The Print Portfolio is in its second year under this format. This year the number of entrants increased and the number of overseas members entering also increased proportionately.
The entrants produced some very high quality work and printed this work on a wide ranging choice of the highest quality papers. The variety of work was outstanding, creating a great showing of the diversity of work that is created by Digital Imaging members’. It is unlikely that such a variety of work is seen in other photographic competitions. This was especially true of the contribution of our overseas members showing that DI is pushing boundaries across the world. I suggest that you read the comments from the authors closely as it gives a great insight to their work.
Our selection process was the same as that used last year with all the prints being shown to three selectors at an in camera session at RPS House. The initial round was to reduce the entries down to one from each entrant. Round two took this down to the final fifty images. The final selection gave us the thirty images. The prints were selected on the image as well as the quality of the paper selected and the appropriateness of the match of image and paper. There was also consideration of the range of the images in portraying the variety of work to represent all DI members. These selections are exhibited in this portfolio alongside a few words from the photographer about their image.
The work of the three selectors, Alison Cawley ARPS, Sue O’Connell and Derwood Pamphilon ARPS, should be acknowledged. They did a terrific job, and their thoughts of the process follow in the next pages. The group is grateful for their assistance and support.
I would like to thank our DI Chair, Janet Haines and Neill Taylor our technical support, as well as the rest of the DI team for making this process work. I am sure you will agree that the end product is well worth the effort.
Robin Price, DI Competitions Officer
Our Portfolio Selectors
Alison Cawley ARPS DPAGB EFIAP/b
A memorable day for all the right reasons. It was particularly rewarding to see the competition supported by the overseas members and I hope their success will encourage others to enter in the future along with many more UK members too. The overall standard was excellent, and it was very refreshing to see such diverse and thought-provoking work. I personally found the mono outstanding. We had the rare luxury of having time to view all the prints (even if Janet did get a bit concerned at how long we were taking!) and to appreciate the photographers’ skill before having to make our decisions. The hardest part was, inevitably, selecting the final thirty and several of those chosen will linger in the memory for a long time to come. To everyone who made the cut many congratulations, but you were pushed very hard by the rest of the field with some missing out by the narrowest of margins.
Sue O’Connell FIPF EFIAP/d3 MPSA DPAGB ABPE
Of all the judging I’ve done in my time (from the local schools’ challenge, where the kids had been lent a camera for a day, to international salons and much in between!) the Digital Portfolio stands out for me for its unusual selection procedure and for the quality and distinctive character of its entries.
It’s always a joy to assess prints, where you can be confident that you are seeing the image exactly as the author intended, free from the vagaries of computer or projector. But the bonus here was that selectors could look at each image for as long as and as close-up as needed. That way we were able to fully appreciate the attention to detail given to print quality and paper choice in so many cases, something not practical in large scale salons. Overall, it was an absolute pleasure to be a selector for the Portfolio and I would like to applaud DIG members for the refreshingly different range of subject matter and treatment, and for the very high standard of their entries.
Derwood Pamphilon ARPS
It was my great privilege to be invited to join the selection team for the RPS Digital Group’s Annual Print Portfolio recently. The day was superbly organised and run by Janet Haines, Robin Price and Neill Taylor making a potentially arduous process a delight to participate in. The overall standard and print quality of the submitted images was impressive. It was great to have so many beautiful images printed on high quality papers in hand although it was naturally difficult to narrow them down to the final thirty. I feel sure that members of the Digital Imaging group will be pleased with the overall outcome of the day and that the Print Portfolio will be a lasting reminder of the quality of the work that they produce.
Lin Collins LRPS
Another Place
I have wanted to photograph the Anthony Gormley installation Another Place on Crosby beach for a long time and whilst on a short winter break in Lancashire I had only one free day on which to do so.
After travelling almost, the entire length of the county, I arrived to find a bright, sunny and extremely windy scene. Clearly the ubiquitous long exposure that I had hoped to capture was going to be too much of a challenge on this exposed and gusty beach but, after waiting for several hours for the softer afternoon light to take over, I was able to achieve a few shots of the figures both in and out of the water.
Another Place is my favourite of these. I love the pastel colours, and the isolation of the single figure against the background of these huge, impressive wind turbines adds a certain pathos to the image for me.
