Amy Gill, Spotlight (PLACES 2025)

Leading up to entering St. Peter's Basilica in 2023 on my first solo trip overseas, all I remember is sweat, wonder, and claustrophobic sensations. The surrounding museums we're crammed with a number of tourists that I had never quite experienced before. It was a breath of relief afterward to enter the expansive and awe-inspiring basilica that completely caught me off guard. The details on every surface and the lighting was beautiful. A light ceremonial smoke filled the room that brought a really nice layer of depth to this image as the sun shone through the windows. I shot this image with a canon EOS m50ii and wide angle lens to accentuate the size of the building whilst capturing as much detail from the walls and ceiling as possible. In my edit, I stuck to my personal style by accentuating the lighting with strong contrasts to add some dramatic flair to the image.

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