Congratulations to Toby Cowley from Whistler, BC. for winning the 2012 Rocky Mountain Photo of the Year Powered by SRAM. After 357,309 votes (over 75,000 more than last year!), it came down to the wire as this photo edged out Jens Staudt's photo by less than 1% (50.7% - 49.3%). Toby wins himself a 2013 Rocky Mountain Altitude 790 MSL complete with the newest SRAM XX1 components and a check for $7500. Congrats!
Hooo man, tight race indeed. The shot of Fairclough was pretty sick, whipping it out and all. This one is pretty epic though, great shot. Congrats on the win. Wish I could take photos like that! haha
jitenshakun- the 2 best photos? that's quite the stretch.... hahaha, oh man... bring on the negs but it's the truth that the best photos never made it to the final round.
Although this shot is insanely tight, it isn't the best in my personal opinion.
BTW part of my reasoning for this is because foggy NS shots have been done for years which makes it nothing special, along with whip shots... this year was a disappointment in the least offensive way possible, haha.
This is my opinion only so neg prop me if you want, but this is all just in the interest of debate, no disrespect or offense meant.
This picture and it's composition is perfect. Very natural and clean/simple with proper lighting for the mood. However, versus the whip photo, this photo has a much more depressing and mellow-dramatic mood to it. The other photo had crowds of people cheering and had many, many elements going on which added to the intensity of the photo. It was bright, colorful, and an extremely hard shot to pull off. You have about 1 second to get the angle, the people, the lighting, the moment right. This photo, the rider could of redone the run. It's not like Fairclough could of redo the run just for the photographer. It was just a plain raw, in the moment, shot which I believe should of won. But in the end, it's hard to really decide just like how the votes turned out, only a 1% difference. Both the photos, including this one are still top shots no matter what and deserve to win. I just believe that although somewhat more "generic" the whip photo won in regards to: Energy, Mood, Intensity, Composition, Color Vibrancy, Detail, and Difficulty. While this photo won in: Composition, Lighting, Scenery/Environment, and Detail.
as the pre election heat is over... why are people freaking on the composition of that pic? What else than the simpliest most fundemantal rule of the thirds makes this so perfect? How about things like: center of weight of the pic? distribution of elements? nr of planes? foreground/background (white shirt on white bkg)? where's the story (he looks into the cam)? For me there is nothing else in the composition of that pic and therefore I find it quite banal, it can be achieved with cropping. Great compositions are uncroppable, mainly because they include something else than ONE subject - just like the whip pic which has a really nice layout of different things that are arranged in lines, and there are many planes. It is also way harder to shoot the second pic as you can't just ask the rider countless times to do the same. There's some story as well on the second one. Other pictures from Tobys album incl som PODs have way more to say - but this is not his fault.
Still congratulations to the photographer, use that well
The rider is more bright compared to the rest of the picture because the photographer probably used a flash and focused it on the rider.. Congrats on the POY, super sick shot!
but surley spicy mike the whip shot was done at a race so camera man had a whole set of race runs to get ideal spot and set up sorted. In my opinion all the photos were impressive but i think some of the best went out early on. but congrats to the winner.
Wow, when you look closely it does look a little weird now that you mention it...but doubt it. It is definitely photoshopped. But all photos are shopped. It's also probably because of the flash from the photographer and the light behind the rider that makes for a image that looks pretty weird in some spots.
Like the rider's eyes look very weird if you zoom up. But that's from the flash and the rider is looking at it.
Some of the shadows just don't line up right with backlight/flash. It would be super easy to make this image in some editing software. All you need is a shot of the rider, shot of background, and you can mask it with some lighting effects. It could be real, but i doubt it.
It's so obviously not fake. I mean really guys this is just getting silly. To say that a digital photo is "photoshopped" is totally redundant anyway. But this has not been composited out of multiple images or "faked" in any way. To say a photo which is clearly taken with flash is fake is just a demonstration of ignorance more than anything else.
i will be completely honest with you i voted for the other photo but i couldn't agree more and this is for photo of the year not all together sickest riding or going the biggest [although this guy looks pretty pinned] it does have to factor in composition so i would say i fully agree with you but on a different note they were both very worthy photos
yeah... congrats to Mr.Toby this is a great photo.. great shot.. great riding technique,, i know i am not in that style/position even if i hit the exact trail ... it's wet & roots
Congrats Pinkbike on narrowly voting for the better photo in a photography contest. Not sure if I'd have picked it from the start, but a great shot and a deserving winner nonetheless.
