Royal Air Force News Friday, November 17, 2023 P16
RAF Photographer of the Year 2023
RAF Equipment
1st LET’S GO: AS1 Amber Mayall
Ops & Exercises
PICTU PERFE 1st THE PYRAMIDS FLYPAST: AS1 Abby Drewitt
1st GOLDEN ORB: Ian Forshaw
Photographic section – RAF Coningsby
1st
HEARTS AND MINDS: Sgt Paul Oldfield
RAF Photo Comp STUNNING IMAGES of frontline operations, global deployments and life on the homefront showcase RAF life in this year’s photographic competition. Hot shot Service snappers fought it out in different categories, capturing the action on international military exercises, overseas missions and routine duties in the UK. Judges for this year’s contest sifted through more than 1,700 images and 50 videos to produce a shortlist of the best. Pictures from key events including Armed Forces Day, the Royal International Air Tattoo and the King’s Coronation are presented alongside action shots from the frontline on combat and humanitarian missions and Nato duties to show the reality of Forces life. Sgt Lee ‘Matty’ Matthews, who scooped the title in the Personnel category with his image of the RAF Falcons landing during training in Switzerland, said: “My entry was planned months in advance and after a few test runs and practice
PEOPLE’S CHOICE ENTRY: A
shots we went for it on the second jump. “We had tried in the past, but due to landing patterns and the weather we couldn’t truly attempt it, but everything worked out over in Switzerland. “We had nil winds, we had our