On top of my little world in Sutton Bridge

Last week I was offered the chance of going to the top of the church in my village. An offer I couldn't refuse.

It's like urbexing with an invite.

The church itself; St Matthews was consecrated in 1843 and according to the internet it's the only flint stone church in Lincolnshire. Is it a that a wow thing?

I went armed with a couple of lenses; 24-70, 70-200 and a tripod (and obviously a camera). I used both lenses and just had a play.

It was windy at the top (excuse no.1) and I don't do landscapes (excuse no.2) but the shots that I got have come out quite well, in my opinion.

It wouldn't be right to not get shots of Sutton Bridge's namesake and it's other most famous landmark.

So it turns out that behind the cross is a door but what's behind the door? 

Back inside I captured a few more sights that only a few will ever see.

This thing is loud when it goes off!

I do hope that I can persuade the powers that be to get a shot up here of a wedding!!! 

And finally. 

As I said above and I'm sure I've said before in previous blogs; I'm no landscape photographer. 

It's both because I'm not really into landscapes and/or because of this I don't practice and try to get better at shooting them. But when faced with the almost 360 degree view I thought I would create a panorama of what 'makes' Sutton Bridge; One image containing both the bridge and the power station.

It took 9 shots in total. And 2 attempts because of the wind that resulted in a couple of shaky shots.

I used Lightroom 1st to merge the images but I couldn't get the horizon to be straight. The merging process via Lightroom resulted in an un-level horizon; the program created a hill to the left of the power station and there is no such thing as a hill in the fens.

So Photoshop was the answer but this caused a few headaches. 

It wouldn't merge all of the images seamlessly; probably the same problem that caused Lightroom to make a non existent hill. 

Photoshop just didn't understand!!!!

So I merged the 1st 6 images together, merged another 1 to those 6 afterwards and then finally added the final 2 images that resulted in a much better composite. But theres still a slight raised area which IM SURE is not there in reality.

Click on the image to expand.

Thank you Mark for the invite.

Same place. Different person. Wisbech.

If you stand in one spot and wait, things will eventually happen. 

Just pre focus, set the exposure and wait. 

And if your really lucky, well not that lucky because the majority did, people will look at you and give you that 'ugh!?' face.

Fishers Shop, Sutton Bridge. How time has changed.

Towards the end of the summer of last year, thats right 2017 is now last year, I resisted a location that I 1st explored in 2014, heres the blog post; post;https://benchapmanphotos.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/exploring-close-to-home-in-sutton-bridge.html

Lloyd fancied a quick explore and I wondered how the place had changed almost 4 years later.

When I 1st visited, i was aware that it was once a shop only by the layout, shelves and price tags still visible. After that 1st visit, i tried to find out more information. Online i found a website about Sutton Bridge;  http://www.bridgewatch.org.uk, i emailed the people behind the site and the reply told me that the shop was Once 'Fishers', a small general store. I was also told that once it was hoped it could be renovated as a 'listed' building but the hopes were dashed by a lack of funding.

So three and a half years later, the site had been slightly improved; a broken fence, waste and overgrown vegetation and trees had somewhat been cleared. Windows had been removed around the building, though i do not know why?
I presumed someone was working on the building but once in side i could see no evidence of this.

Deterioration and dereliction continue to slowly consume the building. Rain continues to soak through the levels, one day to leave only the walls standing. But standing for how long?

Some of the same objects are still left in place, others are now lost.

Look into the darkness and find light.

If the old shop still stands in 4 years time i'll take another look. For now i'll continue to walk the dogs past and monitor what changes other make.

The 'elephant in the room' that is the Bridge Hotel continues to burden the village. I had a quick look in there too but this is the only photo.

Flying low at RAF Holbeach

Established in 1926 in the sleepy little village of Gedney Drove End, RAF Holbeach is a practice gunnery and bombing range. For those of us that live in the area close to, its a constant source of NOISE.

For sure you can see your fair share of fighter planes and gun ships but the majority of the time you just hear the jet engines and the thud thud of distant helicopters and this can go on for hours!

Drones are a bit of a novelty. A very expensive novelty too.
I like them, no doubt about it, they're cool but......

Things are no longer off limits, well apart from airports (for most people apart from those near missers), places are now in reach that were never in reach before. Views and angles previously only available to people with light aircraft are now achievable to every member of joe public.

A cold and windy Sunday in October, i loaded up my bike on the back of my car and drove to the marsh and then got my, head wind, pedal on to the waters edge.

Fly safe!

From Russia with love. To Stamford with art.

