The Swerve

During June, 2017, I visited Lacock Abbey to try out a few old M42 screw-mount lenses on a Canon EOS 40D DSLR. I got some nice pictures of bees and insects feasting on the flowers in the garden, and an especially satisfactory result photographing a lavender bush using a Cosinon 135mm telephoto in the abbey yard - the place where Fox Talbot did his photo of a fellow up a ladder. Later I took a walk around the inside of the big house built on top of the abbey, just to prolong the visit really. And from an upstairs window I observed a party of girls arriving under the supervision of a harrassed-looking teacher-type of woman. They were probably there for the Harry Potter experience in the cloisters, because that was where they were about to enter. I had a Chinon 55mm f/1.4 on the camera and clearly no time to change it, so I shot a few speculative shots of the melee beneath the upstairs window. I might have done better with a longer focal length, but as it turned out one of these pictures included this girl swerving in a right angle to enter the cloisters. She had the perfect expression of a young person in high spirits on a summer outing, bringing back all sorts of buried memories of joy and freedom.

This is a massive crop from a photograph taken through an upstairs window of a large and ancient house frequented by many paying visitors. I used the Chinon 55mm f/1.4 simply because it was attached to the camera when the opportunity arose; a longer lens would perhaps have been better. The original photograph was not particularly good; only this figure nonchalantly veering round a corner had any value as an image. Idly processing it in various software I strayed into a style reminiscent of Andy Warhol. I don't know how that happened but I am glad it did.

During June, 2017, I visited Lacock Abbey to try out a few old M42 screw-mount lenses on a Canon EOS 40D DSLR. I got some nice pictures of bees and insects feasting on the flowers in the garden, and an especially satisfactory result photographing a lavender bush using a Cosinon 135mm telephoto in the abbey yard - the place where Fox Talbot did his photo of a fellow up a ladder. Later I took a walk around the inside of the big house built on top of the abbey, just to prolong the visit really. And from an upstairs window I observed a party of girls arriving under the supervision of a harrassed-looking teacher-type of woman. They were probably there for the Harry Potter experience in the cloisters, because that was where they were about to enter. I had a Chinon 55mm f/1.4 on the camera and clearly no time to change it, so I shot a few speculative shots of the melee beneath the upstairs window. I might have done better with a longer focal length, but as it turned out one of these pictures included this girl swerving in a right angle to enter the cloisters. She had the perfect expression of a young person in high spirits on a summer outing, bringing back all sorts of buried memories of joy and freedom.

This photograph of a party of visitors assembling outside the cloisters of Lacock Abbey was taken through a window from inside the building using a vintage Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens on a digital camera. It needed a bit of work in post-processing.

Cropped and greatly processed for an 'arty' appearance, this is a tiny file which could be a disappointment when printed at any size. It probably looks at its best on a computer screen. Canon EOS 40D + Chinon 55mm f1.4 lens.

During June, 2017, I visited Lacock Abbey to try out a few old M42 screw-mount lenses on a Canon EOS 40D DSLR. I got some nice pictures of bees and insects feasting on the flowers in the garden, and an especially satisfactory result photographing a lavender bush using a Cosinon 135mm telephoto in the abbey yard - the place where Fox Talbot did his photo of a fellow up a ladder. Later I took a walk around the inside of the big house built on top of the abbey, just to prolong the visit really. And from an upstairs window I observed a party of girls arriving under the supervision of a harrassed-looking teacher-type of woman. They were probably there for the Harry Potter experience in the cloisters, because that was where they were about to enter. I had a Chinon 55mm f/1.4 on the camera and clearly no time to change it, so I shot a few speculative shots of the melee beneath the upstairs window. I might have done better with a longer focal length, but as it turned out one of these pictures included this girl swerving in a right angle to enter the cloisters. She had the perfect expression of a young person in high spirits on a summer outing, bringing back all sorts of buried memories of joy and freedom.