This version of ‘The Escape’ was created for inclusion in my successful panel for a Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society.

The version is based on the original exhibition image of The Escape but it has been reworked to remove the layers which misaligned parts of the image to create a feeling of an earthquake, and new layers have been added to adjust and re-tone the image to fit in with the other images in the Fellowship Panel.

It was taken in Havana in 2011.

I really liked the way the boy had a slight amount of motion blur and I wanted to create a feeling of his escaping from the frame (see the original image below)

After cropping the image so that it was square, I used Photoshop Transform to correct the horizontals and verticals, followed by Nik Glamour Glow to give a slightly dreamy feel. The latter was removed from the stairs and the boy himself using a layer mask. I then used Nik Viveza filters to change the lighting to move the emphasis to the top left-hand corner of the image to create a feeling that he was escaping from the darkness into the light.

Further adjustments were carried out using a combination of Cloning, Viveza, Nik Darken/Lighten Centre, Glamour Glow, Hue/Saturation, Levels, Curves, Selective Colour, and a Bleach Bypass layer to give the image an ‘edginess’, removing the effect in places using a layer mask. Finally, it was sharpened using the High Pass Filter.

This image has been accepted for 157th Edinburgh International Exhibition of Photography 2019, the 7^th Cheltenham International Salon of Photography 2019 and 76th Bristol International Salon of Photography 2022.

Nikon D700, 28-300mm lens at 28mm, ISO 3200, f/11, 1/60sec

You can see the original exhibition image of The Escape at http://bit.ly/theescape1 and my successful FRPS Panel at http://bit.ly/DFCFRPS

This was taken on a San Francisco Bay ferry just as we were arriving at the terminal. The man was one of the crew getting ready for the boat to be tied up to quay (See original image below). I thought it would make a good image and took several shots. I thought this one had the best composition.

Post Capture manipulation consisted of cropping to a square format followed by the NIK Midnight filter to give it a dark feel, with the effect being removed from the man using a layer mask. Darken / Lighten Centre was used to change the lighting and the Glamour Glow filter gave the image a slightly dreamy feel. The texture is a shot of water running down the outside of a glass dome and was taken at the San Francisco Aquarium. The NIK Paper Toner filter was used to change the image to monochrome, as before, the effect was removed from the man using a layer mask. A series of Viveza, Brightness/Contrast and Hue/Saturation filters were used to adjust the lighting to the way I wanted it and, finally, it was sharpened using the High Pass Filter.

This image has been accepted for the Cyprus International Digital Photo 2019 Competition (Cyprus), the 47th Photographic Society of New York International Salon of Photography 2019 (USA) and 41st Welsh International Salon of Photography 2019 (Wales

Nikon D800, 85 mm Nikkor prime lens, ISO 125, f/1.8, 1/8000 sec

This was shot in the lobby area of a hotel I was staying at. I noticed the two chairs by the entrance and that people often sat there to work. I took this shot of the two people who were engaged with their work one on the phone and the other on their computer (see original image below).

Post capture manipulation consisted firstly of cropping to a square format to get the composition I was looking for. The main work on the image was to clone out the plant in the top left of the image and the power socket on the wall, together with cloning to extend the wall to remove the light area on the right-hand side.

A texture layer of an old wall in a church I had photographed was added and a layer mask was used partially to remove the effect from the two people. A Hue/ Saturation layer was used to reduce the saturation and a series of Nik Viveza layers together with a Darken/ Lighten Centre layer were used to adjust the lighting to the way I wanted it. Finally the image was sharpened using a high/pass filter.

This image has had five international acceptances including the TAFKLUB International Digital Salon 2017 (South Africa), the 7^th Cheltenham International Salon of Photography 2019 (England) and the 70th Midland Salon of International Photography 2019 (England)

Nikon D810, 85 mm Nikkor prime lens, ISO 1250, f/2.8, 1/250 sec.

