Sunday Stills Photo Challenge: Steps & Stairs

Step Right In: An Introduction

Stairs and steps are humanity’s way of saying, ‘Let’s make walking more interesting by adding obstacles.’ Well, that’s what some of us older folk beleive.

Welcome to Sunday Stills, a blogging challenge open to everyone.

Whether you’re climbing toward success, descending into the kitchen for a snack, or just trying to figure out why your knees make that creaky sound, steps and stairs are everywhere. They’re the unsung heroes of architecture, the sneaky leg workout nobody asked for, and the perfect subject for this week’s photo challenge!

A Door with a Trick Up Its Steps

Lets start with a photo of some steps that pose a question.

An arched, rustic wooden door set into an ancient stone wall inside a historical building or church. Four stone steps lead up to the door, which is embellished with ornate, decorative black wrought-iron hinges featuring swirling scrollwork. The floor below consists of red and black tiled patterns. In the bottom-right corner, a small text watermark reads "@hughsviewsandnews.com".
Is your brain playing tricks?

Are those steps to that adorable wooden door real or is your brain playing tricks with you? Before you ask, no, I haven’t used any software to change the photo, it’s in it’s original form. Take a closer look before making your decision.

“We build steps not just to climb higher, but to give our feet time to prepare for whatever waits behind the door.” – Author Unknown

Stairs, Dogs & the Art of Counting

Now on to some stairs, and another questions for you. If you have stairs going up from the ground floor to the floor above in your home, how many steps do you take to reach the top or bottom? While you go and count, here’s a photo of some stairs that my dog Austin posed on.

A small black-and-white Cardigan Welsh Corgi with large pointed ears sitting on a wooden staircase landing inside a brightly lit home. The dog looks directly at the camera with wooden banisters in the foreground and a window with white shutters above the landing.
Does anyone have a treat for me?

Don’t worry, he’s already inspected every step for you, purely in the interest of science, of course. So if you lose count, just blame him and not your memory.

If you counted the number of steps, please leave the answer in the comments section. Why? Let’s just say that Austin is conducting an experiment that may surprise you.

“My dog can count to ten, and he knows that stair number seven is where I often drop biscuit crumbs, and that step number thirteen shouldn’t exist because he can only count to ten” – Hugh W. Roberts

Who or What Waits at the Top?

Next, we have a strange figure found at the top of some steps.

A low-angle view looking up a narrow flight of outdoor concrete steps flanked by plain white walls. At the top landing sits a colourful, carved wooden ship's figurehead of a woman wearing a yellow top and dark blue skirt. A dark metal handrail runs along the wall on the right side of the staircase.
Come on up or stay out?

I got quite the fright when I first saw it not knowing if it was welcoming me to climb the steps or telling me to stay out! And if you look closely at the steps, are those blood stains that somebody has tried washing away, or just general wear and tear caused by years of use and lots of scrubbing to keep clean?

Who knows? But I took the stairs because my knees apparently enjoy living dangerously.

“The higher you climb, the stranger the relics left behind by those who came before, or those who never left.” – Author Unknown

Autumn Leaves & a Favourite Photo

My next photo is one that I took of some steps during my favourite season. Not only that, but it was taken 12 years ago but still remains one of favourite photos.

A low-angle view of outdoor stone steps flanked by rustic stone walls, heavily covered in fallen autumn leaves. The leaves display vibrant shades of yellow, gold, orange, and brown, blanketing each step leading up toward a stone landing at the top.
Nature’s carpet layer was clearly paid by the leaf, not by the hour.

I’ve featured the photo on my blog before and it got a lot of interest, including from somebody who wanted to use it as a book cover, clearly proving that my camera has a better career than I ever had.

Autumn notice: The leaves are falling, and every path is a blanket of gold waiting for your footsteps. – Author Unknown

Up or Down? You Decide.

And finally two more questions for you before I finish my hosting duties for Sunday Stills.

Are these stairs or steps, and are we going up or coming down?

A low-angle view looking up a modern indoor staircase with light-coloured steps leading toward a warm, terracotta-orange wall at the top landing. The staircase is lined on both sides with tall, glass-fronted display cases illuminated with warm accent lights, showcasing rows of amber liquor bottles. Reflective, polished ceiling panels above mirror the staircase and surrounding lights
Going up or going down?

Quite deceiving, aren’t they? But I’d love to know your answer.

Two weeks, countless frames, and many new ways to see the world. Thank you for bringing your vision, your light, and your creativity to the Sunday Stills challenge! – Hugh W. Roberts

Thank you to everyone who joined me for Sunday Stills last week where the theme was ‘Ephemeral.’ I was amazed by what you all came up with.

A special shoutout to Bernie who brought a tear to my eye with her entry, which you can read here.

It’s been wonderful hosting Sunday Stills which has introduced me to some new wonderful new bloggers in Terri’s blogging community. I hope you all enjoyed the two themes I chose and had fun with them.

Ready to join in?

Well, that’s my two weeks over as your temporary Sunday Stills host while Terri is on vacation. If you’re new to Sunday Stills or simply need a reminder of how it works, here are the details.

