Photo Challenge - Tranquil

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine suggested that we undertake a photo challenge, to get us out and about and searching for good shots instead of simply waiting for good moments to come to us. Essentially, we gave ourselves three weeks, picked a theme, and then agreed to meet and and compare our best shots that conformed to the theme.

Being a big fan of landscape photography (it is my comfort zone), I sneakily suggested "tranquil" as the first theme, and luckily it stuck. One of the benefits of such a theme for me is that every morning, I ride to work around Lake Burleigh Griffith (a large shallow, algae infested lake in the heart of Canberra). A cup of the water may kill you, but on cold winter mornings (down to -6 lately), it provided some great shooting options.

The best of my shots (in my opinion) is below. Amazingly, it was only taken on a cheap point and snap camera because it is all I had on me at the time. It was an amazing morning though, and the camera managed to truly capture the great colours of the sun rising. As they say, the best camera in the world, is the one you have with you when a good photographic moment arises. It really all does come down to composition!

I have included a few of my other entries into the "competition" below for you. My favorite would probably be the middle one of the sun breaking through the trees, particularly because of the dramatic shadows cast by the trees. The theme for the next challenge has been set as "Portrait". Portraiture is not my strong point, so it should prove interesting. Any tips?