Exploring Essex

We may have lived in Essex for nearly a decade now but there are still plenty of places left to explore. I recently had the opportunity to spend some time down by the River Blackwater in Maldon with my pinhole camera. The Thames Barges lining the riverside provided me with lots of inspiration and I enjoyed exploring the details I found in their rigging and the quayside.

A few days later I was out and about again, on the hunt for somewhere to finish off my roll of film and I discovered St Michael and All Angels Church in the village of Copford.

Inside I found some beautiful wall paintings and with a little patience I realised I could capture a handful of images with the film I had loaded in my camera. As the afternoon light began to fade I searched for the light switches and found I needed to feed some coins into the meter to get them going. Fortunately I had some change and the added light meant my photos would take just a few minutes each, rather than an hour or more!

Of course, the unknown quantity was how many minutes of illumination my pound coin would buy me and for both these interior photos I had to dash down to feed the meter again mid-exposure!

After those two photos I decided to move outdoors to explore the churchyard as the rain had stopped and the gloomy conditions allowed me to catch some very atmospheric photos.

Photos taken in November 2022.