WELCOME to this week's selection of the best pictures to feature in the Oxford Mail.

Our first picture screams out news.

The whole frame is crammed with action and atmosphere. Damian Halliwell was confronted with this scene on his way back to the office down the Botley Road in Oxford.

It’s never very nice to photograph a scene like this because you worry for the people involved in the accident.

That’s one of the reasons most of us stay well back and use the zoom to compact the scene.

The other reason is because you end up with the frame full to the brim.

Oxford Mail:

Above is a lovely example of when you (the photographer) create the picture.

Jon Lewis found the best bit of background, then dragged in all the easels he could get his hands on and made an arty tunnel of paintings.

This is so oil painter Francis O’Neill could be neatly placed in the middle, completely surrounded by his work.

Oxford Mail:

 

Is this a panning shot, above? Why are the buildings sharp then? Must be a pretty fast shutter to catch that guy so sharp as he’s falling backwards?

Ah, it’s the walkers that are motion blurred. Mark Hemsworth met street performer Paul Davis-Haswell between jobs in the city centre.

This shot was taken at a quarter of a second resting on Mark’s bag to get the passers-by nice and blurred.

 

Oxford Mail:

A sneak peek in the new Bodleian building, above.

Have a look at this massive atrium space with bright sunlight coming in around the scaffolding.

Damian Halliwell knows his stuff. When you need to shoot upwards and have people in the shot, always get them to look up or around, or you may find a few extra chins try to sneak in uninvited!

Oxford Mail:

When all you have is a small office to take a picture in but you end up with a shot like this, above, it makes your day.

Here we turned off all the lights and used direct flash from the corner of the room to light up Dr Clare Mackay’s face and her bright blue eyes to illustrate a story on dementia research.