Little People, Big Landscape: Contest Winners

We know this word gets thrown around a lot, but there's only one way we can describe  November's #MadeWithMagMod images: EPIC.

The contest theme was “Little People, Big Landscape,” and the winning images combine some truly breathtaking scenery with great technique.

Grand prize honors go to Austen Diamond for his bride and groom portrait set against the awesomest backdrop ever: the Milky Way. For his win, he scores $150 in MagBucks and a $199 Fundy Designer Gift Card. Austen's image isn't just visually stunning and perfectly composed--it's also crazy thoughtful, considering who his clients were. Read on to learn more about what made it so special to them.

2nd place honors go to Christina Lorenz, who took the world's coolest selfie. 3rd place honors belong to Sean LeBlanc, who literally went to great lengths to get his shot. And our 4th place winner, Critsey Rowe, is giving us gothic romance novel vibes. So cool. These guys won $75, $50, and $25 MagBucks prizes, respectively. Congrats, y'all!

Keep reading to see all of the winning images in their full rez glory and check out the camera settings and flash modifiers used.

Want in on our monthly contest? Here’s how to enter:

1. Join the #MagModCommunity on Facebook to get this month’s contest theme.
2. Shoot an epic image using MagMod gear.
3. Look for the pinned contest post in the Community and attach your entry as a comment.

That’s it! Easy peasy.

You can enter as many times as you want. The contest theme and prizes change each month, so get in on this action!

Here's how (and why!) Austen got the shot:

"I set out to create an image that honored the couple’s story and their union. John is an astrophotographer and a rocket engineer for SpaceX, so he and Janine have spent aloooot of time under the stars. This night sky session lasted about two hours as we waited for the Milky Way to cross the sky to the exact position we wanted. So we had worked through some ideas and a few nearby spots, but I knew this was where the shoot would culminate.

The image was captured with a Sony a7rii and 16-35mm f2.8 G Master lens. Set at 16mm f2.8, it's a 25 second exposure at 3200 ISO. An assistant held a speedlight camera left with a MagGel full CTO and MagGrid to control spill, and the flash was fired with rear sync to freeze the couple. I treat a lot of OCF similar to how I cook—without a recipe—so I can’t recall the flash power. All edits were in Lightroom based off of DVLOP presets camera profile, and the image is not a composite.

Christina explains how it was made: "This shot (selfie :-P) was taken while visiting Northern Norway with my husband last month. Of course I was keen to capture the fascinating (and ever-changing!!!) Northern Lights and already had an idea in mind to spice things up. My D850 was set up on a stable tripod while my husband was already holding the flash with the MagGrid on 1/32 power directed towards the red fishermen's house. I used the self-timer mode and ran in the shot, then trying to hold as still as possible. It was super windy and freezing cold (-15'C). We were almost blown over by the wind holding that kiss! SB910 on 1/32 Power with one MagGrid Nikon D850 / NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8 15,0s / f/2.8 / ISO 320."

Here’s how Sean got the shot: "I stood on the rooftop patio of a hotel overlooking the valley, and my assistant held a flash with a MagGrid and MagGel behind our clients as they walked down the road. I was surprised my pocket wizards were able to trigger the SB910 from that distance. Shot on a Nikon D750 at F8.0 with a 35mmF1.4, ISO 200. SB 910 flash at full power."

Here’s how Critsey got the shot: "For this portrait, the flash stand was off to the right of the couple using the MagGrid and MagGel. I photoshopped the flash and stand out of the photo. Camera - Sony AR7 II; Focal Length (mm): 45 Lens FE 24-70mm F2.8; ISO 100; Aperture 3.2; Shutter 1/160; 1/4 CTO; Flash 1/32."