Churchyard stories...

[Makonde]

Nick's search for perfection in church / churchyard shots had me nipping up to our local church early this afternoon. The light wasn't ideal and I was shooting hand-held but primarily looking for 'stories' rather than classic church shots of the kind Nick might call 'cake tin lid' shots !

Here are some - I might return to them by and by:
The juxtaposition of headstones, eroding but still legible, and the immaculate clock on the church gives an obvious theme....:



And variation (this end of the church dates originally from Norman times):



The wardens were cutting the grass (I should have got a better diagonal angle on the tomb):



Now, this yew tree was blasted by lightning many years ago and grew a new trunk up the middle of the riven part, which is still blackened charcoal. It's right outside the church door, and can sometimes look uncannily like a disembowelled crucifixion, especially in moonlight. makes you think... It is very difficult to photograph: not much room, too much contrast, and I have had several tries. I must remember to go along on a moonlit night.... This one is an attempt to recreate the ghastly aspect:

[snaarman]

Re: Churchyard stories...

Mmm, that last one sure has the makings of a great shot..

As you say, a misty moonlit picture maybe

Pete

[Makonde]

Re: Churchyard stories...

I've had four sessions trying to get a really good shot of that riven yew in daytime but it's tricky! Immediately this side is a large tomb; there's a wall and gateway to the left and the church to the right; it's dark down there under the yew's foliage except when the sun shines in from left - whereupon the outer trunk is too bright and the inner charcoal too black... One needs to get all the trunk up to and including the spread of the two 'arms' so wide angle is necessary(I have nothing wider than 12mm)

I haven't tried evening light and maybe a little fill in flash, or moonlight. I better be careful I'm not arrested lol!

[Guest]

Re: Churchyard stories...

Nick's search for perfection in church / churchyard shots had me nipping up to our local church early this afternoon. The light wasn't ideal and I was shooting hand-held but primarily looking for 'stories' rather than classic church shots of the kind Nick might call 'cake tin lid' shots !

Glad to be considered as an 'inspiration'.

In defence of my 'tin-lids' they are shot for a purpose, that is to illustrate the local churches on my churches website, so the pictures need to be informative about the church as well as acceptable as photographs. This church, well I know it has been knocked about a bit - but nothing really else. So my search for perfection of the image has to be tempered by the overall purpose.

Like the shape of the first one - but I think the sky/light lets it down. If there is a convenient streetlight/building light there might well be an iinteresting night shot here.


Second - well I'm not sure which way is flat and the cross is truncated so it loses its strength. Might shoot it so the cross is more dominant (lower rhs quarter) and probably shallower.

Third - doesn't for me work at all.

The blasted yew - yes I've got frustrating subjects that just wont come out as images. Wonder what it's like just after a bit of rain - with a bit of wet wood and glisten to give it texture.

Nick

[Makonde]

Re: Churchyard stories...

Nick, my dear fellow, you are the originator of the 'cake tin lid' expression and I think you deserve credit for pinpointing a very British genre! It made me laugh and I've adopted it.

I know exactly what you mean - I have been out lately shooting local scenes and buildings for the reappraisal exercise on our local conservation area. Mainstream cake tin lid, but enjoyable.

e.g. CTL pic:


Your thread inspired me because I got to thinking about what 'story' your pics might be telling. So I thought I would nip out and see what stories my local churchyard, some 300 yards away, might be telling..... It's not an easy subject because with adjacent trees, walls and buildings, space there is circumscribed. My shots were hurried but the exercise identified two stories for me. The tree has been in my mind a while; the 'passage of time' emerged as I prowled round. I'll think about them along with the flowers/gravestones/ generations theme.

I see a lot of photos in these forums where technique is good - much better than mine - and where the crits concentrate on those questions. I'd love to see more posts here about what a forum member wanted to convey, or found s/he had conveyed, in a photograph. And differing treatments. A beautifully exposed sunset or bug-on-flower may be a wondrous thing but there are an awful lot of them! What makes a new one stand out?....

[Guest]

Re: Churchyard stories...

Nick, my dear fellow, you are the originator of the 'cake tin lid' expression and I think you deserve credit for pinpointing a very British genre! It made me laugh and I've adopted it.

I really doubt that it's original. Unfortunately it is a passing genre, nowadays cakes come in cardboard containers with cellophane windows. Once the cake tin was as much part of the gift as the cake; and remained the gift, now filled with pencils or interesting pebbles from the sea shore, long after the cake was forgotten.

I see a lot of photos in these forums where technique is good - much better than mine - and where the crits concentrate on those questions. I'd love to see more posts here about what a forum member wanted to convey, or found s/he had conveyed, in a photograph. And differing treatments. A beautifully exposed sunset or bug-on-flower may be a wondrous thing but there are an awful lot of them! What makes a new one stand out?....

But the question as to whether a picture has a narrative is very personal. My 'opium' thread starts with the picture of the corner of a room, now its got some interesting shapes and colours, it's balanced etc. But ultimately it's just the corner of a room and however well shot that is all it ever can be. Except I can see the way the light falls, the symbolism behind the dressings - so to me it has a narrative. I can read it another way, it is a satisfying shape, it has a rich context, it is the start of a story yet to be told or, maybe, that final paragraph where all is resolved, the one where you sigh, shake you head and the reach for another biscuit from the tin.

You've just posted a shot of a path - well that's a story, or will be, but unless I'm standing exactly where you stood it really would be of little help in identifying or finding the house.

At times when we don't find a narrative - well it is our imagination, not the image - that has created that limitation. But that's not a criticism of any individual imagination, each life gives us a different set of pegs to hook our stories onto.

But there's another way of looking at it, if you photograph a flower, despite the fact that flowers have been photographed before, then you want to make that the best shot you can do. There is a satisfaction in applying a craft, and if well done, there is a satisfaction in seeing a craft well applied. And we all have to 'craft' a number of breadboards before we can achieve that classic chair.

And of course, in a group like this, if we have a skill, aptitude or interest, however limited - then, well there's a satisfaction in sharing.

Sorry - but you gave me an excuse to pontificate.

You should have been warned

Nick

[Ellie]

Re: Churchyard stories...

I like the humour in the one with the petrol can!

if you photograph a flower, despite the fact that flowers have been photographed before, then you want to make that the best shot you can do

Or you might just want to be able to recreate a picture you've seen. There's very little that's completely original, but every time you press the button it's a new experience.