Photo: Fairy Path by James Mills

Starry skies, glowing lights, and illuminated paths—for our Into The Night Photo Quest with Manfrotto, we asked you to submit your best night photography. We were stunned by your incredible submissions!

We loved seeing all the creative ways you captured light in the dark. Read on to discover the three talented winners of this Photo Quest. They won fantastic prizes, courtesy of Manfrotto: Manfrotto designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of camera and lighting support equipment for the professional photography market. The product line includes an extensive range of camera tripods and heads, bags, lighting stands and accessories.

First prize goes to James Mills for his magical image “Fairy Path”:

Fairy Path by James Mills on 500px.com

Meet the photographer, James Mills: I am a Landscape photographer based in the Peak District, England. I am mainly known for my atmospheric woodland images and have had images commended in Landscape Photographer of the Year 2014 and 2015. I also enjoy the creative and technical challenges and endless possibilities of light painting the Landscape at night, and I am mostly working on that at the moment.

Mills gave us the story behind his winning submission: “Fairy Path” was taken near where I live on Stanton Moor in the Peak District. It is a special place full of Bronze age monuments, and this path leads to a Stone Circle. I decided to walk down the path into the trees using a torch/flashlight to light up the path in a 30 second exposure. The idea was to draw the viewer into the scene with a little bit of magic.

Congratulations to Mills—he is receiving a Digital Director, 190go! Carbon Tripod, LYKOS and Pro Light 3N1 backpack.

Christoph Schaarschmidt receives second prize for his beautiful photo “trollstigen”:

trollstigen by Christoph Schaarschmidt on 500px.com



Meet the photographer, Christoph Schaarschmidt: I’m just a guy that grew up in a little village near Chemnitz/Germany. In 2013 I finished my studies in Media Engineering with a focus on Television. During and after this I worked in a photo laboratory. Photography started for me with little timelapse clips, and somehow I ended up taking extreme long exposure pictures. Right now I’m 33 years old, backpacking the world for nearly 3 years, photographing and thinking about what I want to do after this. During my travels I also started with landscape and wildlife photography. Right now I’m in Canada and want to explore this wonderful country until the end of next year, searching for mountain landscapes, starry nights, and maybe northern lights.

Find out the story behind his winning photo: I took this photo in the summer of 2014 at the Trollstigen Road in Norway. Standing there in the fog, I was waiting for the view to become clear. And then it happened—the fog disappeared and though it was 1 a.m. already, one car came slowly up the steep serpentines. It was my dream for a long time to take a photo of light trails like this in Norway—and it was just an awesome feeling that it worked out on the most beautiful and famous street. A few minutes later the fog returned, even thicker than before. In a minute the road was gone. But that’s it with travelling: You never know if something is going to work out, you can just try—and sometimes it just happens.

For his winning photo, Schaarschmidt is receiving a Digital Director, 190go! Carbon Tripod and Pro Light 3N1 backpack.

Finally, the third prize goes to Rogier Gruys for his inspiring image “Athabasca Ice Cave”:

Athabasca Ice Cave by Rogier Gruys on 500px.com

Meet the photographer, Rogier Gruys: I see myself foremost as an explorer, moving regularly to different interesting towns and jobs. I use my camera to document my travels and the scenery around me. I tend to focus on landscape photography, and especially panoramas, as they allow me to document the grandeur of the landscapes I encounter along the way.

Discover the story behind his winning submission: The photos was taken at the toe of the Athabasca Glacier in Jasper National Park, where I live. When my friend, renowned Banff photographer Paul Zizka, asked me if I wanted to join him and a few friends for some night shooting at the cave which had just formed, I jumped at the opportunity. Conditions were perfect, with even some northern lights filling the sky. While Paul was taking photos from inside the cave, I snapped this shot of one of our friends at the entrance.

Gruys wins a 190go! Carbon Tripod and Digital Director.

Did you miss this Photo Quest? Check out our upcoming Quests and enter for a chance to win amazing prizes!