  • The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is simple to join. You have all week to share and link your post, so you don’t need to rush or publish it on Sunday.
  • Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives. You’re also welcome to share original images reimagined with AI tools in post-editing.
  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently from mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link to a recent one.
  • You can post entries for this theme all week (nobody is ever late to participate).
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so other participants can read it.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

If you are participating in the photo challenge, I look forward to seeing how you interpret this week’s theme! Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme.

Terri is back for the Sunday Stills challenge next week with the Monthly Colour Challenge: Colours of Lava and Black.


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The featured image in this post was created using AI, which was also used to check and correct grammar and spelling mistakes.

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15 responses to “Sunday Stills Photo Challenge: Steps & Stairs”

  1. junedesilva avatar

    I love Austin on the landing. Many dogs favour a landing. Is it because they can keep an eye on their people? Here, in France, we are on one level, except for the stairs to the mezzanine. Zeph is not interested in these at all! Back home, he loves to lie on the first landing and survey his territory. I’m going to search through my photos now and see if I have any/many step photos!

    1. Hugh W. Roberts avatar

      Both my dogs enjoy lying on the stairs, sometimes together, June. And you hit the nail on the head as to why it’s their favourite spot. Unfortunately, Toby, our oldest dog, is having difficulty going up and down the stairs now. He was 15 last week, and has become more wary of stairs. But he will sit on the first stair if he can.

      I hope you get to share some photos of stairs or steps for Sunday Stills. The challenge is open all week, so no need to rush to find and publish.

  2. noelleg44 avatar
    noelleg44

    I love the steps with the leaves- gorgeous. But at my age, stairs are a huge problem so maybe even those leaves wouldn’t entice me.

    Yes, I can still climb stairs (thank heavens) but it takes me time and care!

    1. Hugh W. Roberts avatar

      I know what you mean about stairs. I’m much more careful when going up and down them now. Years ago, I would step two steps at a time, both up and down, but not anymore. And it doesn’t help when dogs are a hazard on stairs and won’t move when you politely ask them to give way because you’re carrying a big bundle of laundry.

  3. robbiesinspiration avatar

    An entertaining post, Hugh. The first question you posted about the steps that look fake is interesting. It looks like it might be a fake stage door. I think the steps are going up because the angle of the photograph is upwards.

    1. Hugh W. Roberts avatar

      You’re right, Robbie, and that door is also real and many years old. I took the photo inside St David’s Cathedral in West Wales, built way back in 1181. However, it’s undergone many restorations since then; the last major one was in the Victorian era, so mid-to-late 19th century. The door was locked, so I have no idea what was behind it, but at least I could climb the steps to it.

  4. Bernie avatar

    Ah Hugh that is so sweet of you! Proves that photo definitely is as special as I thought it was!

    Your step picture with the maple leaves is a winner. Of course never met a Canadian who passed up anything with maple leaves. A couple of your photos are real optical illusions! Love the old door one but think those steps aren’t useable! Thanks for hosting.

    Bernie

    1. Hugh W. Roberts avatar

      You’re very welcome, Bernie. Your photo in last week’s challenge was a wonderful photo that conjures up many emotions, something many photos can fail to do. And the words you wrote with it really lifted it.

      It amazes me how some photos can create an optical illusion without the person taking them intending it. Those steps in the photo were real, yet the photo makes it look as if they’re painted in. Sadly, that door was locked, but at least I could walk up those steps.

  5. Dawn M. Miller avatar

    Great collection.
    My favorite is the last one.

    1. Hugh W. Roberts avatar

      Thank you, Dawn. Any reasons why that one was your favourite? I’d love to know.

  6. Suzette Benjamin avatar
    Suzette Benjamin

    What a wonderful gallery and reflection on steps and stairs, Hugh! I love your photos, the image with the leaves is awesome….I love autumn. I cannot tell which way those steps go in the final image..but whoa, my brain got a workout. Thank you so much.

    1. Hugh W. Roberts avatar

      Glad your brain got a workout looking at that last final image, Suzette. The bottles in the side cabinets give a clue about which way those stairs go.

      I’m a big fan of autumn, too. Sadly, the autumn colours aren’t as good this year because some of our trees dropped leaves during the long, hot, dry summer we had. Like many plants, they were stressed by the lack of rain.

  7. Tails Around the Ranch avatar

    Lovely images-I only wish my fallen leaves were as photogenic as those on the stairs. The ones in my garden area mock me by repeating themselves as soon as they are gathered up. That first photo reminds me of an Escher print where one gets lost in a playful exploration of errors in perspective.

    1. Hugh W. Roberts avatar

      It always amazes me just how many leaves a tree has. No sooner are you finishing clearing them away than a new carpet of them falls. I do love seeing all those colours on the trees, but any wind and they’re falling making you look down rather than up.

      I enjoy looking at images and photos that play games with your brain. It amazes me that many of them were taken or drawn with no intention to fool us, yet our brains have different ideas.

  8. For Terri’s SundayStills – Suzette B's Blog avatar

    […] Terri’s SundayStills – 11 October 2026 hosted by Hugh W. Roberts over at Hugh’s Views & News. “Steps or […]

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