Extreme exposure

An extreme exposure of extreme exposure. Faced with such challenging conditions it's a wonder that the photographer managed to come back with a sharp shot, let alone one that's been so well composed and exposed. There's an eerie, end of the Earth feel to the image, helped considerably by the low-key exposure, long shadows and heavy vignette. The backlighting on the spindrift is beautiful, too. The photographer set out to capture the struggle involved in ascending the Vajnež mountain, and they've succeeded admirably.

Such an evocative image of autumn. It takes a keen eye to spot the photographic potential in such a subdued scene and the photographer has used a low-key treatment to great effect for this shot of Ashridge Forest. The break in the trees forms a natural focal point, drawing the eye into the picture, while the cool colour finish enhances the misty morning mood. It's the dark exposure that's brought out the best in the scene, though; bringing up the brightness to the 'correct' value delivers an image with far less appeal.

A great example of a high-key exposure. While it's relatively easy to tweak the tones of any photograph in order to make it appear more high-key or low-key in nature, the result can sometimes look rather artificial and jarring. But here, the high-key treatment is central to the concept behind the image. While some Photoshop corrections were inevitable in order to bring the image closer to the one that the photographer had in mind, these have been carried out with a light touch.