I was actually quite surprised at how many images had finally been entered into this competition over the months and it has taken much deliberation to create a final short list of 12 images.

Each of these images has something about them which not only describes a sense of place, but also contains something more intimate and considered by the artist.

These images appear to have gone beyond the ordinary, beyond the casual snapshot and I can sense a personal fascination for and even love of the subject by the entrant.

The second round of my judging will eliminate half of these images through necessity rather than desire, and the decision MAY take into account technical quality as part of that process, but moreover, I am looking for the strongest images in terms of mood, content AND composition.

This will be much harder than I thought as each image in this set has such strong merits and of course represent places from around the globe and therefore not easily comparable.

I hope to announce the 6 semi finalists within 24 hours from now and the three winners by Sunday evening (GMT).

May I take this opportunity to congratulate those who have made it this far and to thank all of you for taking part. There were some other truly lovely images outside this set, which for several reasons didn't quite make it.

Dymuniadau gorau i gyd
Glyn Davies
Visual Arts competition judge

Here are the 12 shortlisted finalists, in NO PARTICULAR ORDER!!!!