Framedlight

A couple of weeks ago I had reason to visit Derbyshire and made a return visit to Magpie Mine in the Bakewell area of the Peak District. I had very much enjoyed photographing it before and this time the weather was brighter, with outbreaks of sunshine! I had a different camera on me, the Fuji XE-1 and 3 lenses, the Fuji 35mm and 2 old Nikon AI lenses both dating from the 70's, a 28mm and a 135mm both f/2.8 but needing to be manually focussed when attached to the Fuji via an adaptor. I am enjoying using this light combination although the Fuji will only take 2 pictures in it's multiple exposure mode, whereas the Nikon can take up to 9. For this reason I did not take as many multiple exposures as they tended not to work so well. My aim was, as before, to try and get a sense of the place into my pictures. The last photograph was taken in the tearoom in Monyash, where I refreshed afterwards. ...

My day on the Peak District workshop called 'the natural and man-made landscape' started with a short presentation by the two leaders, Paul Hill and Nick Lockett. Nick's wife had also come along to help with providing refreshments for us all and also to talk photography. We then walked from Monyash down Lathkilldale which I have covered in the previous 2 blogs. We took photos in the dale, and then it started to rain, torrentially. A hasty journey back to the village saw us landing in rather a nice café for lunch and a photographic conversation which was good. Replete we travelled by car the short distance to Magpie Mine, the remains of which are thought to be the best example in the UK of a 19th century lead mine, dating back to 1793. Lead has been mined in Derbyshire since the bronze age and this dangerous work continued in the area until 1950 when after periods of inactivity and resurgence Magpie Mine finally closed and was taken into the care of the Peak District Mine...