Mono

This image was made in honour of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and we think it’s a masterpiece in its own right. It’s beautifully lit, with the delicate, plaid details on the white dress conveyed evenly and subtly. But it’s the subject’s pose that really makes this image stand out. The figure has been captured while dancing, with part of the dress obscuring the face. The result is an air of mystery and tension. A fine photo indeed.

Rim lighting has been used to subtly trace around the contours of the body to create this fine-art portrait. Rather than positioning the lights directly behind the subject, it looks like they have been positioned slightly to one side, to create thicker and softer bands of light. An excellent image.

This image was captured during a festival in India’s West Bengal. Getting directly above the subject for a top-down view was crucial, as was the decision to crop out any external distractions. The result is a tessellation-like effect, with no perceivable ending. An excellent image!

We love the graphic art style of this fine-art architecture close up. The tonal range between the bright whites and rich blacks really helps the lines and patterns of this image come to the forefront. An excellent architectural abstract image.

This is a creative concept. Turning a favourite London scene into a dystopian future. The gas masks were added in post, and while the mono conversion looks fantastic in its own right, it’s also cleverly used to blend this composite together.

This is an inherently busy image, but the shallow depth of field and mono conversion work together to nullify distractions, allowing the viewer to focus on the man in the foreground, before the eye takes in the wider narrative. A great image!

The viewer is able to focus on the incredible patterns, shapes and lines present within the interior of this magnificent venue, thanks to this black and white conversion. Symmetry is key here and the image is framed to perfection. A great image!

We like how this image has used clever framing and a black-and-white conversion to isolate the two boxers. Both the ring, referee and crowd have been omitted, only the decisive knockout punch has been captured. The way the lighting has back-lit beads of sweat and spittal, really hammers home the ferocity of the connecting punch.

Black and white imagery is a favourite of fine art architecture photographers and this image displays why. No colourful distractions allow the viewer to focus purely on the buildings' shapes and lines, which have been cleanly rendered in this excellent image.

This portrait was captured at a reenactment event. Smoke machines – used in the room below – caused a gentle haze to seep through the floorboards, revealing shafts of light. It’s framed beautifully and the mono conversion displays a great tonal range from rich blacks to bright whites.

This ballet dancer has been captured mid leap, dress billowing in the air. The intense motion is frozen sharp and the subject’s face is in focus. At 1/160 sec, it would appear that a pop of flash was used to help freeze the dancer. The movement and timing was just right so the billowing dress doesn’t obscure the subject’s features. A technical image of a technical subject, both executed beautifully.

This image of a lone figure walking up some stairs was captured in the Danish Architecture Center, Copenhagen. We love the creative motion-blur effect, produced in post. The result is known as the Adamski effect, named after Josh Adamski who uses the technique extensively in his work.

This image of Dovercourt Low Lighthouse has used its mono conversion to quell any colourful distractions. A long exposure has created a graphic-art effect by blurring both sea and sky, devoiding them of texture. While the lighthouse stands isolated, surrounded by negative space.

The lone figure in this image of Somerset’s Brean Down provides a sense of scale and a feeling of isolation. We like how the darkest shadows have been rendered entirely black – removing the beach from the equation – so the viewer can focus on both the figure, and patterns created by the sea.

This fine-art portrait has a surreal quality, thanks to the tea urn and flying helmet. A stepladder was used to get high above the subject and shoot downward with a 50mm prime. A combination of the top-down angle, confinement of the tea urn, and the subject’s curled-up positioning, place the viewer in an uncomfortable position of power.