Captured on a Sony a7riii with 70-300mm lens, f/14, ISO 100, 1/400s and printed on Fotospeed Matt Ultra 240
Richard Lavery ARPS (FRA) Anxiety
I have lived in France for almost 50 years, initially in Paris and now in Lyon. During this time, I have always been an active photographer alongside my career in scientific research. Over the last decade or so, I have concentrated on studio portraits and figure studies, and most recently, on combining photography with other art techniques. The image Anxiety grew out of my friendship with Laurence, who has suffered from severe anxiety attacks since childhood. I suggested a studio session in which she could try and translate visually what she experiences during an attack, including the detachment from reality and the sense of imminent danger. The outcome was a series of five images tracing the timeline of an attack, of which you see the first here. When reviewing our work together, I found that combining two photographs showing an emotional change, but with a gestural connection, yielded, for me, the most expressive result.
Art in Engineering
I made the original version of this image for the Jersey Photographic Club’s ‘Set Subject’ competition with the theme ‘Machine Parts’ - it is a close up of my motorbike’s rear wheel.
I used a Canon 5D Mark III and 100mm Macro lens with the settings f/13.0, 2.5 seconds exposure, ISO 100, with a combination of natural light and a handheld LED torch.
The post-processing was done entirely using darktable opensource software. The editing involved a fair amount of dodging and burning and retouching, together with selective local contrast and sharpening to emphasise different elements of the image before converting it to black and white.
I realised later that the texture of the wheel casting appeared similar to skin and by rotating the image through 180° it could be made to look like an abstract view of the human body. The ambiguity of the result appealed to me and I decided to include this rotated version in my submission – I am very pleased that it was selected.
I printed the image on a Canon ImagePROGRAF Pro-300 printer, using Fotospeed PF Lustre 275 paper which I thought would suit this style of monochrome image.
Paul Herbert ARPS
Barn IR
The weather that day was just crying out for infra-red, the blue sky with interesting cloud formations and sunshine and so I had taken my IR-converted camera with me on my daily dog walk. The view from the footpath reminded me of the flat prairies of the mid USA with a large barn breaking a plain horizon. The reality is a rather boring field in mid-Kent with a small microlight airfield and hangers.
Not unusually, I started taking photos when I was quite young, improving cameras and knowledge as finances and time would allow. It is only really in my later years that I have begun to understand the ‘art and craft’ of photography and now strive to create more memorable images.
David Scrivener ARPS
Canal in Winter
Reality is overrated. I indulge that sentiment in my photography on occasions. Canal in Winter is an example of expressionistic treatment of a snowy scene during a ‘Beast from the East’ event from a trip to Venice and Burano. It is too easy to collect cliched images from that area, so I was keen to try something slightly different by both capturing the inclement weather and then altering reality to create a more painterly effect. Nothing wrong at all with a realistic representation, but for me it is the pleasure of making it uniquely mine.
My former career was in the very real world of oil and gas exploration as a geologist, but as my portrait attests, I fully indulge my artistic sense of going beyond reality by performing in amateur theatre shows. When I’m not pulling on tights for pantos and musicals I can be found sailing on the west coast of Scotland, which allows me to indulge other passions in wildlife and landscape photography.
Cliff Spooner ARPS
Maggie James LRPS Cascade
I used intentional camera movement techniques to capture the cascade of water over a single rock in a local stream. Inspired by Shona Perkins, Leeming and Paterson, I enjoy using my camera as a mechanical brush to transform the photographic capture into an artistic image that cannot be seen by the naked eye.
I was absolutely delighted that my image was selected, I printed the submitted photo on Epson Matte paper to accentuate the delicate colours.
Coming to the End
Whenever there is a fifth Friday in the month, my local U3A Photography Group goes off on a photoshoot. Last November we went to Birmingham for the day. We covered the Christmas markets and other main sights, but I decided to stay on for a couple of days and try some of the lesser-known walking routes, including the rather unlovely, but interesting, Digbeth area.
I first came across this old fellow leaning against a graffiti covered shop window, making himself a roll-up, and thought I’d got the shot of the day. But 20 minutes later I came across him again. I spotted the ‘End’ sign in the distance and just waited until he walked into the right position.
David Pearson FRPS
Corroboree
I took this aerial image of a salt lake north west of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia from a small plane at about 2000ft. It was shot with my Nikon Z7ii at f/4.5, 1/8000 second, 200mm, ISO 400.
