This is the second set of images that have been inspired by the writings of Joseph Delaney - Spooks Apprentice. In book four 'The Spooks Battle' young Tom and his master travel to the district of Pendle to sort out the witch clans. They are sheltered by the local priest of Downham village.
As with the first set of images I wanted to re-create the atmosphere described within these books, hence the dark, moody and eerie manipulations to the final images. However, I am not that happy with the images. The weather on the day of the shoot was sunny and bright, not the best for my intentions. Due to the fine weather there were more people and cars around the village - what can you do! I should have chosen a different day, but I had arranged to take a fellow student who is from Greece and show him a different part of Lancashire.
The image above is of the small row of cottages at the top of the hill in the village. These cottages typify the style of building as described in the 'Spooks Battle'. I have adjusted the image with the 'Selenium Tone' preset and added a strong contrast curve, and then brightening the image with the tone sliders. I used a 20mm wide angle lens, I wanted the picture to be sharp and have a lot of detail, so chose F11 ( I had read the f.11 to f.16 offer the best sharpness with landscape photography). The speed was fairly high due the the brightness of the day 400th sec with the f.stop chosen. The one downside to this image is the vapour trails left by aircraft.
This next image was taken due to the fact all the chimney pots were all still intact, which with modernisation is hard to come across. I have used cyanotype to creates the atmosphere and due to the extremely bright blue sky I thought this effect would suit. I used a zoom and small aperture to capture detail. Focal length 70mm and f18, speed 100th sec. The second image was taken for the distant view of the church. I also like the horizontal lines created by stone wall, wooden fences and buildings. I wanted to try a different effect but keep the same mood. I have de-saturated the colour to obtain the aged look.
The next two images are of the village looking up from the small village green. I have converted to greyscale to loose a bit of clarity and detail, due to cars and people, also to keep within the theme. I also wanted to capture the dominant church at the top of the image.
The next series of images are all taken around the church itself. The first image is of the tower. I really don't like this shot but have include it to show the dreadful shadow that has been cast to the right hand side. This has taught me a lesson - always look for the shadow on bright sunny days. I have taken the second image to show what the parishioners of Downham would be greeted with on being released from Sunday service. I also though it was a good way of showing Pendle Hill which features heavily in this story.
With this image I have purposely captured the branches of the tree in frame, I like the shadow that has been cast by them. I have converted to greysale to add to the mood. I chose a slight angle to give the image drama. The second image is of the front of the church. As the ground to the front slopped away I was able to obtain a view looking slightly upwards.
The last two image are taken on the pathways leading to and from Pendle Hill. In the story the author describes these pathways and they add quite a bit of drama to the plot.
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