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A young photographer from Germany has captured the fleeting magic of a winter sunset in an award-winning image that transforms the last rays of sunshine into a golden spectacle.
Marla Schwarze’s image, Winter Gold, shows the reeds along Dortmund’s Lake Phoenix glowing in the evening light and sparking water. The image earned Marla top honors in the Youth Category (ages 14 and under) of the GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, selected by the German Society for Nature Photography.
Captured with a Nikon Z6 and a 70-300mm lens, Marla captured the sun just before it disappeared. As she explains, the challenge was to capture the atmosphere of the winter evening and the flickering play of light as the sun illuminated the swaying reeds.
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Image info
Title: Winter gold
Location: Lake Phoenix, Dortmund, Germany
Tech details
Camera: Nikon Z6
Lens: 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6
Exposure: 1/500sec, f/5.6, ISO400
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Story behind the still
Marla explains, “I wanted to hold onto that one second, that fleeting instant.
“The image shows the low evening sun, the swaying reeds flooded with light, set against the sparkling water, with the rays refracting inside the lens.
“I made a particular effort to capture exactly this special winter atmosphere and the flickering play of light in that one moment.”
Discover all winning images on the GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year website.
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