The second edition of Merlin Green Frames 2024 was held on November 10 with a daylong photography contest and workshop that included various categories from Landscape to Nature, Birds and several more. The event concluded on December 8 with a grand award ceremony and winter carnival at Merlin Aquaville. Several photographers from novices to veterans took part in the competition
Photographs courtesy: Merlin Group
Shibashis Roy Chowdhury won the first place in the Birds category with this stunning picture, while Subhas Dasgupta won second place in the same category. The winners across categories received a cash prize of Rs 11,000 while each runners-up walked away with Rs 7,000. Sandipan Mukherjee, a reputable photographer and author, was the mentor for the contest. Speaking to My Kolkata, Sandipan said: ‘We got a total of 800 pictures and had to narrow it down to 12 winners across categories which was difficult’
Aniket Saha won the first prize in the Landscape category with Partha Mukherjee coming second. Sandipan Mukherjee said: ‘From novices to veterans, there were all kinds of photographers present and their questions were very intriguing. It was a learning experience for me as well.’ Sandipan also said that judging the categories was very difficult and pictures that came close to winning but didn’t enter the short list ended up on the exhibits during the closing of the event
In the Flora and Fauna category, this click by Dipayan Das clinched top spot with Subhas Dasgupta coming in second. Another mentor for the event was Shayan Chaudhuri, a photographer and filmmaker who also founded the Indian Photographic Academy. Speaking to My Kolkata, Shayan said: ‘It was an interesting competition. The photographers had various questions about how to get the right exposure and they tried playing around with various settings to get the best results’
The Macro category was won by Suman Banerjee for this intimate click of the butterflies, while Pradipta Mukherjee took the second place. The wide-frame bird’s-eye view picture of Merlin Aquaville not only captures the beauty of the property but also won the grandest prize as Mohona Sengupta’s click won a grand prize of Rs 41,000. The contest was such a big hit that the photographers and mentors alike cannot wait for another similar event to be held to express their creativity using nature as a medium for artistic expression
A total of 90 photographers turned up with their lenses to capture the natural beauty of Merlin Aquaville. The Life in Action category was won by Shubayan Saha with Shibashis Roy Chowdhury coming in as the runners up. Akash Shah won a special host award at the event. Winters are the perfect time to get outdoors and click pictures of the nature that surrounds us. After a successful Green Frames competition we can only hope to see more such beautiful natural clicks doing the rounds of social media soon
