September 2024 Top 3
As we start a new month it’s time to look back and for me to pick my top 3 photos from last month.
This time it’s September 2024 and this photo selection comes from a single morning in Henley-on-Thames. These images are a great example of how luck plays a huge part in capturing great photography. I was only in Henley-on-Thames this morning because my wife was doing an Ultra Marathon that day, and I had just dropped her off for the start at 7:30 am. I decided to use the time and head down to the riverside to capture the morning sunshine. It also happened that the Thames was in spate, and the waters had flown into the car park of a pub on the edge of the river. The combination of perfect morning light, the morning fog caused by the unseasonably cold morning and the food waste created the opportunity to grab these great shots.
Let’s take a lot at my top 3 for September 2024.
September 2024 Winner - Scotia and Snowdrop
Scotia and Snowdrop - Olympus E-M10 Mark II, Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25mm f/1.4 ASPH, ƒ9, 1/80, ISO200
My winner for September 2024 is Scotia and Snowdrop. These two boats were part of a flotilla of rental boats available from the riverfront in Henley-on-Thames that caught my eye as I waded through the flooded pub car park. I initially wanted to capture all of the identical boats, but I only had a 50mm lens with me, which consequently meant the car park didn’t have enough room to get far enough back to capture all the boats in one shot. So, I decided to focus on these first two boats instead, thus making symmetry the focus of the image
Unwittingly there is far more symmetry in this image than I originally thought. I first focused on just the two boats and their reflections and the main focus of symmetry, but, as I went to edit the photo further I found more and more layers of symmetry. Because of this Scotia and Sundrop is my top pick for September 2024
September 2024 Runner-Up - Tickets Please
Tickets Please - Olympus E-M10 Mark II, Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25mm f/1.4 ASPH, ƒ4, 1/640, ISO200
September’s runner-up is Tickets Please, another shot of Scotia and Snowdrop but from a different angle. If you’ve read my Top 3 monthly blogs you might have noticed I do like to use framing within my composition. This particular frame is a square cut out within a plexiglass window on what looks like a ticket booth. With the early morning dew and low, crisp sunlight backlighting the glass and distorting the view through, I noticed that the rectangular cutout created a perfect frame for whatever was on the other side. By chance, it happened to be Scotia and Snowdrop, making this month’s winning choice a tough pick between these two images. Ultimately this came a very close second as while it is an interesting image and creates possibly my best photo set to date for a single subject, it doesn't quite work as a stand-alone image as well as Scotia and Snowdrop.
September 2024 Third Place - A Place for Reflection
A Place for Reflection - Olympus E-M10 Mark II, Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25mm f/1.4 ASPH, ƒ4.5, 1/125, ISO200
September 2024 third place image is A Place for Reflection - a single bench reflected in the waters of the Flooded Thames. This bench would usually be found commanding a stunning view of the Thames and Henley Bridge found itself appearing to float in the flood waters. I particularly like the symmetry of this shot, with the election and the bench creating a square in the centre of the shot, accentuated by my choice to crop this image in a square rather than 4x3 as it was shot. This was a decision I made whilst shooting the image as I could see the square within the square in my mind. I think think this image would make a great album cover.