Stunning shot of snow-covered crowds crossing Brooklyn Bridge in blizzard wins Weather Photo of the Year competition
AN INCREDIBLE picture of people crossing Brooklyn Bridge in New York during a blizzard has been picked as the winner of the Weather Photographer of the Year contest.
Rudolf Sulgan’s icy image, Blizzard, was chosen as the overall winner in the competition, organised by the Reading-based Royal Meteorological Society.
The popular competition, which is now in its fifth year and runs in association with AccuWeather, attracted over 7,700 entries from around the world.
From shots of weather phenomena such as clouds, lightning, rain, fog and snow, through to the impact of weather on humans, cities, and the natural landscape - the competition was this year was fierce.
More than 2,600 photographers submitted images, creating a challenging task for the judging panel.
Winner Rudolf said: “I made this image in 2018, during a strong blizzard as El Nino’s periodic warming of water often disrupts normal weather patterns.
"My main concern and inspiration are that my images hopefully do a small part in combating climate change.”
Liz Bentley, chief executive of RMetS and panel judge, said: “The weather affects all of our lives and this picture captures that perfectly.
"Brooklyn Bridge provides an iconic backdrop, but it is the combined effect of snow, wind and freezing temperatures on the people trying to cross the bridge that tells the whole story – it sends a shiver down my spine.”
This was echoed by judge Jesse Ferrell, AccuWeather expert meteorologist and social media manager: “The best photos make me feel like I was there when they took it, as if I were having their experience.
"‘Blizzard’ does this for me. I feel the full impact – the chill of the winter air, the snowflakes hitting my face, and the people enjoying the snow, with older folks remembering previous snows and children just forming memories that will last for years."
The other judges were Gareth Mon Jones, the winner of Weather Photographer of the Year 2019 and Matt Clark, the photo editor of RMetS Weather magazine.
The Young Weather Photographer of the Year 2020, for budding creatives aged 17 and under, was awarded to 17-year-old Kolesnik Stephanie Sergeevna, from Russia, with her image Frozen Life, which shows a frozen leaf.
Kolesnik said: “The photo is of a leaf stuck in the ice. I wanted to take this shot because it is a ‘part of sunny Summer frozen in ice’.
"Time seems to have stopped for this leaf.”
A shortlist of 26 images were put to a public vote, with an overwhelming response of 11,275 votes cast for the finalists, representing 15 countries.
The winning image was Baikal Treasure, taken by Alexey Trofimov at Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest and largest freshwater lake, in Siberia, Russia.
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The lake is covered in ice for almost five months of the year and as the temperature drops through winter, the uneven freezing of the lake results in some blocks being pushed up, which are then sculpted by the wind, sublimation, melting and refreezing.
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The winners were announced today at RMetS WeatherLive: Past, Present and Future - Celebrating 170 years of the Royal Meteorological Society.
A calendar featuring all the winners and finalists of Weather and Young Weather Photographer of the Year 2020 is now available to buy via the RMetS online shop.
