The first semifinalists of the Red Bull Illume 2021 photo contest have been revealed, starting a week-long unveiling of category winners before the overall winner is announced on Saturday 04 December.
The 11 category winners of the high-profile photo competition are being unveiled live each night on Instagram, with the titular Best of Instagram and RAW categories being the first to be showcased. (Full disclosure: the author of this article served as a judge on the Red Bull Illume 2021 panel.)
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The Best of Instagram category, sponsored by Lenovo, had two winners: one for photography and one for video. Spain's Yhabril won the photo category with his shot of a skier and a snowboarder silhouetted against the moon, while Brazil's Bruno Diego Cavalcante took the prize for best moving image with his film of skateboarder Sara Watanabe skating on the Aterro do Flamengo sea front in Rio de Janeiro.
Watch video: Best of Instagram video winner Bruno Cavalcante
"What's particularly difficult to achieve in a shot like this one is to place the two kickers in the right place," said Yhabril, who planned the shot for a week. "Even more tough is that it needs to be taken at 3,000m high with the heavy gear you need to take the shot.
"Once you have the scenery ready, you just have to wait for the moment and pray for a bluebird sky that day, along with being confident in the riders to synchronize the jump and the handplant. That's the real challenge. When the moon was rising I went to my place 300m away, communicating via walkie-talkies. What's really amazing is that we took the shot on the second try."
The RAW category, sponsored by Leica, is dedicated to straight-out-of-camera images that are uncropped, unretouched and unfiltered. The winner was Canada's Bruno Long with another silhouetted shot, this time of mountain biker Dylan Siggers.
"Playing with dust and light has always been one of my favorite ways to shoot mountain biking," said Long. "It's such a random process, with the dust and light different in every situation.
"This particular section of trail was super steep and local rider, Dylan Siggers, was in his element. This was his second or third time through this section and by this try, I had figured out exactly where he would be in the frame and captured the moment as he emerged from the dust perfectly."
Two more category winners will be revealed live at 18:00 and 20:00 CET each night this week on Instagram and the competition website, leading up to the overall announcement on Saturday. Among the prizes on offer are a Leica SL2 and Leica Q2 camera.
A limited edition Red Bull Illume 2021 Photobook is also being released, featuring the competition's top 256 images in an individually number-stamped run of just 3,000 copies. You can pre-order the book here.
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