Church crawling

After my pinhole photography binge in Scotland it was a couple of weeks before I got round to finishing off my final roll of film from our holiday. During my travels for work I kept an eye open for interesting locations and my last five photos were all taken around churches I discovered along the way.

My first stop was the redundant church of St Michael and All Angels near Caldicot in South Wales, now cared for by the Friends of the Friendless Churches. It’s tucked away in the corner of a working farmyard so it was no surprise to find I had the place to myself - it’s not as if you’re going to come here by accident!

Looking out from churchyard to farmyard!

A few days later I found myself near Salisbury and had a little time to while away before work. I stopped off at the church in Coombe Bissett, where I’d stayed the previous night, and caught this image as the stiff breeze wafted the tree branches above my head.

It was too dark to take any photos inside the church (each image would have taken about an hour!) so I continued on my way and stopped in Bishopston for a walk around the church there. Again, the interior was too dark for pinhole photography, but I found this intriguing mausoleum on the exterior of the church which was the perfect way to use up the final frame of my film.

Photos taken May 2023

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

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

Pinhole explorations

Before we headed home from Goodwood I spent one more day exploring, this time using just my pinhole camera. I started off in Arundel, just following my nose and photographing whatever caught my eye.

The last time I visited St Nicholas’ Church was when I gave a concert here about 20 years ago. It was a little too dark inside for pinhole photography, but the churchyard was very photogenic. Click on any image to see it enlarged.

Across the road, the Cathedral was a sunnier place so I was able to photograph inside.

From the Cathedral I headed back out onto the quiet streets of Arundel.

A dramatic splash of flare from the sun behind the bridge over the River Arun.

Eventually I left Arundel and wandered back via Boxgrove Priory. The interior of the church was catching some beautiful sunshine and I couldn’t resist a ghostly self portrait beneath the arches of the ruined priory.

Photos taken 17 April 2023

Edinburgh through a pinhole

After my adventures in Glasgow my pinhole camera saw some more action around Edinburgh. I had no particular agenda, but followed my nose and photographed what I saw around me.

Elegant University buildings.

On my final day I took a stroll along the Water of Leith.

St. Bernard’s Well

Down by the water’s edge. I hadn’t noticed the whirlpool in the second image until I scanned the negative.

The elegant buildings of Dean Village lining the river.

My final destination of the day was Greyfriar’s Kirkyard. Scottish graveyards are always wonderfully dramatic and perfect pinhole material!

Photos taken 3 April 2023

A stroll beside the Clyde

A pinhole camera came along for the ride for my visit to Scotland at the beginning of the month and one of my first destinations was a jaunt to Glasgow to see my friend Matt. Before I got that far though I took a few snaps on my journey north, including a couple at Kings Cross Station, while I waited for my train. I had this image in mind when I visited in December, but a large TV screen was blocking my way. This time the coast was clear so I laid my camera on the floor and finally captured the photo I’d hoped for!

A longish photo of some of my fellow travellers, milling around the concourse.

My walk to Haymarket Station in Edinburgh threw up a couple of pinhole opportunities - the Union Canal and the trams passing the station.

My pinhole photos from Glasgow all seem to feature bridges in one way or another, starting with the Bell’s Bridge.

Further along the Clyde we found what locals called the ‘Squinty Bridge’ as its curve crossed the road at an angle. I couldn’t find somewhere to capture this quite as I’d hoped as I needed somewhere to prop my camera, but I quite like the result anyway.

My final bridge of the day - the Tradeston Bridge, which features some wonderful lines.

Photos taken 29 March 2023

Pinhole meanderings

Whenever I’ve been out and about recently I’ve taken a pinhole camera with me to capture the scenes around me in slow motion. Last week I took and afternoon stroll in Saffron Walden. St Mary’s Church has always been a fertile ground for pinhole photos so was sure to visit and, sure enough, I found some new angles and views.

Elsewhere in the town this wonderful old building was calling to me.

Later in the week my work took me to Maidenhead and my B&B was close to the River Thames. ON Sunday morning I took a stroll along the river and found plenty of inspiration, including the dramatic Boulters Weir.

I found a vantage point close to the river level and the weir seemed even more powerful from there.

A ghostly self portrait by the Thames.

Photos taken 16 & 19 March 2023

Houses and gardens with style

After my not so successful photos from Nymans last month I returned on my next journey down to Sussex for another try.

The house and Nymans suffered a disastrous fire in 1947, destroying a lot of the internal structure. Some of the rooms were restored, but a large part of the building remains just a shell to this day.

My ultimate destination was West Dean College, where I was due to tutor a recorder course. Naturally my camera got some exercise there too, especially around the gardens.

Two early morning photos of the River Lavant from a stroll before breakfast.

I’ve photographed this huge curving sculpture before but this time I got really close to accentuate the lines - my camera was just a couple of inches from the end of the structure!

A ghostly self portrait under the arch in the garden. In a couple of months time this will be covered in climbing plants.

During our morning playing session my group of recorder players gave me permission to capture a slow motion group portrait, which took forty minutes!

After lunch on Saturday I explored the glasshouses. The first image looks quite bare at the moment, but these strawberry and peach plants will soon be covered in fruit.

A much more verdant scene in one of the tropical glasshouses.

Photos taken 10 & 11 March 2023

Surprises in every negative

Pinhole photography is an unpredictable art at the best of times and sometimes things don’t go to plan. On this occasion a glitch with my camera during a stroll around the grounds at Nymans let me with much stronger vignettes than usual on my photos.

Several of my photos were unusable as a result, but in some cases I really like the dramatic fall off of light - every cloud has a silver lining!

Photos taken 25 February 2023

St Audrie's Bay

Have you ever had one of those days when you can’t quite decide where to go? I had just that experience in Somerset earlier this month and my solution was to open up Google maps and see what jumped out at me. AS luck would have it, this led me to rediscover a pin I’d dropped in the app last year marking St Audrie’s Bay as somewhere I should visit - problem solved!

My reason for saving the location was the waterfall which tumbles off the cliffs there. I’d seen photos which had piqued my interest so I parked up at the caravan part on top of the cliffs and began picking my way down the steep path to the beach. It’s a private beach, but the owners of the caravan park don’t mind welcoming visitors and on this winter morning I pretty much had the place to myself.

The only access from above is a rocky pathway down the side of the cliffs so I was amazed to find a lot of man made structures (albeit in an extreme state of weathering) dotted along the beach. I can only assume the raw materials must have been brought in by boat many decades ago in a futile attempt to tame the sea.

The waterfall comes from a stream which runs down the hillside and simply falls over the edge to the beach below. During the summer months it often disappears entirely, but the recent rain ensured a steady flow of water, which I made the most of in my pinhole photos.

The beach was riven with streams of water, heading for the sea, so I was very pleased I’d put my wellies in the car. To get this photo I was sitting on a small man-made stone wall with my feet in a stream, while shooting in the opposite direction across a rock pool - I couldn’t have done that if I’d be wearing shoes!

I was fascinated by the rock strata breaking through the beach - a very visible glimpse into the way the earth’s crust is pushed and pulled by the forces beneath.

This may look like a deep chasm, but it’s only about 4 inches deep - the magic of getting down really low and really close with a pinhole camera!

I’d brought my large format pinhole camera along too, which gave me a different perspective on the beach’s features, both natural and manmade.

Photos taken 3 February 2023