The Purple Man, York

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As soon as I saw the Purple Man busking in the winding streets of York, I wanted to make an image of him with a long exposure. After a short conversation and payment, I set up my tripod and used a 6-stop (64x/1,8) neutral density filter to make the image over 6 seconds.

York Minster

Digital original, 21 frame exposure blend, 3 frame stitch

While my Symmetry in Stone Exhibition focused on Gothic Architecture, I am by no means done the project; to date I may have photographed 14 or so of the dozens and dozens of religious gothic buildings in the UK. Without a doubt, the most obvious building missing was York Minster; having lived in York briefly as a child, I have a strong emotional connection to the building - and it is one of the most majestic gothic buildings in all of Europe.

Digital original, 18 frame exposure blend, 3 frame stitch

My favorite image from this day is the above photograph of the Chapter House ceiling; there is no way to convey how stunning the room is in real life, but the photograph captures some of the energy and majesty of this elegant ceiling

Digital original, 23 frame exposure blend, 2 frame stitch

York Minster is one of the few cathedrals in the UK to have a Lantern Tower (with windows that light the crossing below); the frustration of making this image was that nothing lined up; The centre of the choir screen was off centre to the organ, the organ was off centre to the arch above, the centre of the tower was off centre to everything...in the end, I just gave up on "perfection" and tried to make an image that looked good.

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On my last walk through the Minster, I caught sight of the wonderful detain on a door - one of the few long-lens images I made in the entire day.

Whitby Abbey

Digital infrared original, 2 frame exposure blend

Whitby Abbey has long been a favorite place of mind; I remember romping around it as a child, and when I discovered it was central to Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, it was forever a favorite. The classic view over the pool to the south of the ruin is made a little more dramatic due to the use of infrared.

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Having not been in the ruins for over 30 years, I can't clearly recall what attracted me as a child, but with a camera in hand I was enthralled with the weathered stone...looks almost organic.

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I really enjoyed exploring the compositional potential of Whitby Abbey - lines going into corners going into crevices all came together over and over again s I photographed.

A Field of Poppies

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During the drive from the coast back to York, I had to stop for this field of poppies - and then saw the lovely late afternoon sky with the sun just coming through.

England VI - Castle Howard

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For the main focus of today's work, I took the photo tour to Castle Howard, the home of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family for more than 300 years. Because of the nature of the location, the focus of the day was hand-held photography....i.e. NO TRIPODS! It was not my usual approach, but a good skill to practice, for both me and the tour's participants.

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A large part of Castle Howard was destroyed by a fire in 1940. The dome (above), the central hall, the dining room and the state rooms on the east side were entirely destroyed. Some of the devastated rooms have been restored over the following decades. In 1960–61 the dome was rebuilt and in the following couple of years, Pellegrini's Fall of Phaeton was recreated on the underside of the dome.

I am particularly please with  the above photograph, as it takes full advantage of my 17mm tilt-shift lens, but was composed, and created hand-held. Yay high ISOs.

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All through lunch, this peacock was vying for my attention....several times he came within reach, and once spread his full tail feathers for me to photograph. I had no idea I was so attractive to peacocks!

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Where I began the blog entry with a wide-angle image of the back of Castle Howard, I'll end it with a long lens look at the front - a very different perspective on a beautiful building.

England V - Helmsley, Riveaux and the Yorkshire Moors

Digital infrared original 

Helmsley Castle is a medieval castle situated in the market town of Helmsley, within the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire, England. As we walked from the parking lot towards the main gate, the sky presented the perfect combination of clouds and clear blue to make the above composition.

Digital infrared original, 2 image stitch

Rievaulx Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey in Rievaulx, near Helmsley in the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire, England. Headed by the Abbot of Rievaulx, it was one of the wealthiest abbeys in England until it was dissolved by Henry VIII of England in 1538.

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After we finished photographing at Rievaulx, the students and I headed off on a cross-country ramble, looking for iconic views of the Yorkshire moors. We were fortunate to come across a misty view which met everything I was looking for.