The colour is a result of differing sediments, aquatic and terrestrial plant growth, water chemistry and algae. The dried salt on the surface of the lake creates texture, recent water flows have left behind red scars, and surface cracks have created ‘flying birds. The title Corroboree comes from the name of an indigenous Australian dance ceremony which can take the form of a sacred ritual or an informal gathering.
I am a Perth based Western Australian photographer. I use creative photographic techniques to freeze in time the beauty that so often goes unnoticed. I am drawn towards abstract art, whether it is the patina of discarded rusted metal, the hidden beauty of aerial abstracts of salt lakes and chemical waste generated from mining operations or the choreography of distorted water reflections. My background in mathematics provides a means to create precise and accurate visual compositions. I use geometric shapes and mathematical concepts such as form, space and proportion to create visually appealing and balanced designs.
Barbara Brown (AUS)
Barry Senior HonFRPS
Cuba
People and children sitting or talking in doorways with the old decrepit, sometimes abandoned American cars in the streets, were very much part of the urban scene when this image was shot on a visit to Havana in the autumn of 2007. It was a waiting game for the busy street to clear and for the people talking in the doorway behind the car to move. In 2007 getting the shot right in the camera was almost essential because it was before the current advances in Photoshop with its easier removal of people and objects. However, having started my photographic journey with a Six-20 folding Brownie and black and white film, capturing an image ‘in camera’ is second nature and my preferred method of image making.
This shot was taken on a Nikon D200, 10.2 megapixel, crop sensor (APS-C) camera with a 18-200 mm zoom lens at 18 mm (28 mm full frame) and 1/60 sec at f/16. In post processing the main adjustments were to the exposure, the crop tightened at the top and the car moved slightly more into the image. The print submitted was printed on Permajet FB Gold Silk 315 paper printed on an Epson Sure Colour P800 printer.
Fishing Hut
I was absolutely delighted that my image Fishing Hut was accepted into the RPS DI Print Portfolio 2025. The image was taken in the Venetian Lagoon, from an area of the Venice Lido called Pellestrina. There are many fishing huts in that area, and I spent a very enjoyable morning with a few friends photographing them while we were on a photographic trip to Venice in 2024.
I spend a lot of time taking and printing this type of photograph, in this case using a four-minute long exposure with 16-stop Neutral Density filters to smooth out the water and sky, and produce this high key minimalist style of image.
My photography is almost all monochrome, my main interest is in producing monochrome prints on the many beautiful fine art papers which are available to us today.
The paper I used for the prints entered into the DI Print Portfolio 2025 was Canson Arches BFK Rives White. This is fine textured paper with a fairly bright white base, which I think is perfectly suited to this type of image.
Hugh Rooney FRPS
Grasses
I have been a photographer for well over 50 years and have never lost my enthusiasm and enjoyment of this wonderful hobby. My photography is varied but I particularly enjoy creating images which are a step away from reality, using abstraction, ICM or multiple exposures and all made in the camera or phone rather than the computer. My image called Grasses (I am not very good at thinking up imaginative titles) was created in my phone using the PhotoSplit app and is a combination of two images, one a photograph of grasses under a bridge on a local canal and another of a stone texture taken nearby. Ever since my camera stopped allowing multiple exposures I have used PhotoSplit extensively to create multiple exposures. I also use the Union app for the same reason as PhotoSplit is no longer available. Both are Apple apps only.
Martin Addison FRPS
Great Grey Owl Landing
My image, Great Grey Owl Landing, was taken during a photography holiday to Finland in March last year. It had been a wish of mine, for a number of years, to see owls in the snow in their natural environment and I decided to take the leap and book the holiday. I initially stayed in northeast Finland near Kuusamo, not far from the Russian border. That morning, we travelled to an area where the owls might be found and waited! The owl eventually flew down a number of times to take dead bait.
On this occasion I managed to take a few shots of it approaching and landing and was pleased, when looking at the images later, to see that it had shaken its wings, adding to the overall composition. We spent nearly an hour at this location, and it was wonderful to see this wild bird in its natural environment against a snowy background. Taken from a raised path, where a step to either side would have resulted in sinking into deep snow, the shot was handheld using a fast shutter speed to capture the action.
This image was printed on Permajet FB Gold Silk paper, which has a soft sheen and seems to work well with nature and wildlife images.
Maggie Bullock ARPS
Human Trafficking
I lecture at Societies and Clubs regularly, have exhibited my work throughout the world and I am a member of The London Salon of Photography.
