Gorgeous B&W’s and the Glacier Lagoon: The world of water ties our contest winners together in February

posted Friday, April 1, 2016 at 7:21 AM EDT

Photographs of still subjects can be beautiful, but the world in motion tends to be more interesting, and more difficult, to capture. Add the mystique of water, from a mist-enshrouded river in Asia, to an otherwordly lagoon off of Iceland, to the enchanting canals of Venice, and you have our Photo of the Day contest winners for the month of February.

And oh my was it a difficult month for the judges! We've had months that were obvious to us, and other months that we had a harder time narrowing down the field, and then we had this month. There were simply too many great choices, all with different styles and strong points, in not just these top five but extending beyond. We always wish we could award more than one overall winner, but this month all 5 of these could have easily claimed the top spot based on differing sets of artistic and photographic merit.

We're honored to showcase them for you here, and in our Photo of the Day gallery. Please click any image to see a larger version and more information about the settings used, and please use the comments section at the bottom of this page to congratulate these outstanding photographers for their work.

First Prize • Fisherman and Birds by Bombo • Nikon D600

Second Prize • Jökulsárlón - Galcier Lagoon by Geffrard Bourke • Fuji X-T1

Third Prize • Seagull from the Mist by Stefano Avolio • Canon T3i

First runner-up • Verticals by Iggy Pelegrina • Canon 5D Mark III

Second runner-up • An Awesome Wave by Frank Somma • Nikon D3

Thanks to everyone who enters our contest, and a big congratulations to the prize-winning photographers this month!

For anyone wanting to know more about our competition please visit this news story which describes our contest and also offers some useful tips to help you succeed, and this story which warns you of the best ways to NOT succeed. To see camera and exposure information for this month's winners or to see winners from previous months please visit our POTD winner's gallery. And if you're ready to enter now, just click here!

[On a related note, we've just started a new series of articles called "Reader Stories" where we turn the tables and let you, our readers, do the talking! We're interested in seeing more of the shots you're the most happy with, and in hearing just how you got them, or just hearing about your passions, interests and the gear you love! Intrigued? Click here!]