Clever pictures mix together Shrewsbury's old and new

Jane, who was born and raised in the county town, has melded past and present images seamlessly together in a striking side-by-side contrast of the old and the new.

"I have been interested in photography since a very early age but have never taken it any further than a hobby, although, in my previous job, back before the age of digital cameras, I used to work for a local business developing film, but unfortunately that was as near as I got to a career as a photographer," said Jane.

"These days, some 20-odd years later, photography is still a hobby that I'm passionate about and I'm rarely without a camera.

"For many years my main focus was landscapes or family portraits, but more recently I have moved to the topic of buildings and street photography. I like to capture natural everyday images that portray our way of life with real social interaction, showing real expressions of emotion, not forced smiles.

"I have a small collection of old postcards dating back around 100 years that I started from, and I am always looking out for more.

"The first part of the process is finding the location the original shot was taken, which tends to be stood in the road, so not always easy with Shrewsbury's traffic. With the first few attempts I used my digital SLR, but the images would not quite match due to the differences in the lenses, but with some trial and error I found I get more pleasing results from the camera on my mobile phone.

"Using Photoshop it's then possible to overlap a scan of the postcard with the modern photo creating the contrast of the old and modern town.

"So far the pictures have really just been for personal enjoyment, but it has been suggested they would make a nice calendar, so who knows.

"If interested, some of my other photos are available to view on flickr.com. My account name is maysrose and anyone is more than welcome to see them."