Noting a fine clear evening from home, encouraged a walk along the Southwell Trail in the Rainworth direction. The open aspect of this part of the trail (about a mile long) allows the light to settle on the landscape and although I have photographed these scenes many times I enjoyed the opportunity to be out with the camera:
For reasons mostly unrelated to photography, I have found it harder to get out with the camera and maintain my usual output. Instead I have turned my focus to photography jobs that I have been meaning to do for years. The first was updating my old hard drives.
I have always maintained multiple copies of my photography recognising that external hard drives can fail, although thankfully it has not happened yet. To minimise that possibility I replace drives every 3 to 5 years and thought I would use time wisely and make more copies. This job is now done.
The second task, still in progress, is making e-books from this blog. A few years ago I invested time in finding the best way to create PDFs of each post. My intention was to sort these into subject based e-books, a boring admin task that never totally got off the ground. Recently though I have applied a more systematic approach and whilst I might cringe at some of the posts, the e-books do provide a comprehensive record of my photography from 2015 to date.
The third and possibly most rewarding job was cutting mounts for prints. Recently I acquired a pack of mount boards and have enjoyed the task of selecting and mounting prints. I had forgotten the pleasure that physical prints can provide as so much of today’s output is digital and screen delivered. The mounting exercise has spurred on an effort to frame some of my work as well as opening old print boxes from years ago…enjoyable stuff!
When I am out walking, even if it is for a short time, the appearance of sunlight still encourages me to reach for the camera which includes this selection from an hour’s walk along the Southwell Trail:
The following small selection of photographs focuses on the Southwell Trail’s past life as a railway line connecting Southwell to Mansfield. Passenger trains stopped running in the 1920s but the line was maintained for goods services until the 1960’s. More information about the trail and the railway can be found in this leaflet produced by Nottinghamshire Council:
https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/media/1528400/southwell-trails-booklet.pdf
The photographs below show the old Edingley and Kirklington Station house, one of the bridges over the trail, the old height gauge which stands in the picnic area near to the station:
These days the trail is tree lined and used by walkers and cyclists but it retains a straight, often tunnel-like appearance:
Interesting conditions for photography on Curbar Edge in January with a thick fog reducing the visibility to the immediate surroundings. As I walked along the edge different shapes emerged from the gloom, simplified by the lack of background details. Trees stood in isolation, some of their sharpness diffused by the conditions.
From a photographic point of view it was one of those days without a stand out image, the general dullness prevented this. Collectively though, the results do unify into a themed panel where the sum is perhaps greater than its parts. Either way, I enjoyed the walk, the conditions and a different photographic challenge.
