A PORTFOLIO of stunning shots has led to Nick Martin being named as the overall winner of the Observer’s Photo of the Month competition for 2011.
The 42-year-old snapper, from Hadham Road, Bishop’s Stortford, is chuffed to bits. “It’s superb news; excellent,” said Nick, a customs clearance broker with courier FedEx at Stansted Airport.
His prize is a one-day photographic course run by our judges, professional photographers Stephen Thomas and Adriana Potts, of Elsenham-based Catchlight Art Photography.
Nick entered the competition throughout 2011 with a varied gallery of pictures. He secured top spot in July with his portrait of a hearty traditional feast entitled Vintage Lunch and – in stark contrast – in November with a photo called A Blot on Our Landscape which focused on a broken plastic traffic bollard.
Declaring Nick as our 2011 winner, Stephen and Adriana said: “He has consistently sent in images that show a good understanding of composition, light and viewpoint. Congratulations Nick. We’ll look forward to seeing you at our studio for your day’s photography course.”
Nick, who grew up in Stortford, has always been interested in photography and bought himself a Canon EOS 1000D digital SLR camera more than two years ago. He enrolled on a photographic course and read as much as he could about the subject.
He has even set up his own web site www.nickmartinphotographic.co.uk.
Looking ahead, Nick said: “I would like to invest in home studio equipment, lighting and backdrops etc initially, but I’m interested in all aspects of photography.
“I have applied for jobs in photography but nothing came to fruition. It’s a hard thing to get into as all the jobs are sought after.”
Nick and his wife, Amy, have a three-year-old son called Jacob.