A subject of human trafficking remains in the news despite international law enforcement interventions. The image takes a lighter approach with workmen being transported in pickup trucks. I found the images dotted around a commercial construction site in East London. I chose to display them as a set of four in a vertical arrangement to slow the viewer’s eye. One is flipped to show that the problem is not all one way, and it does help with the pattern break. As I could only find three vehicles, and knowing I needed four, I had no choice but to use one of the images twice, so a colour swap made it less obvious. The image quality is quite poor as the posters were large, so to pull back some detail I added some local contrast and noise.
My first choice of paper would be Permajet Matt Plus with a white base and high level of optical brightener, however I printed this on Permajet Portrait White as this print was not to be mounted and a heavier paper offers improved stability. The title was chosen to make a point, but I also hope that the image does offer some humour.
Jonathan Vaines
We visited Birmingham last summer. A tad disappointed with the view of the skyline from the top of the library building, I looked down into Centenary Square and I spotted the skateboarder at the far end of the square; I waited for him to turn back. Fortunately, his return coincided with the two men in black, both in the perfect spot.
I printed this image using a Canon Pro Graf 1000, Canon pigment inks and Fotospeed Platinum Etching; this is a change to my usual preference (NST Bright White) as it is a slightly warmer paper.
Linda Marshall FRPS I’m off!
Susan Champion
Indian Palm Squirrels
The cheeky Indian Palm Squirrels were photographed by some buildings to the side of the Taj Mahal with my camera at that time, a Nikon D90, with an 18-200mm lens at full extension, hand held at 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400.
I often revisit images discarded due to poor backgrounds/ distractions etc, especially when the location is too far away to pop back and retake the shot ! These chaps were sitting on a bare concrete floor and so were crying out for a make-over. A texture was made for the background using shades of brown from their fur; then the forest, light beams and two more textures were overlaid to warm the scene.
I used an Epson R3000 to print on to Permajet Portrait White paper, which has a matte finish but retains all the detail.
It’s Mine
I joined Exmouth Photo Group in 1986; it was the best thing I ever did because over the years my photography has gone from strength to strength. I didn’t specialise in any particular genre but now tend to concentrate on making audio-visuals. So I am absolutely delighted to have a print selected as one of the 30 in the Print Portfolio. And, the best ever comment I have ever had, was from Alison Cawley, “If I could have taken one print home, this would have been it”.
I was inspired by the City of Arts complex in Valencia. I had originally made the lady out of one of the buildings and when it came to deciding what to print for the RPS Digital Imaging Print Portfolio I decided to alter other images I had produced from the buildings. I messed around with some and altered one of them to look like a face. It was then a matter of deciding on whether to have one or two of these building parts. I then remembered that I had visited a monastery in Milton Keynes, of all places, where it had a sort of table with a lone orange on it that fitted the scene. That didn’t work when I tried to make it mono so changed it to an apple. I could just imagine ‘the lady’ standing there with hands on her hips saying, “It’s Mine”.
Sheila Haycox ARPS
Lynda Morris LRPS
Lonely Wait
I took this in December 2020 when lockdown was slightly less rigid. The photo reflected the mood of despondency and loneliness of the time. I hung around this bus stop in Raynes Park for five minutes or so, taking several photos to try and make sure there were no cars or other passers-by, to simplify the picture. It had just stopped raining, but I noticed the rain dripping down the glass, the lighted shop windows and the strong blue of the bag.
I resolve to go out taking street photos more often in the rain, but I’ve managed to mess a camera up getting wet at Brighton Pride two years ago so am a little offput!
I used my mirrorless Sony 6100 APS-C 35m f/1.8 lens set at at 1/320 sec and f/4.5. I processed the photo using Lightroom and Photoshop. I don’t print my own photos as have never mastered the art but am envious of those who do.
Mary’s Shell
My wife and I are both retired, and we are gradually working our way around the coasts of Britain and Ireland. This photograph was taken on a two-week photographic holiday in Lancashire.
Mary’s Shell is a huge piece of public art. A metal sculpture that is a whopping 8m long and 4m tall, the shell weighs in at 16.5 tonnes. It sits on a concrete foundation, cast into the beach and can be found at the north end of Cleveleys Promenade, Lancashire. At low tide, you can climb inside the shell. Once the tide comes in, the shell fills with water. Only the very top of it remains visible, poking through the waves. My image is taken from the promenade, there’s no need to get wet.
