Worcester Regiment Colours

click photo to enlarge
The original purpose of regimental "colours" or flags was to indicate the rallying points of troops on the battlefield. The loss of the colours was an actual and symbolic loss for a regiment because it was frequently a mark of failure. Fighting in their vicinity often proved to be the most fierce as the enemy sought to secure them and their owners fought to prevent their capture. The tradition of embellishing basic flags with labels naming specific campaigns engaged in by the regiment is a post-medieval phenomenon, and anyone visiting a British cathedral is likely to come upon such colours in one of its many chapels.

Worcester Cathedral's St George's Chapel, not unnaturally, holds a collection of the colours of battalions of the Worcester Regiment. In 1970 it was was amalgamated with the Sherwood Foresters and ceased to be a distinct regiment. The chapel at the cathedral holds flags that date back to the nineteenth century, as well as those from the First and Second World Wars. Light and time inevitably take their toll on the material of the flags and the examples shown in today's photograph are typically discoloured and threadbare, qualities that help the viewer to better understand the passage of time since they were carried into battle.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 19.3mm (52mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/13
ISO: 800
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Worcester Cathedral, tripods and good enough

click photo to enlarge
I've photographed in churches for forty years or so. I began with an SLR, a rangefinder camera, a variety of films and a tripod. Today I'm shooting with a couple of DSLRs, a compact camera and I rarely use a tripod. What liberation the higher ISOs and image stabilisation of today's cameras have conferred on the photographer! Not only are you less burdened by the weight of a tripod, you get in people's way much less. Moreover, in locations such as the cathedral shown in today's photograph, you don't get someone asking if your photographs are for commercial purposes.

In the minds of many the equation "tripod = professional photography" still exists. And, while it's true that many people who actively and purposely seek to produce saleable pictures do use a tripod to get the sharpest image and the required depth of field, there are many instances where that goal can be achieved with a hand-held shot. However, the interior of a cathedral during the late afternoon of a dark day at the end of November isn't one of them. To get a sharp shot with a decent depth of field a tripod is a great help. But, if, as here, you are looking for a "good enough" image, then a wide aperture, a higher ISO and image stabilisation can produce the goods. What appealed to me about this shot was the contrast between the areas of dark and light, and the different colours that the incandescent, fluorescent, LED and natural lighting added to the scene.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 10.4mm (28mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/30
ISO: 640
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On