Kendal, midweek… the retail day was drawing to a close. A thin fog had covered the town and its surrounding hills for most of the day, and the encroaching darkness at the end of the afternoon made the gloom seem even more dense.

I have always been drawn by urban photos of streets where the lights have that ‘just turned on’ look. Collie in hand, I decided to criss-cross the town centre and look for a few examples of my own…

Kendal is full of very old alleys that connect various streets, revealing its old design in the process. Using these as shortcuts, you can plot an interesting figure of eight through the town.

As I approached the car park, two of the best shots emerged, though had I not been energised by the previous few, I might have missed them.

Neither were in locations that would have been considered attractive. The long and narrow alley to the foot of the steep Fellside district (above) would have looked dull and grey without the lights.

Setting off on the walk, I had no idea if the iPhone camera would cope – but it did. Using the edit tools over a coffee before leaving the town centre, I was able to isolate the light by making it more moody and yellow, and set it against a complementary sky by marginally upping the blue in the fog.

All of that on the iPhone… We are fortunate to live in an age where we can carry such creative potential in our pockets…

©Stephen Tanham 2023

Stephen Tanham is a Director of the Silent Eye, a journey through the forest of personality to the dawn of Being.

http://www.thesilenteye.co.uk and http://www.suningemini.blog