I was using a Sony a7 iii with a 24-105mm lens, f/10, ISO 50, 8 second exposure.
I am a member of Horndean Camera Club, Vice Chair and Secretary, and have been a member of the RPS for the past 7 years.
Alan Collins ARPS
Mother and Cub Chase
Bera in Rajasthan is known as the village where leopards live peacefully with humans. They inhabit the rock caves and hills above the village and although the leopards’ colouring blends in with the rocks, sightings of the female leopards are not uncommon.
A lot less common are sightings of leopard cubs, so I was extremely fortunate to be taken by one of the local drivers to a position on a neighbouring hill where I could see the cub come out of its cave with its mother and watch its antics.
It was a joy to see it having fun exploring and playing with its mother. This image Mother and Cub Chase was taken when the cub was probably getting a bit too adventurous!
Helen Otton LRPS
I have been a member of the RPS for approximately nine years and am currently a member of both the Digital Imaging and Landscape groups. I don’t feel I have any particular style and take images of what catches my eye and interests me at the time, although floral images are something I come back to, particularly when the weather is poor.
Petal Ballerina is a combination of 10 images focus stacked in camera using a white background and table top. Two separate background layers were made, both taking colours from the original image. After trying a few different papers I used a Hahnemuhle PhotoRag as this gave the finish I was looking for.
Lynda Piper
Petal Ballerina
Steve Reynolds ARPS
Questions in Relationships
The image, Questions in Relationships, was part of a mental health project I have been doing. The aim was to highlight how communication or lack of it can affect our mental health.
As human beings we are hard wired to interact with others but that interaction can become complicated and unclear unless we are able to express how we feel and ask the right questions to clarify a problematic situation. It was shoot in a studio and I converted the image to black and white to simplify and not distract with colour. The make-up artist is also one of the models.
Saatchi Stairs
I took some images of the stairs at the Saatchi Gallery when I attended an exhibition back in the summer. Only a photographer would see the potential of staircases such as these when visiting the facilities!
I start my processing workflow in Lightroom, in this case I started with Transform to correct the perspective distortion. I added more structure to the image to bring out the textures, the wall materials and concrete and to create a gritty effect. I then enhanced the colours in the glass, I decided to use another section of the image to show a closeup of the detail and used that to form ‘bookends’ to frame the staircase in my triptych.
I tried a few different papers before deciding on a basic matt paper.
Melanie Chalk ARPS
Smart Move
Is having this image selected a message that I should work to my strengths? In another life I’m a traffic engineer and road safety engineer. And here I am with an image of line markings being selected – albeit at an airport and not on a road. Our plane was sitting on the tarmac at Cairns Airport in northern Queensland and I noticed the well-placed pattern of lines. It was then a case of waiting for one of those baggage tractor drivers to do the right thing and enter the scene from right to left.
I am currently the Convenor of the RPS Australian Chapter. My photographic interests include landscape and street photography. With landscape some forward planning is usually an advantage, including where to photograph and at what time of year or hour of the day. But for me it’s often a case with either genre of simply being present to opportunities that arise, and then being able to pre-visualise an image that hopefully is about to unfold.
Rob Morgan ARPS (AUS)
Swan Lake
Music is the inspiration behind much of my composite work. When I hear a piece my mind creates a vivid video-like scene inside my head, providing the foundation for my artistic vision.
In the studio I bring this vision to life by playing the music for my model, describing the emotions and imagery I want to capture. The model then embodies my imagined scene, moving in harmony with the music as I shoot
For Swan Lake, I already had a striking background image of massed swans from The Swannery at Abbotsbury, Dorset, waiting in my photo library. To complement it I sourced a delicate flowing white dress. As the model moved gracefully around the studio she became the essence of a swan, embodying its elegance and fluidity.
The post-processing stage involved layering multiple elements -adding wisps of pink voile and even an entirely white overlay to enhance the ethereal, high-key dreamlike quality of the final piece.
My choice of Permajet Portrait White paper further enhanced the tone and gentle texture of this image.
Janet Haines ARPS
Norman Wiles LRPS Taj photographer
I have always wanted to see the Taj Mahal at dawn. Then the opportunity came when I visited Rajasthan in 2017.
One morning it was arranged for a visit at this time of the morning. It was cold, and I had to wait an hour or more. With my guide, I was first in the queue to enter and, as soon as dawn breaks at about 07.00, the gates are opened. My instructions were, ‘Follow me!’, and I was taken to the exact spot I wanted to photograph this enigmatic building before anyone could enter the scene. It was magical!
