3 Send us your shots and star in our photo gallery
Digital Camera readers show us how they’ve been getting creative at home
‘Circle of Tangents’ by Peter Baker
“This was taken for a camera club competition titled ‘Pasta’. I wanted something more eye-catching than regular photos of food on a plate. I started by taking shots above a jar of spaghetti, which captured little more than the chopped ends, so I tried smaller and smaller containers – each one letting the spaghetti fall at a different angle. This shot suggests a bend in the straight spaghetti, and reminds me of the Mathematical
Bridge in Cambridge, with its straight pieces of wood forming a curve of tangents. For lighting, I fired a flash down a rolled black card. I added a vignette during the editing stage, and dodged and burned to enhance the 3D effect.”
Digital Camera says: What a distinctive image, Peter. Using the darker background massively enhances the main subject. The square-on angle leads the eye directly to the centre.
‘Night and Day’ by Steven Clark
“I took this picture on a quiet Wednesday night in the centre of Manchester. I wanted to capture how nightlife had been affected by the coronavirus, with people wanting to socialise but having to sit outside in the cold. I did a quick edit in Lightroom, just to make the neon signage pop a little. I’m really happy with the shot; there’s not much I’d change if I took it again.”
Digital Camera says: Balancing the light in night photography can be tricky at the best of times. Steven has done a grand job here, with an exposure that gives plenty of detail across the image, but most importantly on the subjects’ faces. The pleasing edit gives it a slightly futuristic tone, and the dark edges create a natural border, almost making the shop inside the main focus of the image.
‘Lockdown Delivery’ by Gordon Baird
“My wife brought the small shopping trolley home as a prop, then I popped over to a local nature reserve, Morton Lochs in Fife. I set it up and waited for the squirrel to take an interest. He kept his distance at first, but the smell of the nuts must have been irresistible, so he approached and started collecting some for winter. I shot the image with my Canon EOS 5D Mark III and my 30-year-old Canon EF 600mm f/4 – it’s still an incredible lens to shoot with. In editing, a bit of a sharpen and a small lift to the saturation was all that was required.”
Digital Camera says: This must have been a fun afternoon out, Gordon. Well done on patiently waiting for the squirrel to interact with your props. A beautiful blurred background with complementary colours finishes off the image nicely. A tighter crop could possibly draw us in further.