This image was taken on our trip to Seville in April 2016. There were a number of people sitting in the open upstairs windows of a tall building, either talking to each other or, in this case writing. I liked the boy’s concentration and the fact that he was using pen and paper rather than a mobile phone.

As you will see from the original (below), the window is much higher than in the final image and, after using the Transform tool to straighten it up, the major part of post-production was to lower the top of the window to make it square. This, I felt, made for a much more pleasing image. The transformation was done by selection an area at the top of the window, copying it into a new later and using the Photoshop Move tool to drag it down to where I wanted it. The clone and Healing Brush tools were used to tie it all up and to disguise the join. Further work consisted of Viveza, Darken /Lighten Centre and Levels to adjust the lighting and Paper Toner to convert the image to monochrome. Finally, the boy was sharpened selectively using the High Pass Filter.

This image has been accepted at 43^rd Smethwick International Exhibition of Photography 2017 (England), the 96th Scottish International Salon of Photography 2019 (Scotland) and 47th Photographic Society of New York International Salon of Photography 2019 (USA)

Nikon D810, 50 mm Sigma Art prime lens, ISO 100, f/1.4, 1/2500 sec

This shot was taken on the London Underground. We had just got off the train and I noticed this couple walking in one of the side tunnels. I liked the flow of the curves and took the several shots in a burst.  I chose this one as being the best composition but replaced the reflection in the mirror with that from a shot taken slightly later as it reflected the people and made for a better finished image.

I wanted to give the image a dreamy feel with a sense of motion of the people walking away from me.

The tiles on the tunnel were bright yellow and orange (see original image below) so, firstly, I desaturated the image. I then used NIK Glamour Glow to give the dreamy feel and then Viveza to remove the slight yellow tones which remained in the image. Motion blur was added to give the slight sense of motion. This was followed with bleach by-pass and film grain to give the texture I wanted. A clone layer was used to remove minor distractions and Viveza was used to make final adjustments to the lighting. Finally, the image was sharpened using the Photoshop High Pass filter.

This image has had 4 International acceptances including 65th Midland Salon of International Photography 2015 (England) and The Indian Golden Digital Circuit Digifocus 2013 (Barrackpore, India)

Nikon D800, 28mm Nikkor Prime lens, ISO 1400, f/2.8, 1/125 sec

This shot was taken at a RHS garden show in Cardiff. I noticed the girl looked a little forlorn and, with only part of the inscription on the bench showing the word ‘Down’, I thought it made a good image (See original image below).

After cropping to a square format, the Paper Toner Nik filter was used to convert the image to a sepia tone with a layer mask to remove the effect from the girl’s face. The Glamour Glow filter was then applied to give it an ethereal quality and a series of darken/lighten centre and Viveza filters was used to adjust the lighting. Minor distractions were removed with the clone tool. I added textures I had taken in Cuba and Morocco and, finally, the girl’s face was sharpened selectively using the High Pass filter with a layer mask.

This image has had 13 International acceptances including 43rd Photographic Society of New York International Salon of Color Photography 2015 (USA), Tallaght International Salon of Photographic Art 2015 (Ireland), Bristol Salon of Photography 2016 (England) and 2nd Swedish International Small Print Exhibition 2016 (Sweden).

Nikon D800, 28 – 300mm Nikkor lens at 230mm, ISO 1250, f/8, 1/640 sec

This was taken in 2013 on one of our trips to Northumberland. I was struck by the fact that the woman was sitting reading her book with the beam of light from the window falling directly onto her (see the original image below). I took as several shots and I liked this one because of the triangle formed by the three people which, I thought, made the best composition.

Post capture manipulation consisted, firstly, of cropping the image to a square format. There was still an extra person on the extreme right hand side of the frame. I added a layer of another shot I had taken which did not have anyone in that area and I used a layer mask to remove him.

