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

Murmuration in training

At this time of year our garden is often invaded by a large flock of starlings. We see them murmurating over the road behind out house in the winter - just a few dozen birds - nothing like the huge displays you see by the coast. By late spring this year’s youngsters have fledged but are still happy to noisily demand food from their parents when they can get away with it.

I was doing some gardening when they arrived en-masse so I left what I was doing to top up the suet ball feeder and to throw a few handfuls of mealworms on the ground. This was enough to keep them happy and allowed me to quietly sneak closer with my camera and sit on the ground nearby.

This garrulous gathering were so focused on their food that they barely noticed me creeping down the garden path, allowing me to get within a couple of metres of them, sitting on the ground in plain sight.

Click on any of the images to see them enlarged.

This youngster was so oblivious to me that it landed on the edge of the bird bath about four feet from me!

Our unruly visitors were so noisy that many of our other garden visitors stayed away, but it didn’t take long for them to return when something spooked the starlings and sent them fleeing, however briefly.

Mrs Blackbird foraging among the wildflowers.

Judging by his threadbare tail I think our visiting robin has been busy raising a family and he or she is looking rather worse for wear!

Photos taken 29 May 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.

The best camera...

It’s often said that the best camera is the one you have with you. I almost always tend to have a camera in my bag, but I know for most people the one they have to hand is their smartphone. I recently agreed to teach a short workshop on smartphone photography at St. John’s Church, Duxford, so it only seemed sensible to do visit this lovely church again and do some more practical research on the subject.

I wanted to create a selection of photos I could print and share with my students to show what’s possible with a phone camera. I’ve learnt a lot while preparing for the workshop and, even with my basic iPhone, the camera is capable of much more than I realised before.

To try and tell a story about the church I looked for smaller details to photograph too.

You can always rely on St John’s for beautiful shafts of sunlight.

I made prints of all the photos I’ve shared here, but I made the finally one into an A3 sized print to show what a phone camera is capable of producing.

Photos taken 19 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

Taking it slowly

During my day at the Goodwood Members Meeting last month I took a pinhole camera along too, for some slow fun among all the fast cars. I didn’t take many photos, but it was fun looking for scenes around the paddock which would work. Rather than a full size tripod I’d taken my small, table top model which meant I had to get creative with my shooting angles. For this one I found a place to perch it, atop a tool box!

I even tried some pinhole action photography, although the entire field of cars has almost disappeared in a high speed blur!

Photos taken 16 April 2023

Goodwood on a spring day

I missed out on all of the big events at Goodwood last year, so it was a joy to be back here for the 80th Members Meeting back in April, I only had one day at the event so I did my best to explore the paddocks thoroughly, as well as capturing a little of the on track action.

Taking photos of entire cars around the busy paddocks is always a challenge, but I found plenty of smaller scenes and details which merited a photo.

Click on any image to see it enlarged.

A selfie with a difference - can you see me?!

The St Mary’s Trophy this year featured an entire field of Ford Cortinas.

The cars competing in the S.F.Edge Trophy are always guaranteed to offer great photo opportunities. You can really see the drivers battling with their machines.

We finished the day on the main straight and I spent some time making slower speed panning shots. I had a tremendous failure rate but that didn’t matter when I found this one among the duds!

Photos taken 16 April 2023

Low tech London

I’ve long since known that I work best as a photographer when I give myself some photographic restrictions. That might be working with a single prime lens, or sometimes even shooting with a camera which is really simple. During a recent visit to London I went very low tech, taking just my Holga 120 camera and my 6x6 format pinhole camera along.

For a cheap camera (mine cost me a princely £21 on eBay) the Holga’s plastic lens is remarkably sharp, but it has a very characterful look, with a distinctive softening around the edges. The viewfinder offers an approximation of what’ll appear in the finished photo - a quirk I’m still getting to understand better, as you can see in my photo below.

I wonder who visits a park with benches but takes along their own seat?!

A trio of photos from around BBC New Broadcasting House.

A little multiple exposure fun around the Post Office Tower.

And finally, one pinhole photo from the courtyard outside New Broadcasting House.

Photos taken April 2023

Hidden in the Sussex countryside

Tucked away in the depths of the Sussex countryside, at Tortington next to a farm, I found the delightful church of St Mary Magdalene.

Photographing churches on sunny days can be a challenge as it creates a huge contrast between the bright windows and the dark interior. Despite that, a day like this also brings a gorgeous glow to churches like St Mary’s so it’s worth making the effort to work with the light,

Through the arched window(s)… Click on any image to see it enlarged.

Photos taken 17 April 2023

A fix of chrome and petrol

It’s been so long since I had an opportunity to photograph any cars that the first Barrington car meet of the year (a monthly gathering in Cambridgeshire) felt like an oasis in the desert!

I spent an hour or so exploring the cars using a longish lens which gave me the chance to isolate some interesting details among the chrome laden classics on show.

I’ve seen this beautiful classic BMW there several times before and am always drawn to its unusual shade of green.

A duo of door handles…

It was lovely to see that Gordon the Gopher has finally been released from his broom cupboard. Readers who weren’t teenagers in the 1980s can learn more about him here!

Photos taken 7 April 2023