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Later on, on the drive across the top of a moor (near an ancient mile-stone), I made this image of two sheep...a classic Yorkshire scene.

England IV - Hutton-le-Hole and the Yorkshire Moors

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Hutton-le-Hole is a small village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about seven miles north-west of Pickering. It is the home of the Ryedale Folk Museum, which has numerous buildings moved there to preserve the history of the Yorkshire Moors.

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One of my favourite images is the above photograph of the post office; I used my 17mm tilt-shift lens to keep the composition focused on the top half of the wall, and then shifted the lens down to show all the shelf contents below the counter.

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After photographing the buildings at Hutton-le-Hole, I took some time at the top of the hill to photograph some of the wild flowers.

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Two very optimistic ducklings, being watched over by a concerned mother.

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On the drive back to Haxby, we stopped to make some photos of the moors.

England III - Lincoln Cathedral to York Minster

Digital original, 22 frame exposure blend, 3 image stitch

Lincoln Cathedral is a cathedral located in Lincoln in England and seat of the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. Building commenced in 1088 and continued in several phases throughout the medieval period.

Digital original, 12 frame exposure blend, 2 image stitch

One major architectural feature of Lincoln Cathedral are the spectacular vaults. The varying vaults within the cathedral are said to be both original and experimental. All I could think of while photographing it was "who messed up there..." - it apparently was intentional but it really did look like a mistake!

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The Abbey of St Mary is a ruined Benedictine abbey in York, and was once the richest abbey in England. It was the first place I photographed when we first arrived in York - in my case, over 31 years since the last time I was in the city.

Digital original, 4 frame exposure blend

The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe.

Digital original, 2 frame stitch

As twilight set in, I walked around the Minster, and made some mixed lighting photographs of the ancient building, loving the beauty the two light sources provided.

England II - From Ely Cathedral to Lincoln Cathedral

Digital original, 19 frame exposure blend, 2 frame stitch

Ely Cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The present building dates back to 1083. Architecturally it is outstanding both for its scale and stylistic details. Above all, from a photographic perspective, the central tower, which has a painted wooden ceiling, was just fabulous to photograph. By this time, a year after my major project on Gothic Religious buildings, I had all the kinks worked out of the process, but still, it was just awe inspiring to photograph.

Digital original, 14 frame exposure blend, 2 frame stitch

Although the heart of my work with architecture focuses on symmetry, I do try, when I can find the time, to make asymmetrical compositions; in this case, I took advantage of the two-frame stitch to ensure that all four corners of the image were used to maximum effect.

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After a couple of hour drive from Ely to Lincoln, I spent the evening wandering around the outside of Lincoln Cathedral. Construction on Lincoln Cathedral was started in 1088 and continued in several phases throughout the medieval period. It was the tallest building in the world for 238 years (1311–1549), and the first building to hold that title after the Great Pyramid of Giza.  The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt.

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One of the most beautiful features of the cathedral was the large Romanesque doors, and their carved borders. I pushed my ultra-wide lens as far as I could with this one, and nary a line in the image is straight or level as a result.

England 1 - Flying...to Ely

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My third trip to the UK since 2008 was my second focused on providing a photo tour for students (the 2010 photo tour to Cornwall was followed up with a week of architectural photography which lead to the exhibition Symmetry in Stone, in 2011).

Digital infrared original, 2 frame stitch

After landing in London, I picked up the rental car, and drove east, to the cathedral city of Ely in Cambridgeshire. I'd not managed to photograph Ely Cathedral during my 2010 visit, and it was high on my bucket list.

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After settling into the B&B, and a short rest, I headed out to photograph the exterior of the cathedral, a brief 5 minute walk from my accommodations. The late afternoon light landed full-on on the front façade of the building, making for a dramatic composition.

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After walking around the cathedral, and making a number of really pleasing images, I continued to photograph the little things that stuck out around me - in most cases using my Canon 135mm f/2 lens to separate the details out from the city at large.

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I particularly enjoy the multiple layers of the above image - and the delicate colour contrast of the terracotta and bricks against the green leaves and moss.