Pinhole day on steam

The last Sunday in April is always a red letter day for pinhole photographers as it’s Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. This year it happened to coincide with our holiday in Scotland so I was sure to find some good photo opportunities.

Our chosen destination for WPPD was the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway - a heritage steam railway on the south coast of the Firth of Fort. I decided to take just my pinhole camera and tripod so I could focus all my attention on slow photography. We hopped on the first train of the day and I couldn’t resist taking a selfie as we steamed through the Scottish landscape. Old steam trains rarely move quickly. but this one minute exposure makes it look like we’re traveling at warp speed!

A trio of platform scenes from Bo’ness station. Click on any image to see it enlarged.

I’d also taken my table top tripod along so I was able to get down really low if I wanted to.

Views of the station and tracks from ground level and up on the bridge.

The restoration shed is home to several ongoing projects, in various states of decay/rebuild.

The museum sheds over the bridge were full of interesting engines and carriages but most were too dark to contemplate taking a pinhole photo. I’m prepared to wait for a few minutes, but when the exposure time runs into half an hour or more I usually admit defeat!

In the post train it was only going to take four and a half minutes to take a photo so I decided to have some fun. I settled on one of the seats and patiently posed as though I was sorting post into the cubby holes, shifting every minute or two so I could show the passing of time. I had no idea if this would work, but it’s come out just as I’d hoped!

I made sure I was up on top of the bridge ready for the arrival of a train back in the station and this is what it looks like as a steam train passes directly beneath your feet. Just as I closed the shutter I was engulfed in steam!

The engine steams gently as the water tank is refilled, ready for its next journey. One of the joys of heritage railways is that nothing happens in a tearing hurry so I was able to plan all my images and then still had time to dash to the other end of the platform to catch it manoeuvring to hitch back up to the carriages.

I caught the left hand image as the freshly refilled engine steamed out from beneath the station canopy and then had just enough time to wind my film on before it reversed up from the points to rejoin the carriages.

The engine team were fascinated by my pinhole camera and kindly posed for a team photo!

My final two shots were captured as the train went out on its last journey of the day. I realised I’d just got time to take two photos but didn’t quite wind the film on far enough so I ended up with an accidentally overlapping double image. A complete mishap but I rather like the result!

Photos taken Sunday 30th April 2023

From Pittenweem to the Cold War

One of our days out during our Scottish holiday featured a very curious combination of destinations. We began at the delightful fishing village of Pittenweem, on the Fife coast.

After a stroll through the village we ended up at the harbour where we found a plethora of colourful fishing boats. Chatting to one of the locals we learnt that the iron structure pointing out from the top of the harbour building a winch which is used to fill the boats with ice to keep the catch cold.

As we stood on the harbour wall, a trawler returned to harbour, followed by a flock of gulls.

Click on any image to see it enlarged.

One of the local inhabitants.

After a tasty fish and chip lunch we headed back out into the Scottish countryside and found a flock of sheep who were intrigued by our presence!

During our drive to Pittenweem that morning we’d noticed a tourist sign announcing ‘Scotland’s Secret Bunker’ (not so secret now!) which piqued our interest so we headed there to investigate. This unassuming house was the access point for a bunker where the government would have kept track of nuclear radiation over this area of Scotland and helped keep what was left of the country running in the event of a nuclear attack during the Cold War.

There were a number of these scattered around the UK and we’ve visited the one at Kelvedon Hatch (not far from our home) in Essex before so it was interesting to compare them. Like its Essex counterpart, the Scottish bunker is accessed via a long corridor and some stairs, leading you deep beneath the surface.

As we explored the building we saw the different activities which would have taken place there, from monitoring the weather and wind (to see which way the nuclear fallout would have travelled) to keeping the core functions of government going.

Because staff would have lived here for many months the bunker also has dormitories, a chapel and a canteen.

Rather unexpectedly we learnt the bunker is home to two cats these days - no doubt tasked with keeping the mice under control. One of them, called Cleo, obligingly posed for a photo. Of course, the cat flap is a more recent addition - it certainly wouldn’t have been up to the task of keeping out the nuclear radiation!

Many of the spaces were decorated to give a sense that the staff had just popped away for a moment. These human details and the dramatic lighting made these places quite eerie.

Telephone switchboards and weather monitoring. One of the tools that would have been used to learn more about a nuclear attack was a giant pinhole camera positioned on the surface. In the event of a nuclear blast someone would have been sent above ground to unload the photographic paper from the camera and then develop it. The image of the explosion would then have shown the direction and size of the explosion. Fortunately none of these plans were ever needed but it’s a fascinating glimpse back at this period of history and how government would have continued if the worst had happened.

The station doctor has evidently been here a very long time!

Photos taken 28 April 2023.

A Scottish pinhole adventure

During our recent Scottish holiday I took a two pronged approach to my photography - sometimes I’d use a digital camera, while on other days I focused on pinhole photography. On our first day we walked across the causeway to Cramond Island and on this occasion I did a little of both, taking a couple of pinhole photos as we crossed and from the derelict guard’s station.

A day or two later we visited the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies - both places I’ve photographed before. That gave me the opportunity to take a different approach, using just my pinhole camera.

We caught the first boat trip of the morning on the boat lift and it was quiet enough that I was able to capture a couple of images while on board. Travelling on a canal boat is a slow process at the best of times, but the slower pinhole exposures made it look positively speedy at times!

After our trip we returned to the top of the boat lift, this time on foot to admire the elegant aqueduct and look at the locks on the canal above. While we were there the next tour boat came through and I timed it just right to catch it apparently speeding along the aqueduct - in reality it was probably doing no more than two miles per hour!

The bottom lock, from above and below.

Just before we left I was able to catch the wheel in action and I was delighted to be able to capture a sense of the motion as it turned slowly. My final image shows the wheel at rest once again, but if you look closely you can see the blur of a canal boat emerging.

From here we travelled on to the Kelpies - a pair of astonishing metal sculptures on the outskirts of Falkirk. They’re thirty metres tall, but thanks to my camera’s wide angle of view I was able to get remarkably close and still fit them in whole.

The pools which surround the Kelpies gave me some great opportunities for reflections too.

Photos taken April 2023

Exploring Cramond

The first day of our Scottish holiday began with a low tide on the estuary outside our window - the perfect opportunity to go and explore Cramond Island. This small uninhabited island sits at the mouth of the River Almond, just north of Edinburgh, and it’s accessible on foot at low tide.

The causeway is lined with dramatic concrete structures, built as an anti-boat defence during World War II. I think they look like dragon’s teeth, the only visible part of an animal snoozing beneath the estuary sands. Today the island is mostly given up to nature (although there’s a small cottage hidden in the central among the trees) but a guard station remains on the hill top at the end of the causeway.

Views from the causeway…

A heron hunting among the sea defences.

Looking back towards the mainland from the derelict guard’s station.

With the tide about to turn we headed back to the mainland and set about exploring a little more of Cramond village.

The church and graveyard looked lovely in the sunshine, although sadly the church was firmly locked.

Strolling along by the River Almond.

These two ducks were regular visitors to the promenade outside our flat - we’d see them sitting on the wall most days during our holiday.

Photos taken 25 April 2023.