Jayden Thomson, Late afternoon sun like a watercolour painting (LANDSCAPE 2024)

This photo was taken at LAKHAWALI LAKE (Khir Sagar) in Udaipur, Rajasthan province in India and needed no digital alteration or enhancement at all as the scene seemed to me, just like a watercolour painting. The still reflection in the lake, showing the late afternoon sun with a slight hazy pollution, acted like a filter, giving a mystical, calm and peaceful quality to the photo. Sometimes, the air is difficult to breathe, and the sun appears dim like the moon in the middle of the day. India, in December, frequently has cities with the deadliest levels of pollution in the world, with Air Quality Index levels up to 388 (where AQI below 100 is considered satisfactory). It is ironic to associate such deadly smog with beauty, however here, I wanted the photo to show exactly this- that there is always beauty to be found.

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