Inside places of worship

Some images are composed for a given (learned) meaning that they contain. Here, the photograph has been constructed around the words (and symbols) as direct signifiers and not for their compositional or aesthetic merit as photographs. On that very basic level, the frame is off-centre and although the photographer has attempted to make a reasonably symmetrical frame, the overall effect is marred.

This is very well done, if a little formal in its arrangement. A really decent exposure helped buy the sun's rays nicely captured with the figure placed harmoniously with both the idol and the wall. Tricky exposure to balance highlights here and the dark interior but a careful metering and a (well-supported) low shutter speed has meant that a good balance has been struck between detail and mood. Well done.

I think that this is rather excellent. Spaces like this are very tricky to expose correctly and this effort combines a reasonable rendering of shadow and highlight. More importantly it nods by the clear delineation of the figure and the tilt of the head to a meditative, silent reflection on the (potentially) disharmony of the elements within the frame. The simplicity however means that we can peruse the elements carefully. Well done.

Sometimes less is more and this almost monochrome effort is a perfect example of that. A really carefully composed and exposed frame tells the viewer all they need to know about this cathedral and indeed the elegance of the columns is reflected in the overall harmony of the image. Well done.

Sometimes the difference in construction between a decent photograph and a good one is noticing and paying attention. Here, a very simple frame of something quite ordinary is transformed by thinking about composition and a unique angle. An excellent, intriguing and thoughtful submission that in many ways subverts the theme and asks as many visual questions as it answers. I particularly like the almost secular connotation here but one that might also speak to a quiet spirituality. Well done.

This is such a lovely idea but its rendering is spoilt by its exposure. When there's this much time to make an exposure, you really must get it right - the highlights here are blowing and just a more careful reading would have solved that. A hand meter is always a good idea and is far more trustworthy than the camera and its decisions. Keep pushing because as I say, this is a lovey image.

I think that as the caption suggests, patience has paid off here and the line of the shadow I perfectly executed to bring out the contrast with the candles jars and rosary. This is one of the simplest images to brief but one of the most effective and evocative because of that. The monochrome of the frame certainly concentrates the mind on what we are contemplating and a careful exposure means that we see clearly what we are meant to. Well done.

This is very nicely done. I like the placing of the figure and I like the arch shapes illumined by the sunlight. The exposure feels a bit 'thin' however and a spot metering on the figures face might have rendered this better and not underexposed the sunlight on the stone. I'd probably have bumped up the ASA too to give a bit more latitude: shooting anything at 1/30th is going to result in a less than tack-sharp frame. Still, a great effort.

This is a really good idea and it's well seen. What I like are the arches and their different patterns that lead us through to the hanging light. My only issue is with that light that feels a little too bright and I'd have been tempted to cut the exposure by a stop or even more to try and take don the glare. That said, this is a well conceived image. Nicely done.

This is a really nice effort, ever so slightly marred by lens flare. Lens flare happens when direct light bounces around within the lens elements. Often simply moving slightly or cupping your hand over the lens so casting a shadow can block this unwanted effect. It's still a good image and although it's shot on a phone, reasonably well exposed. Well done.

Sometimes things frame up for us as photographers and sometimes they don't. Here is an example of something almost doing that. This is a strong frame that is, as one would expect in a mosque, boldly graphic and I like the elements like the fan, its lead. However, there is a really annoying vertical line that leads straight into the figure's head. You're responsible for every inch of the frame and so you really have to scan well before you press the shutter and consider potentially distracting elements. A half step to the left or right would have remedied this. Good attempt though.

This is a really rather good effort. I like very much the choice of the low angle and, as always it's a truism that good photographers have dirty knees... However, what marks this effort is the exposure. These spaces are always tricky to record perfectly and here the highlights are perhaps a stop or two underexposed. There is really no way to correct this apart from careful metering. A good effort however.

This is a photograph - rather imperfectly exposed and inevitably cropped - that somehow transcends the brief and gives us a glimpse of the life spiritual through imagery. Sometimes images allow us to reflect on the affect that they conjure and here, the incense and the cross - and the judicious use of a wide aperture - has allowed the viewer to enter into an almost scared moment. Well done.

There's a beautiful simplicity to this and, apposite to the subject matter, a reflective sense of moment that is well captured. I'd perhaps have like to have seen the compete chair on the right but in some sense, that lack of symmetry is rather endearing and, again apposite to the image, to err is human... Well done.

This is potentially, despite it being shot on a phone, a really interesting image. However, compositionally and in terms of timing, it doesn't quite come off. The figure to the left is only half captured and the man on the right bending makes an ugly shape. Sometimes the only thing to do is wait and compose calmly and I think that this image might have benefitted from that.