Close to home

March 4, 2024

I’ve visited the church of St Mary the Virgin in Stansted Mountfitchet before, but on that occasion I was on a mission to find some suitable photos for an educational blog I was writing. On this occasion I had a much needed morning off and was determined to do some pinhole photos but needed a location close to home. With a journey of just three miles St Mary’s fitted the bill perfectly!

One should always have in mind that you can never get too close with pinhole photography - a strategy which worked well with the church piano.

More close up details.

As I ventured out into the porch the sun was positively warm (much warmer than inside!) and the ornate wooden arch was throwing interesting shadows onto the door.

Along with the warmth of the sun, the snowdrops in the churchyard also gave a hint of spring to come…

Photos taken 15 February 2024

Church to coast

March 2, 2024

Alongside the digital photos I took at St Mary’s Church, North Stoke on the 22nd January I spent time indulging in some slow photography with my pinhole cameras. Having developed the film I have a set which looks very different but still captures the shafts of low winter sun.

While I was there I also used my 6x6 Rise pinhole camera, but with an adapter fitted which split the frame into thirds. That film is still waiting to be finished off as every frame requires three separate photos (somewhat more time consuming!) but it’ll be fascinating to see how they turn out when I get some time to complete the roll.

Click on any image to see it enlarged.

An architectural curiosity - three stone seats for the clergy to use during services.

This is my favourite photo from my visit to St Mary’s. Getting really close is one of the things a wide angle pinhole camera really excels at, and my camera was really close to the bible on the lecturn!

After I’d finished at St Mary’s I sought out some food and then travelled on to Climping Beach. Despite living fairly close by for most of my life I’d never visited before and it’s an extraordinary piece of coastline. The soft, golden sand is interrupted by jagged chunks of chalk and littered with flints - I’d never come across a beach quite like it before!

Peaks and troughs of chalk, kissed by the low winter sun.

The tide was a long way out but there was still plenty of scope to use the breakwaters as focal points for my photos.

A mini-landscape of its own, created by a pool of water on its way across the beach.

Photos taken 22 January 2024

Sunny day Brutalism

January 28, 2024

We’ve had an awful lot of grey, wet days this winter, so when a cold, sunny day coincided with a little free time I decided it was time to return to the Barbican to capture some dramatic light.

I had a roll of film left in my pinhole camera from Christmas so my first priority was to use that up. This enclosed area caught my eye and it struck me that the pool of light falling through the opening above me might create an interesting opportunity for a ghostly self portrait.

In the area opposite St Giles’ Church people were sitting beside the frozen lake enjoying the sunshine, while I made the most of the architectural lines. Meanwhile, on the other side of the centre I found some lovely shafts of sunlight falling among the crisp, brutalist columns.

Once I’d finished off my roll of film I then concentrated on some digital photography, which allowed me to be a little more spontaneous without the need for a tripod. I was fascinated by the way the light falls through the openings in the residential areas of the Barbican.

It was a pretty quiet day, but a little patience allowed me to include some people in my photos for a human element and a better sense of scale.

Shapes and soft light around one of the highwalks.

This young woman was busy on a facetime call and completely unaware of me. Her white outfit really makes her jump out from the shadow.ss.

Simple straight lines along one of the highwalks, leading the eye through to a welcome spot to sit and think.

As the sun began to fall in the sky the light became ever more dramatic.

Finally back where I started the afternoon with my pinhole camera at the bench, but by now the sun was catching the concrete edges in a lovely way.

Photos taken 19 January

Sunshine over Southend Pier

December 27, 2023

With the luxury of a day off and some low winter sun I set off for the pier at Southend-on-Sea, armed with a pinhole camera and some film for a perfect day of slow photography.

Taking in the sea air….

Pier views, the second of which features the train speeding by.

It was so warm and sunny that I took lunch outdoors, captured by a minute long exposure on my pinhole camera.

Long winter shadows and some lovely flare from the sun.

A super-wide angle camera allowed me to photograph above and below the pier at the same time!

Alone…

Waiting for the train. I actually walked both ways (the pier is 1.3 miles long) but I couldn’t leave without photographing one of the old trains.

The ghost of Southend Pier.

Homeward bound - still a long way to walk!