And so, recently, I decided to edit the photograph again, and try to capture that elusive light and the feeling of magic that the monument evokes. I cropped the view slightly, and used a vertical ‘motion blur’ to create intentional camera movement and the atmosphere I wanted. I introduced the ‘photographer’, then added a canvas-textured layer, and then a white layer, as per that doyen Irene Froy who had inspired me to try this at one of her talks.
From that I reduced the colour by changing the image to black and white with Silver Efex, adding a luminosity blend and then ‘bleeding’ back the colour slightly.
The Foot Of The Fall
I took this picture in October 2024 at the Melincourt waterfall, near Neath in South Wales. There had been a good deal of rain the night before, but the day was fine, though not sunny. It was towards the end of the afternoon and starting to become a little gloomy at the head of the gorge.
In terms of light and composition, it seemed a good idea to concentrate on the bottom of the fall where the water was focusing attention on the large, wedge-shaped rock.
I took the shot on a tripod with my Canon 6D Mark II – 0.4 seconds at f/11, 105mm, ISO 200, just slowing down the effect of the water a little bit. In colour, the rocks look quite an unpleasantly muddy brown, so I think monochrome creates a cleaner, more dramatic image. For the print I used Fotospeed Platinum Baryta 300 paper.
David Alderson LRPS
The Pink Umbrella
I am a British expat living in the beautiful Catskill Mountains of Upstate New York. I have been an active member of the RPS since 2015 and edit the Landscape Group magazine. My photography has evolved over the last ten years to be less representational and more creative and I enjoy using ICM and ICME techniques as well as applied processing in post to make photographic art rather than a straight photograph. The Pink Umbrella was taken in April of 2024 when I was shooting in New York City for the T-W-T on Cityscapes run jointly by Digital Imaging and Landscape Group. I had planned to meet another NY-based RPS member on a particular day long planned. The day turned out to be one of a torrential unbroken downpour, so much so that we decided that no amount of weather proofing on our cameras would be enough to protect them so we decided instead to do the whole shoot on our phones. I’m a big fan of the Slower Shutter app and this is what I used to take the photo. We were in the Ground Zero area standing by the sunken monument when a gaggle of Chinese tourists all wearing yellow cagouls and carrying a variety of brightly coloured umbrellas. The lady with the pink umbrella was a lucky decisive moment and I captured her with two or three layered images in the App. The scene was enhanced by the reflections of the street lights in the sodden pavements.
Candia Peterson ARPS (USA)
Susan Hendrick
The Wave
To me, photography is not just about producing beautiful images, but a way to extend my imagination and to create a style of my own. I try to go beyond the constraints of the visible world, using mundane objects such as wood water and sand. Looking through the lens can sometimes incorporate different colours textures and imaginary landscapes. That can only be seen close up.
Although I have titled this image The Wave it is actually sea foam. In winter the sea gets agitated by the wind and the waves, causing foam to blow from the shore line onto the beach. The wind plays with the foam as it sits in small pools of sea water creating different patterns similar to its surroundings. This is where I managed to capture this image.
The Word
I’m an amateur photographer from the north east of England who’s drawn to the simple and minimal things in life and this is also true in my photography.
My subjects include nature, architecture, still life and also creating my own art using composite images, but in all of these I’m looking for a simple final image.
My photograph The Word was taken in the National Centre for the Written Word, an impressive round building in South Shields on the River Tyne.
It’s a view of the upper floors from ground level, which I hope portrays how the building has been designed with beautiful sweeping curves and the use of a soft colour wash.
Linda McGregor
Up and Gone
My wife and I were in a hotel chalet room during a photographic trip to Costa Rica. The alarm rang, my wife rose immediately, pulled back the curtains and went to the bathroom. A minute or two later I also climbed out of bed and immediately noticed the soft morning light streaming through the net curtains. Captivated by the lighting I grabbed my camera which I’d left out on the table overnight, positioned myself, framed the composition and pressed the shutter release, all in a few seconds. Almost a grab shot! Only later did I realise how I had captured the atmosphere of that moment. I particularly like this image not just because of the beautiful light, but because it invites the viewer to make up their own story about the circumstances – who has gone, where and why? Post processing was largely in Lightroom with both global and local adjustment to exposure, shadows and highlights, then some minor tweaks and healing tool in Photoshop.
