Did You Forget Something?

Two Guardsmen march in precise step, the scarlet of their tunics and the gleam of polished boots cutting sharply against the muted stone façade behind them. The one at the rear carries the regimental colour, upright and immovable, while the man in front moves with equal discipline but empty-handed. It’s this absence — that invisible weight where a ceremonial object should be — that transforms a moment of rigid tradition into something quietly humorous.

I composed the frame to isolate the pair mid-stride, ensuring both figures were given enough breathing space to let the eye move between them. The shallow depth of field was intentional; I wanted the bystanders in the background to dissolve into soft shapes, recognisable as human yet stripped of distraction. This not only keeps the focus on the Guardsmen but subtly heightens the contrast between the formality of the march and the casual posture of the onlookers.

Technically, the exposure leans slightly to the bright side to make the reds vivid without bleeding detail into the shadows of the bearskin caps. The light was crisp but not harsh, which allowed me to keep a good level of texture in both the uniforms and the tarmac. The shutter speed was fast enough to freeze their stride without motion blur, while still holding fine detail in the flag’s embroidery.

Compositionally, the horizontal balance is anchored by the architectural symmetry of the background, yet the figures break that rigidity with forward motion. The small gap between their steps — flag raised high behind, empty hands ahead — is where the narrative lives. In a setting steeped in unyielding tradition, that gap feels almost mischievous.