Photos taken 8 December 2023

A spot of exploring

December 19, 2023

Every so often I find I have a few frames left at the end of a roll of film which need to be used before I can develop the negatives. On this occasion I used them up with a little exploration around Essex and Cambridge. The image above as taken in Little Sampford Church and I had to adjust the exposure time several times while the shutter was open as the sun came in and out.

Exploring the back doubles of Cambridge…

Another photo from Little Sampford. I like exploring the working areas of churches - the detritus from keeping the place running tells the story of the chruch’s life.

An extreme low angle on the little footbridge which crosses the river in Finchingfield.

In Finchingfield Church I chose a jaunty angle to capture the drama of this beautifully carved screen.

Ghostly goings on in the choir at Finchingfield…

Photos taken October 2023

City rise

December 17, 2023

During the autumn I took to the streets of London a couple of times with my most recent pinhole camera - the Ondu 6x6 Rise. It was fun to explore the city’s streets, sometimes taking advantage of the ability this camera has to shoot with a slightly different perspective by using one of the three different height pinholes.

Buses and taxis rushing past me on Oxford Street….

For this image I took a chance and unfurled my tripod at Tottenham Court Road tube station, riding upwards with my shutter open to catch a sense of the speed. Fortunately none of the security guards spotted me so I got away with it! I love the feeling of going at ‘warp speed’, even though the speed of travel was really quite leisurely.

A trio of images from around the City of London - the Lloyds Building, the Gherkin and Leadnhall Market.

A snail’s eye view of one of the many bicycles for hire around the capital…

This was one of my favourite photos of the day, taken with my camera placed horizontally outside the Lloyds Building to capture the way the building opposite seems to embrace it.

Heading towards the River Thames I chose some of the narrower streets which seem to be from a different era.

It’s not often a lamppost can be made to look taller than the Shard!

This chap was sitting on the steps beside the river when I quietly set up my tripod behind him. I was disappointed when he stood up but I think the resulting photo is actually better for it.

I experimented with shooting into the sun near the Millennium and Blackfriars Bridges, creating some amazing flare.

Later in the day, having some pinhole fun around No.1 London Bridge - looking upwards and across the river.

To complement my earlier photo on Oxford Street I tried the same strategy on London Bridge - it looks surprisingly quiet for rush hour!

Photos taken 21 September & 26 October 2023

Steaming pinholes!

December 5, 2023

One day back in September I treated myself to a day out and a spot of slow photography at the Nene Valley Railway. Sadly there were no steam trains running that day, but I did get a ride on an old Intercity 125 and there were some nail-biting moments watching a newly engine and tender being unloaded from a truck so I had plenty of photographic opportunities!

A slow self portrait as the Intercity 125 took us back to where we started.

Scenes from around Wansford Station

After we arrived in Peterborough I took a stroll along the by the River Nene in search of some lunch in the city,

My other photographic companion that day was my trusty Olympus Trip 35 so I took some lensed photos too.

Photos taken 1 September 2023

In search of slow photography

October 25, 2023

Every so often I feel the need for some slow photography - my cue to get a pinhole camera out and find a suitable location for some low-tech imagery. Back in August I decided to follow my nose and ended up at Debden Church.

I had a few frames to finish off with my 6x9 camera so I used these in and around the churchyard, before heading inside to take some square format photos with my 6x6 camera.

A ghostly self portrait in the church porch.

The view of the chancel

Click on any image to see it enlarged.

A final glimpse of the porch before I set off for home.

Photos taken 4 August 2023

Bridging the Humber

October 5, 2023

I’ve stopped and taken photos of the Humber Bridge on my to Yorkshire before, but this time I went with a different intention - to capture this amazing structure and the local area with a pinhole camera. Although it was low tide, the local boatyard offered some interesting possibilities, with acres of wrinkled mud as a backdrop, while the wide focal length of my camera created a very dramatic shape when placed directly beneath the bridge’s span.

Photos taken 6 August 2023

Classic motoring

August 29, 2023

We’ve had a busy summer with numerous car shows. At some I’ve used a digital camera to take pictures, but at Welwyn I plumped for my pinhole camera. The advantage of this is I have relatively few photos to select from when the films are developed so I’m not left wading through hundreds of digital files!