The comments above definately highlight that personal favourites are just that - different photos appeal to different people dependant on what they see in them (I prefered the moody atmosphere in the winning pic than the fun atmosphere in the second for example - neither is better, just different...).
Any chance that next year you get a photography expert in to explain different difficulties and elements of composition so that us non-photographers can appreciate the level of difficulty/skill involved to achieve each photo. Also, can we be told how much the picture was edited (perhaps have a link to the original unedited file)? To make it fair perhaps use 2 or 3 so that opinion is mixed? It will just add another element to the competition and allow us to appreciate the photographers craft even more.
I am definatly happy with the result. GREAT RIDER, GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY SKILLS, GREAT TRACK! as good as the other photo (and whip) was i thought it wasn't that great taking a picture of a other rider at the whip contest - Crankworx and then using it to win this contest. This photo here though is alot more original and its alot cooler taking a picture of a local/unidentified rider.
OMG! Voted for this thinking it was the better photo, but would most likely be outvoted by groms and the like just thinking "Yeah! Cool Whip!" and the like Re: the photo of Brendan. Genuinely surprised this won but pleasantly so. The better photo won on the day IMO.
this year was tough in the voting, there were so many good shots, hell there were PO'ds this year that didn't even get to the final 32 i would've voted for. in the the end, glad this pic won, was one of the pics i voted for from the start.
it does make me want to go out and ride and scrub everything possible, so i guess it's a job well done. they were all good pics though
While the shot is sick indeed, the other one was by far the best as far as the combination of actual photography and radness of the moment/angle. Close win, but I really didn't expect it to be like this.
YESSS! I was stoked for it to be nominated in, but thought all the kids would vote for some huge whip but this one made it! congrats Toby! you deserved it bud.
Wow, close vote... glad the shot of a "non-pro" came out on top, not that the other shot didn't deserve it, but its nice to feel like anyone thats out there snapping sick photos can come in and take the win
First time I saw this I thought: "THIS is mountain biking!" Thing is, I have never personally been on any trail like that in the photo But the spirit is the same And the photo is technically sound I love it!
Now please give us hi-res! My desktop is last years POY is shrunk down from 3000x2000 to my screen at 1980x1200: this current 1600x1000 will not cut it! And the velociraptor comment was wayyyy better!
I think that this one must be the winner because the angle used and background are awsome and the other pic (I think) was a jump like one other. Congrats to Toby!
Iconic image...well done on the PB community for recognising a stunning image.
It totally deserves the top prize...well done Toby for a technically brilliant image and Aiken for ripping it.
who the hell decided?? this pic isn't for the 1rst place, no offense to the photographer or rider but there are so many better pictures that deserve photo of the year over this.
Hell ya he deserves this, other one put up a fight, but could not compare to this composition, and just the feeling you get that he's just flying through there!
The winner had 50.7% of the votes, second place got 49.3% of the votes.
50.7 - 49.3 = 1.4
The difference was 1.4 percentage points. If there were 357309 votes, then each percentage point is worth 3573.09 votes. 1.4 X 3573.09 = 5002.3 votes.
So either second place needed to create 5003 accounts, OR get 2502 pinkbikers to change their mind about voting for Toby OR a combination of the two. Note that both these numbers are higher than the math indicated to eliminate a draw.
Your math looks right, except all of you are forgetting something. 357,309 is TOTAL number of cumulative votes in the entire competition. 357,309 people did not vote in the final round. A fraction of that many did, because each person can vote up to 31 times (unless if they miss a round) so the difference is actually much smaller. There is no way calculate the exact difference from the information we have unless PB released the real tally. Please correct me if I am mistaken.