Don't go thinking that I've been to Russia. Or, by all means, you can go thinking that I have been to Russia, think all you like. I haven't.

However the camera used for these images has been to Russia, in fact it came from Russia.

The Kiev 4 was produced between 1947 - 1987. So I might have been 2 years old when was mine was made, might have?

I paid £5 for the camera and 50mm f2 lens attached. Half of me thinks I paid £5 too much for it. The trouble is I haven't decided if the camera is faulty or not. After about frame number 30 of a 24 exposure roll of Agfa Vista, I thought f@£* it! it's not winding on. Only to develop the film and to discover that it was.

Confused.com.

Granted, like many cameras, I only ever shoot one roll of film before the camera gathers dust in the drawer or gets sold on. So I have no hard evidence whether the camera is faulty or not, it seems I either wasn't counting exposures correctly or its fine?

On to the experience. Its a great camera, its solid, heavy and using the rangefinder is a pleasure with the focus wheel on the top of the body. Im not sure I had the 'Contax Hold' down to a T though as each time I put my eye to the viewfinder I saw my finger.

The photos for this blog were taken on New Years Eve in Stamford, Lincolnshire.
I was surprised to find street art and so I really should go back and search out some more.

Street Art by Snik https://www.facebook.com/snikarts/

The roll of Agfa Vista was my worst home developed roll so far. A truly awful amount of water marks had initially ruined the roll. Until I read that a little bit of breath and a lens cloth is the best way to get rid of it.

I do wonder if my chemicals are reaching their use by???
Maybe I did something that made the process very 'soapy'?

I've got a few rolls waiting to be developed in my fridge.
Theres only one way to find out if the chemicals are still good to use.

Don't let images collect virtual dust.

There is a real problem with film for me. Its my usual problem but it seems to really affect my film pursuits.

Time.

That whole magic, 'you don't know what your going to get', thing for me turns into 'you won't ever know what your going to get until you develop the film that's sitting wasting away in the fridge and then collecting dust waiting to be scanned'.

The saying then continues with 'and once you've scanned them, you need to import them into Lightroom and then finally do something with the images that have taken months to materialise'.

I don't see that phrase being famous and used on posters, t-shirts etc. But I'm  sure i can't be the only person in the world who loses images in their ever expanding Lightroom catalogue. I don't lose them their well named and tagged, its more forget. I've got lots of images that i have forgotten about; whole days, whole holidays that i have never shared and have definitely not printed.

All on my lonely hard drive waiting for one big failure to happen and poof........they're gone.


So to get back on track I'm going to start with the remaining shots from a roll of Truprint 35mm.

The box speed was ISO 400 but an unknown expiration date made me think shooting at ISO 100 would be a good idea....it was.

In a previous blog post I'm sure i said how much i liked the vivid colours that i got from this roll. I continue to apart from one shot where the horrible red skin colour is just too overpowering but its important to share a failure now and then;

But now thinking about this guy might of the beetroot persuasion???

For subjects such as a local funfair the vivd colours are very fitting.

What you looking at!? 

The House on the Hill

Kings Lynn Street Art

A little Macro photography with the Tamron 90mm F2.8

 So I'm really going to try and sort my blogging out and really start to share some of the photos that have been collecting virtual dust in my Lightroom catalogue.

Stay tuned.

And i do apologise for the random image content this time. I just really like the colours from this roll.

A Kodak moment in Wisbech

This roll of Kodak Color Plus has got to be the best roll of 35mm I've ever shot.

Or at least its the best roll thats ever come out. For all i know those fails, when the film wasn't winding on or when the camera back opened, now they might of been epic.
Emphasis on the might of been, probably less on the epic.

I enjoy using the EOS 600 SLR. It cost me about a tenner, its electronic, i already had a battery that fit it, its simple to use; years of DSLR use means its a doddle to pick up and alter the exposure. My collection of EF lenses from fisheye to 70-200 means i can grab a lens and go.

Autofocus; the photographers best friend. Ive got camera & lens combos that are manual focus only, with a bit of patience you'll get the shot. But having autofocus, despite it being only in the centre is a welcome feature.

Back over to my favourite photography haunt; Wisbech.
Im always there. Ive shot it a million times but i will continue, although i admit its getting a little boring. The same roads, the same alleys, the same shadows, the same faces.

But different camera, different lenses, different medium.

I tried and tried to get the purple tone out of this image.

Peekaboo 

Yes please.

Standing in the same spot, using the same exposure, you can get a different photo every time.
Zoom, crouch, focus.