RAF Barnham

A few weeks ago I joined other CCC members for a trip to the former RAF Barnham.  Now an industrial estate, and a scheduled historic monument, during the 50s/60s, RAF Barnham was one of two storage locations for Blue Danube, Britain's first nuclear bomb.  Blue Danube was a physically large, 'Manhattan Project' era technology, bomb, intended to be delivered by the V-bombers (Valiant's, Victors & Vulcans).  Theses bombs required constant maintenance, hence the central storage.

Inside a double fence, Barnham was roughly pentagonal in layout.  There were three main buildings, each surrounded by an earthwork banking.  These stored and maintained the bomb casings and the high-explosive elements of the weapons.  Additionally, there were 55 small storage buildings, called 'hutches', that held the fissile cores. Today, the two remaining main buildings (one burnt down in the 80s) and the ancillary buildings are used for light industry.  The double fence, guard towers and hutches have been maintained and where possible restored, as part of the obligation to historic monument status.  Three of the four guard towers have been restored to their original condition, as have a couple of the hutches which have had the inner storage safes replaced.  Much of the work has been done by the firms who rent space within the site.

 

More from Scotland

A few more images from my recent trip to Scotland; featuring Glen Coe, Rannoch Moor, Glen Etive and Castle Stalker.

Buachaille Etive Mor

Back in February, I spent a week based in Fort William, for a little winter landscaping, with my friend Vic.  The weather was mixed, as you would expect for Scotland in February, but we did manage a couple of good days.  I was keen to get some good images of Buachaille Etive Mor, so that was the focus of two mornings.  The first morning started frustratingly cloudy, but eventually (and quite suddenly) it cleared into perfect conditions.  We headed to the 'tripod holes' spot at the top of Glen Etive, to get the same shot that thousands of other 'togs have shot before us.  Then we followed the river Etive upstream, to look for some different compositions.

The second morning was cold and clear.  We had hoped to gain some hight, to give a different viewpoint on the big shepherd.  But a delayed start and slow traffic through Glen Coe, meant we were never going to get in position before the sun hit the mountain.  So, back to Glen Etive we went.  This time the still parts of the river Etive were frozen over, giving a different element to foreground compositions.

 

e-Luminate, Cambridge

Over the last week the e-Luminate festival has taken place again in Cambridge.  Having shot this event last year, and recently attended the London version, I was keen to get along.  A CCC trip was organised for Sunday evening, which looked like it would be the quietest night of the week.  There were some crowds early on, but most had left by about 8pm.  There were light installations on a number of buildings across the city centre.  However, I chose to spend most of my time on Kings Parade and Trinity Street. The gate of Gonville and Caius proved a particularly popular location with photographers.  After some perseverance, waiting for the right people interest to come along, I managed to obtain the main image, which I am quite please with.  

CCC: Start to Finish Day

Today I took part in a very enjoyable 'start to finish day', ably organised by CCC President Sylvie, at her home in Newport.  The aim was to take some photos and process them to final images on site.  Sadly, a lack of portable computing power stopped me from doing this exactly, but I am keeping to the spirit of the event by bloging about it on the same day.

The weather was not kind, with a wet morning and overcast afternoon.  Luckily, Sylvie has access to some superb old glasshouses.  So, after a mild soaking exploring the gardens, I spent much of the day inside these.  One of the aims of the day was to explore more creative techniques.  After trying a couple of different things that weren't working for me, I settled on using my Lensbaby.  I felt that the vaguely dreamy quality that this lens can impart worked well with the old glasshouses.  A slight desaturation of the resultant images also seem to fit the setting.

 

 

London Lumiere Festival

Recently, the Lumiere Festival took place in London.  30 locations across Mayfair, King's Cross, Piccadilly, Regent Street, Trafalgar Square and Westminster featured light installations over 4 nights.  With hindsight, choosing to visit on the Saturday night wasn't the wisest decision.  But, that was the only night I had, and I thought to myself; it'll be busy, but not that bad.  Turns out it got very busy indeed.  Not quite New Year's Eve busy, but not that far off.  I managed to get to Trafalgar and Leicester Squares, but gave up on the other West-end sites, due to the tide of humanity standing in my way.  I got to a (relatively) quieter Westminster Abbey, before heading to King's Cross.  At King's Cross I particularly enjoyed an installation that projected colours onto the crowd.  But not long after that it started to rain and I headed for home.