Seeing stairs

click photo to enlarge
One of the pleasures of photography and looking at photographs is the way they can help you to see better; how they can focus your attention on form, colour, line etc in a way that augments your unaided eye. Very frequently I look at a photograph that I have taken and notice not only small details that had escaped my eye when it alone confronted a subject, but also fundamental qualities that had similarly passed me by.

Today's photograph shows the turn of some stairs in Croome Court, a large, eighteenth century country house in Worcestershire, now in the care of the National Trust. I took the photograph in this particular way for two reasons. Firstly a wider angle shot taking in much more of the stairs picked up clutter and extraneous objects that detracted from the elegance of the stairs themselves. And secondly that shot would not have emphasised the way the stairs turn and the devices the architect used to make this a visually satisfying sight. In fact, this is another example of the part being more expressive of the subject than the whole. I liked the combination of subtle colours with the stark white. I liked the way the dado rail traced a line on the wall that echoes the bannister of the stairs. I liked the wrought iron detail of every third baluster. I liked the horizontal "S" profile of the edge of each step. But, what I didn't notice, until I looked at my photograph, was the way that "S" shape produces a section that stretches across the underside of each step and produces subtly shaded modelling and a strong, contrasting line where it meets the wall. And I like that too.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 40mm (60mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
ISO:5600
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

1941 Austin K2 YMCA Tea Van

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What, you might ask, is a 1941 Austin K2 YMCA Tea van doing in the grounds of Croome Court, a mid-eighteenth century Palladian mansion? The fact is, what looks out of place is actually perfectly located because during WW2 this building and its extensive grounds were an adjunct of the nearby airbase called RAF Defford.

The airmen and civilian staff who received refreshments from such vehicles were involved with the Wellingon bombers of No. 23 Operational Training Unit. Members of the Radar Research Flying Unit worked here and had notable success in the development of airborne interception systems for night fighters. Air-to-surface-vessel radar that was a significant factor in the successful targeting of U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic was also worked on at the site. The National Trust, who now look after Croome Court have developed the house's RAF connection in its presentation of the site to visitors. My shot was taken from beneath a large, military canvas awning over a metal frame where picnic tables had been set out!

During the war the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI), a government organisation, provided most of the clubs, bars, shops, cafes, restaurants and other social facilities for the armed forces. However, these were supplemented by a number of civilian bodies such as the Women's Institute, the Salvation Army, the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS), the YMCA and local church groups. This vehicle has been painted as it would have been when in the service of the YMCA. Interestingly, this particular example was found in the Netherlands where it appears to have been left at the end of the war. It was bought and brought to Croome for restoration and eventual display, though it does more than just sit there and look interesting. The interior has been fitted out with a tea urn and electricity so that refreshments can still be served from its hatch, though this time to visitors to the house.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 56mm (84mm - 27mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Rotundas

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I've often thought that the designers of the temples of classical antiquity would be horrified by the uses to which their designs were put during the Renaissance. I've seen Greek and Roman style porticos attached to decidedly secular buildings - banks, libraries, railway stations, theatres, even greenhouses. The eighteenth and nineteenth century architects and builders of England's grand country houses took enormous liberties with temple styling turning it to the main and subsidiary facades of their houses, featuring it in the stable blocks and orangeries, and using small "temples" as eyecatchers in the landscape, locations that enhanced the view and provided a destination for a short walk and, perhaps, a picnic.

Today's photograph shows the Rotunda at Croome Court, a Georgian country house in Worcestershire. This round type of building was commonly used during this period, being thought to derive from the two thousand year old Pantheon in Rome, a temple with a rotunda and an affixed portico. I've seen many rotundas in England serving, mainly, as mausoleums and eyecatchers. The latter use was the purpose of this example. It was built by either the landscape architect, Capability Brown, or the architect, Robert Adam. Both have their supporters; I lean towards the Adam. Croome Court's rotunda has, like the main house and the other buildings in the landscape, undergone sensitive restoration, and today it is the paying visitor, rather than owners of the house, who enjoy a stroll to its location on the summit of a low ridge, overlooking the nearby parkland.

photograph and text © T. Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 35mm (52mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On