The Cellarium is one of the best preserved parts of Fountains Abbey, a National Trust Property near Ripon, Yorkshire. I was attracted to take this photograph because the repeating architectural shapes, columns, arches etc. made pleasing geometric patterns, enhanced by the diminishing perspective. Despite waiting for some time there was always a number of other visitors around, so eventually I settled for bracing myself against a column and taking a number of shots as people moved from place to place. Back home in front of the computer I selected one satisfactory exposure, and then covered up the pesky humans with a patch from another exposure, taken when the person(s) had moved away. The only other manipulation was to convert the image from colour to black and white, and then adjust the contrast to retain maximum detail in the brightest and darkest areas.

Copyright belongs to the photographer. Do not reproduce this image without the photographer's consent.