I think we all think we look like this when we ride through the woods. I thought this photo was super rad deserved more recognition when I first saw it as a POD.
gonna have to say not impressed... I hate being negative but if this is photo of the year it makes mountain biking look like it hasnt progressed in 10 years.. congrats to you though Toby!
it was a tough decision for most i am sure. Both great shots, coming from a photography aspect though this is an awesome shot. Totally captured the point. Strong work.
Funny how people who aren't from Van don't realize that less than an hour in any direction has completely different climate, different amounts of rain fall and therefore completely different terrain. Those wet roots bring back scary childhood memories.. lol Wicked riding dude and killer shot to capture it.
It's up on cypress. I thought it was called old man dh, but I know I'm wrong now and can't find the actual name. It ends up at the first viewpoint, where stupid grouse drops in from.
About 500 people all had almost the exact same photo of Brendan. I'm a fan of Dog as well, but this image is simply more original, had more work put into it etc.
Oh well but he took a plane from Europe to take the shot... There is too much analysing, too much strive for making justice basing on God knows how many arguments incl. photography, demographics, politics, PROness for the sake of choice between two pictures of a bloke on a bike. As you push the issue hard enough for long enough period of time, the shit will finaly come out, and we stop to forget about good initial feelings and what are we actualy doing
For me though this photo is not the best the other one of Brendon is much better, what makes me not like this shot apart from composition etc which is very very good, is the eyes. They appear to be looking towards the camera, although it is hard to see as the resolution is not high enough to tell exactly, for most pro photographers that is a shot you dont use, there is not enough intensity in the eyes to justify winning. yes the rider positioning etc and difficulty might be hard, but, this fact of the eyes makes this shot loose for me. A high res version would be good to see, to confirm or deny this opinion.
For me though your opinion is not the best the other ones of everyone else is much better, what makes me not like your opinion apart from it clearly being wrong which it really really is, is the bias. You appear to be coming across as some type of pro, although it is hard to see as the photos in your collection are not enough to tell exactly, for most pro photographers that is a comment you would not make, there is not enough quality in your portfolio to justify winning. yes the rambling etc and jibber jabber might be the makings of an internet photographer, but, this fact of non-pro status makes you lose for me. A high quality photo in your portfolio would be good to see, to confirm or deny the validity of your opinion.
Oh Brad this was a contest of opinions to a great extent, disable possibility to comment under POY and there would surely be a different outcome. And well after Ian's articles everyone here is an expert in composition. So close between choices - possible only when some kind of community is involved. I hate politics, if there was a choice between Settling Lorences pic and a pic from a nonpro kid from Rwanda, guess who would win...
As much as I'm loath to stand up for FSSPhotography (he's big enough and ugly enough to do that for himself), and he is being a miserable f*cker here, search Google for Alex Boyce and Sport Shooter. A Pinkbike account is no indicator of whether someone knows their shit or not.
So now this becomes an issue of who has the bigger sensor? my lens so big, must have a shutter buttone on zem, ze body iz so far away, it is ze limited edition white gloss model with five red stripes on zem. Each of my 9 senderz haz two antenaz to 10 flashes each able to operate in command mode, all with latest TTL3s and ze range is up to 5 kilometaz. In my backpack I carry 5 bodies and 23 lens, I don't go anywhere without my Leica M, that saved my life on mission in Iraq, the F 0.956 took the AK47 bullet, almost destroying material for London Times. No shame to shoot on whip contest with a Lomo. Also Bingo Rimer iz my best friend, we shoot zem boobiez in Cali. Thats why I have a full right to ultimately point to you that the first picture sucks balls, this whole contest is mediocre nonsense anyways.
MY LOVE FOR MOUNTAIN BIKE IS EVERY DAY BIGGER BUT PINK BIKE IS SO BORING! ARTICLES BORING, PICTURES BORING.... IN THE PAST PINK BIKE WAS SO MUCH FUN AND NOW BORING. WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH PINK BIKE???
haha go ride a bike bro, dont live your life in pinkbike. if the world ends you will want to have ridden to the end, and btw pinkbike will end also. besides, pb is turning into a advertising site for dog bowls, you dont want to be here anyway.
Attention: Before neg propping, be sure to have read the owners manual and have an understanding of sarcasm. Thank You.
+1
wanted the other one but this is still a amazing shot great job!
