On our photo blog we have been posting one of our reader’s photos each month selected from submissions from the Reader’s Photo of the Month contest.

This month we had more submissions than ever and it’s getting harder to select a winner.

The Winner

One photo kept coming out on top because of the creative thought that went into the process… This month’s winner is Erica McKay with an underwater portrait of her daughter, below.

Erica’s ethereal portrait is visually reminiscent of Millais’ “Ophelia”:

This month's winner of the "Reader's Photo of the Month" on the blog at HarryNowell.com

Erica’s comments:

“My eldest daughter has been resistant to me taking photos of her for the past couple of years, as she goes through the more awkward pre-teen stage. However, I’m beginning to discover that if she can be involved in the planning of the photos, sometimes she will get very excited to try out some new stuff.

Here, we were camping in Algonquin Park and she was happily swimming back and forth under the water so I could catch her motion.  Then one time she came at me face up and it looked so neat we opted to play with that for a while.  It was a fun morning of playing with photography, and discovering a way to get my eldest in front of the lens again!”

Why she won

What clinched the prize was Erica’s creative interpretation and process of a portrait. We were impressed! I often tell our ProProgrammers “Do something different!”

Need to inject some creative juices or get a creative kickstart? Consider our photo course: Creative Exploration through Photography with Dominique Larocque and Harry Nowell

The Prize

For her work Erica wins a free print from DaveAndrews.ca – Dave is a veteran printer who is sought by artists to produce prints that hang in the finest galleries in North America. Thanks Dave, for providing this month’s prize!

Dave Andrews - Ottawa photo printing

Next month we are offering a subscription to Canadian Geographic Magazine. And we are looking for more photos and the stories behind them. Keep them coming!

Canadian Geographic Magazine

What do you think of Erica’s photo? Comments please!