When I was in Wales back in June I took some photos with my little Rollei 35S before the shutter button unfortunately broke. I finally got the camera fixed last week and was able to retrieve the half finished film so I had an opportunity to look back at the photos I’d take while I was there. These images, all shot around the Cynghordy Viaduct are my favourites – a happy reminder of my long overdue return to Wales.
Shades of autumn
After my multiple exposure experiment yesterday I played some more today at the Markshall Estate. I’d never visited the arboretum here before but had heard good things and I wasn’t disappointed.
Using my Fuji X100V I shot some in camera multiple exposures. That gave me a chance to see which combinations of frames worked well together, but the camera also saves all the RAW files in case they’re useful on their own.
Ultimately I ended up creating my own composites in Photoshop, which gave me a little more flexibility than the in camera ones. Sometimes this involved combining focused and defocused frames of the same scene, and for another one I simply layered in a coloured layer to add to the richness.
Round and round
During a very quiet day at Hatfield Forest I had some time to admire the ancient hornbeam tree which sits opposite the kiosk where I work. The autumn colours have lasted a particularly long time this year and it seemed a shame not to take a photo before the leaves are all blown away. Instead of using a single frame I took a different approach, shooting a series of images from different angles and then combined them in Photoshop. The end result won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but it was good fun experimenting!
Sunny Sunday motoring
At this time of year we grab any opportunity we can to go for a spin in Morris before the roads get too icy. Today brought us sunshine and a car meet at the East Anglian Railway Museum so how could we say no?!
To ring the changes I brought along just my little Rollei 35S film camera, loaded with a roll of Lomography Lady Grey film. While it has its limitations, with just a focal length of 40mm, I often find such restrictions are helpful and today was no exception.
We were lucky enough to be invited to park directly outside the museum entrance, in a line of 60s and 70s cars, which gave me the opportunity to catch Morris among some characterful company.
Over the neighbouring field there were plenty more interesting vehicles, but I was particularly taken with a 1964 For Thunderbird which I ended up photographing from several different points of view.
A scenic diversion
On my way to a music event today I made a diversion to Bury St Edmunds for a spot of lunch and a quiet walk around the Cathedral. It’s a while since I’ve been here but it was lovely to be back and able to explore with my camera again.
Although the church itself is an old building, at least in parts, it wasn’t designated a Cathedral until 1914. In the last twenty years it’s undergone a lot of restoration work so the ceiling and crossing look particularly crisp.
Click on any of the thumbnails to see them larger
I always like to find unusual angles to shoot when I’m exploring churches and on this occasion I found a small flight of stairs I’d missed before. It led up to a small balcony, from where I could capture a rather more lofty view of the altar and choir.
All things come to those who wait
For seven years now I’ve been visiting Rainham Marshes, hoping one day I might see some Bearded Tits. They’ve proved so elusive I was beginning to wonder if the photos I’d see from other visitors were some sort of elaborate Photoshop hoax. However, finally, today a pair of them popped out from the reeds to feed and even stayed long enough for me to catch their photo – success at last!
Elsewhere around the reserve I had some fun exploring the possibilities of the reedbeds, using some beautiful backlight and their movement in the wind.
Of course, there were lots of other birds around as well as the Bearded Tits, although many of them too far from me for meaningful photos.
I couldn’t leave though, without taking a few photos of the sparrows, who live in large flocks nearby. Their garrulous chat in the bushes by the visitor centre is enchanting and a couple of them were kind enough to pose for me in the sunshine.
The return of live music
After a long wait I finally went to a live concert again this evening, in Thaxted Church. I’ve photographed Haverhill Silver Band many times before so Kevin suggested I take a camera along in case the band wanted some more photos. They accepted my offer without hesitation but during the evening I also looked out for images I might share here, even if they’d not the sort the band would necessarily use for their own publicity. The final images I’ll share with the band are in colour, but it struck me that these few would work well in monochrome so I’ve taken that route for my own personal use.
The gentleman arrived a little late and chose to sit on one of the benches at the back of the church. When it became uncomfortable he took up this relaxed posed, looking up at the church’s beautiful lines as he listened.
23 October 2021
Narrowboats on the River Great Ouse
Taking a wider view of Ely
After lots of seaside pinhole action this week I returned inland, to Ely. I still had three frames of my Fomapan film to use up so I started off outdoors. Fomapan suffers from very bad reciprocity failure, which means what would be an exposure of a few seconds with a digital camera can end up being several hours when using a pinhole camera so it wasn’t a good choice for shooting inside a dark Cathedral.
Looking up at the west front of Ely Cathedral
By the time I headed into the Cathedral I’d swapped over to Kodak TMAX400, which reacts much better to longer exposures – my longest one was a more manageable six minutes. Still a lot of hanging around, but I just used the time to admire the architecture and plan my next shot.
I started off in the nave, capturing some wide views, looking towards the altar and straight up. Setting up this sort of shot takes time without a viewfinder for guidance, but it was worth the effort.
Working my way around the building, I found other opportunities all around me, although some spots proved to be just too dark.
Click on the images to see them larger
Towards the end of my visit I loitered a while in the south aisle, setting up another of my ghostly self portraits. I’m still discovering the best way to shoot these, and on this occasion it looks like I’m a headless ghost!
Candlelight in St Catherine’s Chapel
Another day, another beach
I was luck enough to have a spare day between music workshops, so I spent it in Sidmouth, exploring the beach with my pinhole camera. This time I chose to take the monochrome route as it promised to be an overcast day.
I walked the length of the town, spending so long that I saw the tide both recede and come back in again. I really enjoy capturing a sense of movement with my seaside pinhole photos and using black and white film helped me catch the patterns of the waves as they washed across the beach.
Click on the images to see them larger
As I set up for one photo I noticed a cormorant perched on the rocks so I worked quickly, hoping it might stay still for long enough to feature in my photo. Fortunately, he or she was in a cooperative mood, although you can only just pick the bird out with my camera’s wide angle of view and the fact that I didn’t dare get any closer for fear of scaring it off!
At the western end of the beach I found lots of rock formations exposed by the receding tide, which brought some foreground interest to my photos. I also discovered some curvaceous pieces of seaweed so I got down really low to capture its sculptural form.
Lyme Regis at a leisurely pace
Naturally, a pinhole camera came to Lyme Regis with me, along with my digital one. More often than not I choose to shoot in monochrome but on this occasion I plumped for a roll of Kodak Portra 160 and it turned out to be a good choice.
My first few frames were taken at the eastern end of the town, exploring the beach and rock formations. You never know how things will work out when shooting into the sun with a pinhole camera and on this occasion I caught some beautiful rainbow coloured flare in one photo.
With a decent sunrise predicted for one morning I headed down to the Cobb with the intention to try and create one of my ghostly self portraits. With hindsight I should have positioned my camera so my silhouette didn’t overlap the headland in the distance, but I can always try again another time!
The colours were as beautiful as I’d hoped and my final shot that morning even caught a hint of flare.
Walking back to my car I stopped to shoot the Lydia Eve, a fishing trawler which was in harbour ready to be used in filming for the new Willy Wonka movie. This early in the morning there was no activity but its vivid green colour worked beautifully against the deep blues of the sky.