Further treatment used Glamour Glow to give the image a slightly dreamy feel, Viveza to adjust the lighting, Vibrance to adjust the Vibrance and Saturation and Clone layers to remove minor distractions. I also used use a Paper Toner layer with a layer mask to get the colour the way I wanted it. The textures are images I had taken of cracked soil and of a wall in Rome. A layer mask was used to remove the texture from the three people in the image. Finally, it was sharpened using the High Pass Filter.

This image has had seven international acceptances including the 123rd Toronto International Salon of Photography 2016 (Canada) and the 70th Midland Salon of International Photography 2019 (England)

Nikon D800, 50 mm Nikkor prime lens, ISO 200, f/1.4, 1/250 sec.

This was taken in Rome on our holiday there in July 2012. I noticed the group of people in a small Gelateria just off the main road and I thought it would make a good image.

You will see, from the original image (below), that the arm, foot and part of the head of a third person who, apart from that, is hidden from view, is apparent on the right hand side of the image. I used the clone tool to remove these.

Other post capture manipulation consisted of cropping to a square format, followed by Glamour Glow to give the image a slightly dreamy effect, Viveza and Darken / Lighten Centre to adjust the lighting, Vibrance to adjust the saturation, and further Clone layers to remove minor distractions. I also used the Nik Paper Toner filter to convert the image to monochrome and I reduced the opacity of the layer to bring back some of the colour. Finally, the woman at the table was sharpened using the High Pass filter and a layer mask was used to remove the sharpening from the rest of the image.

It has had 6 international Salon acceptances including 66th Midland Salon of International 2016 (England), Sydney Harbour International 2015 (Australia), 10th International Exhibition of Photography Ecological Truth 2015 – Zajecar (Serbia) and 42nd Smethwick International Exhibition (2016) (England).

Nikon D810, Nikkor 50mm prime lens, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1250 sec

This image is from my trip to Barcelona in November 2015. It was taken in a small restaurant and I was drawn to the interaction between two members of the staff, one shown here and another out of frame in this image. I took several shots and chose this one as having the most interesting expression on the woman’s face. (See the original image below).

Post capture manipulation consisted of cropping to a square format followed by Hue/Saturation to desaturate the image somewhat. This was followed by Glamour Glow to give the image a slightly dreamy effect, with a layer mask to remove the effect from the woman. Brightness/Contrast was then used to darken the image, again with a layer mask to remove the effect from the woman. The Analogue Nik Filter gave the effect I wanted and Paper Toner was used to convert the image to monochrome. A series of Viveza and Levels layers, together with Darken/Lighten Centre, were used to adjust the lighting. A number of Clone layers were used also to remove minor distractions.

This image has had international acceptances at the 3rd Africa Photographic Awards 2017, 7th Cheltenham International Salon of Photography 2019 (England), Cyprus International Digital Photo Competition 2019 (Cyprus), 1^st Edinburgh Photographic Society Digital Salon 2021 (Scotland) and it won a bronze medal at the 2^nd Swedish International Small Print Exhibition 2016.

Nikon D810, Nikkor 50mm prime lens, ISO 3200, f/2.8, 1/160 sec.

This shot was captured at the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona in November 2015. I was attracted by the different expressions on people’s faces as they looked at the building (See the original image below).

Post capture manipulation consisted of cropping to a square format to isolate the group of four people I found the most interesting. A Gaussian Blur filter, together with a layer mask to bring back the details of the faces and isolate them from the background, was then used. This was followed by the Nik Film Grain filter to add texture to the image and Hue and Saturation reduce the saturation of the colours. A series of Viveza and Clone layers to adjust the lighting and remove minor distractions was used before sharpening it with the High Pass filter.

This image has had 4 international acceptances including the 105th London Salon of Photography Exhibition (2016) and a silver medal at the 2^nd Swedish International Small Print Exhibition (2016).

Nikon D810, 50 mm Nikkor prime lens, ISO 1400, f/1.4, 1/250 sec