READER LOCKDOWN GALLERY

Our readers show us how they’ve been getting creative at home.

Digital Camera readers are continuing to banish the lockdown blues! Here’s the latest selection of your creative captures to arrive.

1 ‘My Spoons Runneth Over’ by Peter Baker

“Searching for inspiration for a camera club competition entry, I spotted a picture with a spoon being tipped and syrup starting to overflow. From there it was a short leap to one spoon with syrup being poured into it and overflowing, but it looked a little empty, so I built up the frame from there. My wife helped me overcome the challenge of all the things that had to be held: three spoons, a syrup bottle, a flash and a remote trigger.”

TechLife says: From the top of the frame to the bottom, this is a very wellexecuted image. Aside from the meticulous composition, with the spoons all arranged at complementary angles, and the even lighting, which Peter set up without blowing any highlights, there’s the not-insignificant factor of the syrup. To have successfully managed to cascade the syrup in the manner of a champagne waterfall must have been difficult, but looking at the results, it was time well spent.

2 ‘Eric’ by Steev Stamford

“I’ve found a few dead bees of late – the recent wet and windy weather certainly hasn’t helped them. This one, actually a white-tailed bumble bee and obviously called Eric, had only recently fallen off his perch and became the model.

“I live on a boat, so space is at a premium and ingenuity is called for. The camera was on a tripod, tethered to my computer via Helicon Remote. Eric was balanced on top of this red clover head, which was in turn clamped in a tabletop vice, balanced on a second tripod. The backdrop is an Asda re-usable carrier bag, thrown soft by depth of field. It needed six shots to get the required depth of field on Eric and the clover. All the merging and editing was done in Creative Cloud.”

TechLife says: Steev has given poor Eric a decent send-off with this image. It’s a pose that the departed bee would undoubtedly have been happy with – busy doing what nature intended. Steev has used his props very well, corralling items like a vice, a tripod and a plastic carrier bag to achieve the look he wanted. With a defocused background deployed as a watercolour-like wash, you’d never guess this image was taken indoors.

3 ‘Dreams’ by Gregor Morrison

“This photo was taken at the height of lockdown as part of a larger project called ‘Covid-19 Collection’. What have we become? Socially inept, we live among the ether, connected solely through the airwaves, and dream of a world so connected that we are lost within it.

“I like the fact that there are no faces; even the billboard model is turned away, mocking the awkwardness of society.”

TechLife says: This image captures a very well-observed scene that really sums up lockdown. Framed in black, the mannequins have no faces and stand stiffly upright instead of striking a pose – their anonymity is echoed in the pedestrian wrapped up against the weather (or more likely, the virus). The symmetrical composition works well, and the use of monochrome is decisive.

4 ‘Raindrops with Beautiful Blossom Flower’ by Samantha Clayton

“This was taken in my own garden on my Samsung Galaxy S20+ smartphone, using natural light. The exposure was 1/140 sec at f/1.8, ISO 50. I shot a series of images on the day and was happy with all of them. I don’t think I would change anything about this photo if I shot it again.”

TechLife says: Who needs to leave the house these days to take great photographs? It’s easy to overlook appreciating what we have on our doorsteps, but lockdown has forced us to reappraise that. This is our favourite shot from the three images that Samantha submitted. Closely cropped, the composition of the content means you don’t need to see the whole of the surrounding plant; the green leaves cradle the purple flower comfortingly, and the water droplets hint at nature’s vitality and purity. A cracking cameraphone photograph.

5 ‘River Scene’ by Craig Blackley

“I didn’t plan this shot – I was on my way back from another spot, but this opportunity was too good not to capture. Everything seemed to work perfectly together – the clear reflections, the low soft sunlight beaming on the buildings, and the calmness of the water. I shot at eye level as this position included every detail that I wanted, like the tree on the left-hand side and its reflection.”

TechLife says: Next to the pleasing golden light illuminating the scene, the reflection of the buildings in the still water is the standout feature of this image. There isn’t a ripple to be seen – it’s serenity you can get lost in.

6 ‘Stanley’ by Jay Bennett

“I have been shooting many subjects close to home recently, as we all have. This is a shot of my cat Stanley, who I was inspired to shoot in manual mode. I use an Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera, and added an extension tube to get this shot. Stanley cooperated and looked straight down the lens; I hope I have managed to capture his mischevious character.”

TechLife says: You’ve certainly captured that, Jay, and we can see why you’d want to photograph such a handsome tabby cat. The tight crop (if we’re being picky, we’d like to have seen the right-hand side of the frame extended slightly) means that the viewer can only get a sense of Stanley’s nature from his eyes. But that’s all we need: from them we’re certainly getting the feline that he’s a bit of a rascal.

7 ‘Line Dancing’ by Barton Dolding

“Stuck in lockdown in my 80s, there is little chance of using my Canon Powershot G5 X. This scene just caught my eye when I went to get my washing in – I hadn’t intended photographing it. During my working life I dressed window displays, and I think this helps me when composing photos.”

TechLife says: We’re so glad to hear that you’re keeping your eye in during lockdown, Barton. This is a fun and playful shot – you’ve captured the detail in the wooden pegs in the foreground, and the rest of the image is pleasingly defocused. You can’t help but think of a float of snapping crocodiles at feeding time!

8 ‘Golden Grass and Lighthouse’ by Beata Siemieniuk

“I was late for the sunset, so decided to come back for golden hour. I wanted to capture more detail, including the lighthouse, so shot three photos and merged them in Lightroom afterwards.”

TechLife says: This is an image of two halves, cleaved in two by a line running diagonally from top right to bottom left. In fact, it almost calls to mind two seasons in one day: winter on the left, and summer on the right. It’s all separated by the lighthouse – sidelit with a half-halo by the golden sun, that makes it stand out from the sea.

9 ‘Mosquito’s Rest’ by Jari Järvinen

“I took this on an iPhone with an iOgrapher macro lens. The metal tube is in our garden, and we’re planning to install garden lights in it when we get around to it. The top of the tube was open, and the mosquito found it a good place to rest his wings. I couldn’t find the lens clip, so I had to hold the lens to the phone with my fingers.”

TechLife says: Another great shot on a cameraphone! The off-centre framing of the subject and the fall-off in focus behind the mosquito invites the question: is it going to fall into the murky hole? And if it wasn’t for the floor in the background, what is this mysterious structure we’re looking at? A conversion to mono would add even more intrigue to this image.