The Hands that Rock the Cradles - The benefits of shooting repeatedly in one location
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Last night @fadetoblack and I managed to coordinate diaries and get out in the dark to collaborate with a spot of lightpainting at Magpie Mine in Derbyshire. We had a great night and bagged a few "keepers" between us but after I got home I begun to wonder how many shots I have from Magpie Mine. You would think that once you've visited a place once and photographed it then that would be all you are ever likely to get from a location. But judging by the amount of images I have from the same place, it's clear that returning to the same location with a fresh pair of eyes can squeeze more blood from the stone!
Magpie Mine is an abandoned lead mine slap bang in the Derbyshire Peak District in the middle of nowhere. I understand lead mining has taken place on this site for hundreds of years and there's much controversy and tradegy at the mine over time. Now the site lays dormant but not necessarily abandoned in that it is looked after by a preservation society or trust. It may not be much to look at in the daytime but it sure looks great in the dark!
The hands that rock the cradles
I've had this shot on my to do list for quite a while. For one reason or another I never got around to it. It was simple to make where I used a fractal filter, a couple of RGB LED cubes and a flashgun to light up the smoke.
One thing which unexpectedly popped up in the frame were the number of hands made by the fractal filter. It's always good to get a bonus after clicking the shutter!
Looks like Mr.Elliott is enjoying his retirement....
This is the same mine cradle as the above shot but from further away.
Swinging the Lead (Mine)
Repeatedly visiting the same location makes you think more outside of the box. Here I used a camera rotation tool to expose the image sensor to four ways of rotation.
The ISS flew by...
On multiple visits to Magpie Mine it's very much a case of luck with the weather! I prefer it to be clear so I can bag some star trail images!
Here I set up a star trail sequence and the International Space Station flew by in quite a convenient position in the frame. Normally I would clone out all the planes or unpexpected UFO's out of the frame but decided to keep the ISS!
Magpie Mine under the stars (with no planes)
This is Magpie Mine in Derbyshire on a solo, self distancing trip out not long after the COVID lockdown ended. In fact it was so self distancing, the nearest person was probably about 10 miles away!
This shot comprises of 138 x 20 second exposures with a 1 second gap between each frame. I used ISO 1250 film speed on my Sony A7 with a Viltrox 20mm fully manual lens at f5.6 (ish). I stacked them all in Photoshop using the Lighten blend mode. I usually have to spend ages looking for a needle in a haystack cloning all the many planes light trails out but due to this bloody virus there were none to be seen!
Adding a dash of colour
One of the things which annoys me seeing others afterdark photos is the lack of colours. I don't know if this makes me weird or not but why would you not add a splash of colour in to an image?!
For a future visit
As I say in the opening, shoot locations should be revisited over and over to squeeze more blood from the stone. As we waited for darkness, I spotted this tree which I can't believe I never saw before. It's an excuse to visit here again on a clear night and shoot a Milky Way or star trails and use the tree in the composition!
Once home and on the computer, I opened up Luminar Neo and used the Sky AI tool to replace the sky with something more dramatic. Being a photographer aspiring to capture images in one exposure, warts and all, this feels like cheating! It looks great but.....
And finally....
As we await the darkness to arrive, we often find ourselves shooting various parts of the mine to make a mental note to shoot in the dark. We spotted this puddle which I've never seen before at the mine and got down low to shoot the reflections. Once I bagged the shot I felt disappointed the sky looked so flat.
Another Luminar Neo Sky Replacement shot, I feel so cheap.....
About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to create art.
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Lightpainting is a photographic technique in which exposures are made by moving a hand-held light source while taking a long exposure photograph, either to illuminate a subject or to shine a point of light directly at the camera, or by moving the camera itself during exposure. Nothing is added or removed in post processing.
If you would like to see more lightpainting please give the Lightpainters United Community a follow and you will be introduced into the illuminating world of light painting!
If you want to see more examples of lightpainting, feel free to check out these guys:
Mafu Fuma | Oddballgraphics | FadetoBlack | DAWN | Mart Barras | Stefan Stepke | Nikolay Trebukhin | Lee Todd | Stabeu Light | Maxime Pateau | Stephen Sampson | lightandlense | Neil Rushby | L.A.C.E.
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