Light shining through a modern stained glass window
Lens-Artists,  Photographic techniques,  Themed galleries,  Travel in general

Gallery: how the light gets in

Leonard Cohen

And as Ritva reminds us in her post for this week’s Lens Artists challenge, light isn’t just a practical necessity in our lives, it also symbolises all that is good in the world, just as darkness symbolises all that is bad. How many of the world’s great stories feature a battle between light and dark forces? And the world’s major religions are all founded on a belief that light can conquer darkness.

For us as photographers, light is everything, although it isn’t always easy to capture, let alone to make the subject of our images. But in response to Ritva’s challenge I’ve pulled together a selection of photos from my archives that I hope will let the light in. Some have had a bit of ‘help’ in editing to emphasise the effect, using a mix of Nik Color Efex Pro and Luminar Neo. But in all of them the light was present from the start, I only had to let it shine through!

My feature photo was taken in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St Joseph in Sofia  

White flowers with light catching some petals

Light through a stained glass window touches the petals of a plant in St Paul’s RC Cathedral, Tirana, Albania


Crucifixion scene in relief

Stone relief carving of an angel
Stone relief carving of an angel

In the Sacré Coeur, Paris


Sun appearing through carved bars on a window

Stone Buddha with gold shawl and sunlight

Imposing stone wall with a large crack

Candlestick and wreath lit by light from a narrow window

Dimly lit building with tiled walls and a shaft of light

Ornate wall decorations with bright line of light

Man in a turban by a window in a colourfully tiled wall

Man looking out through a small window

Man reading a newspaper by a window

Sunlight in a wood picking out a small deer

Looking up at sunlight through trees

Sheer mountain side touched by sunlight at the top

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