Adrian Stavovy, Lotus leaves (LIGHT/SHADOW - Entries close 30 September 2026)

This image of lotus leaves was taken at the McClelland Sculpture park situated towards the Mornington Peninsula, outside of Melbourne. I was fortunate to notice a shaft of light highlighting the polished texture and smooth oval shapes of the lotus leaves floating densely packed in the pond. Thankfully I shot in raw, so was able to expose for the highlights and pull out details in the shadow areas using a series of graduated filters and brush masks, exposure and contrast adjustments, a touch of spot removal of detritus on the leaves. I converted the image into black and white and made further adjustments to highlight the luscious textures in the bright areas of the image and rich smooth tones of the surfaces of the leaves in the darker areas. Canon 600D, f 11, 1/1500, 73mm, iso 400

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.