the shutter-release before your fingers get cold.
READERS’ CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Coleen Ramsay
EDITOR’S CHOICE: PHOTOGRAPH BY Kim Gray