Killing time

click photo to enlarge

The other day I was in the village of Billingborough, Lincolnshire on business. I had some time to kill so I walked around the outside of the medieval church and gazed up at its spire with its slender flying buttresses. As I'd done on a couple of previous occasions I stood before a selection of slate gravestones dating from the eighteenth century and marvelled at how sharp and clear the carving remained after two hundred and fifty years or more. And how light, elaborate and elegant the lettering, flourishes and decoration was compared with that of the Victorian period. I took a few photographs of the gravestones, the church and a nearby house - variations on images I'd recorded before. Then, with the muse of photography absent, and with some time still left before my appointment, I decided to get a cup of coffee and sit by the village pond whilst I drank it.

As I sat there, watching a moorhen feeding chicks that dashed over the surface of the water like little motor boats, I noticed cherry blossom falling from a tree that was overhanging the pond. The petals settled on the water, and sat there there with curves of surface tension all around them. A light breeze was blowing, slowly gathering them into little flotillas of pink that, joining up with others, grew into veritable armadas that the wind started to bank up against the shore, making them look like a floral invasion fleet. It was then I thought, "There's a photograph somewhere here!" So I moved around the edge of the pond composing images of the pink shapes against the reflected trees and sky. When I'd finished, feeling confident that I'd captured an image that I liked, I reflected that one of the great pleasures of photography is that on those days when you can't find images, the answer can be to stop looking and let the images find you!!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 150mm (300mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/125
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On