Obsessive tidiness can be as much an eyesore as can casual mess. I was pondering this a few days ago when I came across some hedges that had been "cut" perfectly level and made narrower by a farmer who had spent some considerable time tidying the perimeter of his land. I say "cut" because in fact the poor hedge had been battered and smashed by a rotary cutter fixed to a tractor's power take-off, and consequently the end of each branch had been frayed to the point where it looked like a paintbrush. To make matters worse the roadside grass had been cut - perhaps using the same tool - so short that it was left looking like yellow, parched stubble, a bright and sorry contrast to the deep green of the flourishing verges nearby.
There is sometimes a pleasure to be had in untidiness, be it a wanton hedgerow, a stony river bed full of flood debris, or a derelict building that has been untouched for years. I was inside one of the latter recently, a former brewhouse at Calke Abbey, Derbyshire, which is a stately home in the care of the National Trust. What distinguishes this property from many owned by the Trust is that they received it when it was in a state of decay and dereliction and many of the rooms and buildings have not yet been restored. It is advertised, quite rightly, as an "un-stately home", and the contrast between the restored and the derelict is interesting to see. Today's photograph shows the vats, barrels, and implements of the brewhouse. I've wanted to produce a sepia toned photograph for a while and this subject seemed just right for that purpose.
photograph and text © Tony Boughen
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 12mm (24mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f4.0
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO:6400
Exposure Compensation: 0
Image Stabilisation: On
