Natalie Mayer, judge: February's theme of nature generated some wonderful entries. This one stood out as a winner for its clever use of and understanding of light. The bird just has its head peeping into a shaft of light, and has been cleverly and precisely captured through the leaves and branches. Any movement up or down (of which I'm sure there was much) could have hidden his head either in shadow or behind foliage, and that kind of precision deserves recognition. The shallow depth of field serves to emphasise perfectly the subject, and the exposure is spot on – not easy with so much light and shade to fool the camera's light meter. Fine work. Photograph: Matthew Fleet
Natalie Mayer, judge: This one really stands out for me. Great compositions, wonderful subjects all with super body language and all interesting in their own right. I think this shot would work great in black and white, but either way it's a lovely scene, well spotted and captured. Photograph: Faye Maher
Natalie Mayer, judge: Gorgeous oily rich colours, and lovely, faultless composition. This one appears splendidly simple – which good photography should. Lovely entry, well done! Photograph: Ollie Jarman
Natalie Mayer, judge: This is a beautiful image, strikingly composed. The light is great, and it has an expression and energy from both the cyclists and spectators. The inclusion of the hastily exited car with the open door gives the image a sense of a spontaneity and the perspective of the mountains suggests great distances are going to be travelled. Photograph: Cath Brazier
Natalie Mayer, judge: What gorgeous simplicity and colour contrast. Just stunning! Photograph: Alessandra Bossio
Natalie Mayer, judge: This one is a clear August winner for me. I love everything that it so unselfconsciously captures. There are so many fun and interesting things going on – the spilling pint glass, the nonchalant photographer, the blow up shark fight, the cute girl, the cheeky mate. A good capture of a culture lots of us have felt part of at some time or other. Photograph: Jacob Cockle
Natalie Mayer, judge: This is a classic image, well captured. A real sporting moment in time. It's nice to have the expressions of the three players all so clear and visible. Compositionally it's a tiny shame that the foot on the left is cropped – cropping tightly to the right of the shot would lessen the impact of this though. Photograph: Andrew Sole
Natalie Mayer, judge: This is a splendid image. Lovely composition, very graphic and striking. Beautifully rendered in black and white. There is stunning movement and feeling in this image. A very well deserved winner; I would like to see more from this photographer. Photograph: Jamie Furlong
Natalie Mayer, judge: Gorgeous colours and composition here. I can almost smell the herbs and feel the atmosphere and hubbub of the market. I love the lady reading her paper just below centre left. This image makes me want to travel, which is what travel photography is all about. A slight crop from the relatively empty top left and bottom right corners are the only things that could improve this image. Photograph: Sarah Hammond
Natalie Mayer, judge: This is a lively and energetic image. It's a bit grim, seeing those brown teeth so close up, but what the hell, the picture captures fun and life and is well composed and exposed. Out of all the images this month, this one really captures a moment and shows us a fun and interesting slice of life. Photograph: Chris Mole
Natalie Mayer, judge: This scene has the elements of great action adventure photography. It's also an image that will stand the test of time and be interesting to look back on in years to come. Importantly, the timing of your capture is spot on and of course the trick super stylish – give a big high five to your surfer friend as this image just would not have worked with shoddy action, as I'm sure you know. Have a great time in Antarctica, it will be great to see what you come back with.
Photograph: Jacob Cockle Photograph: Action images
