Autumn

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more creative image than this. The pressed flowers were placed on a light board, backlighting the translucent petals to highlight their textures and veins. An aperture of f/8 ensured crisp sharpness and a standard focal length mitigated lens distortions. The finishing touch was the overlaying of textures in post to create a painterly look.

At 24mm Mount Fuji was too far away to fill the frame, so we love this creative composition, using a frame within a frame to draw the viewer directly towards the subject. The Japanese maple tree has been used to obscure the sun and prevent lens flare and the gorgeous colours have been teased out expertly in post-production.

This image mitigates a busy background and a large depth of field by including the white pony for contrast and the early morning light to provide separation. We love the contrast between the golden highlights and the rich shadows. A great shot!

You’d be hard pressed to find a more striking example of autumnal hues than this fantastic image of a male ring-necked Pheasant. The morning rays have created a liquid-gold rim light and the fallen leaves, paired with a wide-open 500mm focal length have blurred into a treasure trove of bokeh.

We just love the colour grading of this image. The cool water contrasts beautifully with the warm, russet hues. The tree canopy and leaves frame the waterfall, which has been beautifully blurred via a two-second shutter speed. An excellent image!

This image of the Dolomites’ Val Pesarina is striking for two reasons: light and layers. The soft, stunning pink light avoids harsh shadows and gently highlights the craggy landscape and autumnal trees. While the row of trees, mountainous landscape behind and sky all layer on top of one another to create a real sense of depth.

A golden leaf is symbolic of autumn and this still life is an excellent concept that’s been beautifully executed. A glass surface was used to create the reflection and we like how the image has been angled so the glass fills the entire frame, forming a seamless backdrop. The final touch is one of the most tasteful examples of colour popping we’ve ever seen. Well done!

A stag with a crown of bracken is the photograph every photographer wants to get when capturing Richmond Park’s most famous occupants. The clean, blurry background and foreground interest helps to isolate the subject and although the nose is hidden, the eye is crucially visible and sharp.

Even if you’re not a fan of spiders, you can’t deny that this little chap looks rather cute. The viewer is immediately drawn to the sharp eyes, while the leaf behind blurs into obscurity creating a beautiful, clean backdrop. We also like the use of negative space on the right portion of the frame, allowing the image to breathe.

The letterbox shape of two deer engaged in a clash isn’t easy to compose, but this image has managed it beautifully. Both reindeer fill the frame and the angle is such that we can see both animal’s faces, with a crucially sharp eye to provide a focal point.

We love the red hues throughout this attractive abstract. The 3/5 sec shutter speed has perfectly blurred the trees into thin streaks and the addition of the sharp tree provides a clear focal point. The result is a painterly masterpiece. Well done!

This is one of the most striking examples of an aurora we’ve ever seen. It was captured in the middle of a 70-mph storm and falling snow, so we’re impressed by the sharpness. The noise reduction is also top notch, but it’s perhaps the post-processing that we like most, managing to make the green hues really pop, without overpowering the rest of the image.

This painterly still life looks to be inspired by the Dutch Masters. The Rembrandt lighting pulls the subject from the background while retaining rich shadows. The slight backlighting has shone through the translucent leaf displaying its beautiful textures. A great image!

This incredible looking image is a mushroom photography masterclass. The low-down angle was used to capture the gills on the underside of the caps. Focus stacking was also used to render the subject’s sharp from front to back, while still allowing for a creamy, bokeh-filled background.