2011 photo contest winners

“I push myself to try new things,” says Gilles St-Laurent, “It’s not like I’m burning any film.” He took between 30 and 40 photos to get this shot, as he played around with his camera’s exposure and the lighting in his cottage on Lac Bob, Que. In this image, his cottage is lit with one seven-watt nightlight.

Judges' comments

It’s obvious Gilles did some experimenting to get this photo, because it would be difficult to achieve perfect balance between the cottage and the sky, and still have the stars so bright. If the cottage were lit as it normally would be, the long exposure needed for this shot would have made the building look like one bright light. Great job, Gilles.