Experience in capturing the perfect moment during the heat of battle on a race circuit has helped a St Albans photographer snap the Abbey in all its glory at night.

Shown almost ‘glowing’, St Albans Cathedral is depicted at its best in this spectacular shot taken recently by Dave Jackson, who normally showcases riders in action during World Superbike and MotoGP races.

After taking up an offer to teach night photography in London, Dave targeted the historic landmark to help prepare for his lessons.

The 44 year old said: “I was finding it hard to sit and watch the soaps one evening, so I decided to pick up the camera to go practice my night photography and where else do you go in St Albans but the Cathedral?

“I have a lot of experience in night shots but as I have been working in MotoGP and World Superbikes for a number of years, travelling the world, I was out of practice, so I thought I should get some valuable camera time in.”

When asked what made this such a great shot, Dave, whose photographic career began as a hobby, explained: “Because it is lit by so many forms of light, including artificial, plus it was affected by changes in the sky.”

For those wanting the particular details of his Abbey photo, Dave explains the “shot was taken on my faithful Nikon D4 with a 20 second exposure at aperture f22. The challenge was to create the image with a bit of cloud movement and try and find a setting that would be suitable for the Abbey’s various lights - the glow on the Abbey walls which are tungsten, along with halogen - and here is the result.”