“My 5-minute challenge”. Just one picture, one story by David Askham 2026.
05th November 2026
“My 5-minute challenge”. Just one picture, one story by David Askham 2026.
The day was grey. Not the sort of day ideally suited for picture-making. Mist and cool dampness hung in the air. I know that such conditions excite and lure woodland photographers to search their favourite places for mystical woodland landscapes. But, unashamedly, I can no longer compete with them.
The Challenge
However, I rose to the challenge, albeit a rather pale shadow of a challenge, to see if I could make just one picture in my garden in five minutes, at the tail end of October.
I had already picked the remaining dahlia flowers to prevent them from perishing in the first frosts, so there were few flowers to feature in my foray. However, as a trade-off, we do enjoy their soothing qualities indoors.
There were a few leaves on our trees in the early stages of changing colour. But the long summer of heatwaves and drought had taken their toll, causing silver birch and beech trees to shed their leaves unexpectedly early, thus reducing the photographic pleasure of luxuriating in seasonal colour right now. Thus, it was not easy to be inspired.
Then, in an unlikely place, I spotted what turned out to be a suitable candidate for my ‘one picture’ challenge. It was an old shrub rose with no flowers, just leathery leaves in various stages of changing colour and a few shrivelled flower remains.
I had with me my well-proven Leica CL, already abandoned by Leica, but loved and appreciated by many photographers. (Just try and find one. It is quite difficult). Attached to my CL was the excellent standard Leica 18-56mm Vario-Elmarit lens. There was no time in my allotted five minutes to collect a tripod or macro lens. So I exploited the qualities of this standard zoom lens to complete my challenge. Here is the result.
My picture seemed to be a little flat, straight out of camera, reflecting no doubt the mood and light of the day. But after several stages of processing in Snapseed, on the same tablet on which I wrote this short article, I produced the picture you see.
Snapseed is quite a powerful, non-destructive programme, with the ability to edit layers at any time. In fact, while assembling my thoughts today, I was tempted to re-examine my initial cropping and restore more of the original picture. In doing so, I leave myself wanting to go further and heal some fragments of yellow leaves. But, for the moment, I will leave well alone. See what you think.
Conclusions
What have I achieved as a result of my challenge?
Well, on a raw unpromising day, I went out locally, had some gentle exercise, found a moody picture that reflects changing seasonal colour; that also fills my mind with agreeable pleasure. I have captured a natural event. A fragment of nature. A highly pleasing picture in five minutes. That is the lure and power of Leica photography; any photography.
The day was grey. Not the sort of day ideally suited for picture-making. Mist and cool dampness hung in the air. I know that such conditions excite and lure woodland photographers to search their favourite places for mystical woodland landscapes. But, unashamedly, I can no longer compete with them.
The Challenge
However, I rose to the challenge, albeit a rather pale shadow of a challenge, to see if I could make just one picture in my garden in five minutes, at the tail end of October.
I had already picked the remaining dahlia flowers to prevent them from perishing in the first frosts, so there were few flowers to feature in my foray. However, as a trade-off, we do enjoy their soothing qualities indoors.
There were a few leaves on our trees in the early stages of changing colour. But the long summer of heatwaves and drought had taken their toll, causing silver birch and beech trees to shed their leaves unexpectedly early, thus reducing the photographic pleasure of luxuriating in seasonal colour right now. Thus, it was not easy to be inspired.
Then, in an unlikely place, I spotted what turned out to be a suitable candidate for my ‘one picture’ challenge. It was an old shrub rose with no flowers, just leathery leaves in various stages of changing colour and a few shrivelled flower remains.
I had with me my well-proven Leica CL, already abandoned by Leica, but loved and appreciated by many photographers. (Just try and find one. It is quite difficult). Attached to my CL was the excellent standard Leica 18-56mm Vario-Elmarit lens. There was no time in my allotted five minutes to collect a tripod or macro lens. So I exploited the qualities of this standard zoom lens to complete my challenge. Here is the result.
My picture seemed to be a little flat, straight out of camera, reflecting no doubt the mood and light of the day. But after several stages of processing in Snapseed, on the same tablet on which I wrote this short article, I produced the picture you see.
Snapseed is quite a powerful, non-destructive programme, with the ability to edit layers at any time. In fact, while assembling my thoughts today, I was tempted to re-examine my initial cropping and restore more of the original picture. In doing so, I leave myself wanting to go further and heal some fragments of yellow leaves. But, for the moment, I will leave well alone. See what you think.
Conclusions
What have I achieved as a result of my challenge?
Well, on a raw unpromising day, I went out locally, had some gentle exercise, found a moody picture that reflects changing seasonal colour; that also fills my mind with agreeable pleasure. I have captured a natural event. A fragment of nature. A highly pleasing picture in five minutes. That is the lure and power of Leica photography; any photography.
(Words & picture Copyright David Askham 2026)