A few weeks ago, I joined other CCC members for a morning at Madingley Hall. We have met up there a few times in the past and on this visit I wanted to concentrate on the little parish church. I spent quite a time inside, doing wide interiors and detail shots. It wasn't the sunniest of days, but the occasional shaft of light gave a little more interest.
Whilst those that knew what they were doing set up studio flashes, gels and smoke machines, there was plenty of time to explore the details of the pumping station. And there were plenty of details to admire. As well as the original steam powered rotative beam engine, there was the later diesel engine and a workshop full of bits and bobs.
Stretham Old Engine is the last complete survivor of more than a hundred similar engines that once worked the drainage network all over Cambridgeshire. It was used to pump water from flood-affected areas of The Fens back into the River Great Ouse. I visited there 2 weeks ago, with other CCC members. The intention was to use the pumping station as a backdrop for some portraits. David and Francoise kindly volunteered as models and brought some amazing Steam Punk and 1930s-style costumes.
A couple of Sundays ago, I joined Ann for a stroll around the West Cambridge Site. It was my first time visiting this university site. The sky was mostly grey, so I decided to concentrate on abstract images of the various buildings.
On Saturday, I joined a few other CCC members for a visit to Royston Heath in search of flowers and butterflies. The flowers were White Helleborines. For butterflies, we found Adonis Blues and Brown Argus. Quite a colourful day.
I recently bought a pinhole lens for my Olympus. I know it is possible to make a pinhole lens fairly easily. But I have heard that, unless you are very precise when making the hole, the results can be disappointing. So I prefer to have someone else do the construction. I have a Holga Pinhole lens for my Canon. It's all plastic and the pinhole is a little large. I have never been that happy with the images it produces. When searching for a new one, I wanted something a little better. I found it thanks to a company called Thingyfy.
The Thingyfy Pinhole Pro is series of interchangeable pinholes ranging in size from 0.1mm to 0.8mm. It's made from aluminium and has a pleasing weight. The different sized holes are selected by turning a ring and engage with a very subtle click. It can also take a 58mm filter, which might be useful for very long exposures. Thingyfy do versions for all camera mounts and also have a single pinhole version and a multi-hole version with a zoom ring. Their website is US based, so I ordered from Photospecialist. It took about a week to arrive.
I tried it out for the first time while at Madingley Hall.
When testing the full range on the same scene, and aiming for the same exposure, the sharpest images seemed to be at 0.15mm. At 0.5mm or 0.8mm the images were very impressionistic. Not sure how often I will take photos at this end of the range, but the bigger pinholes were very handy for composing a shot.
0.1 mm, 5.0 seconds
0.15 mm, 2.0 seconds
0.20 mm, 1.3 seconds
0.25 mm, 1.0 second
0.30 mm, 0.6 seconds
0.35 mm, 0.5 seconds
0.5mm, 0.25 seconds
0.8 mm, 0.1 seconds
