Visiting Bournville Village Trust with IgersbirminghamUK

by Damien Walmsley 04/04/2024 05/04/2024

IgersbirminghamUK, Selly Manor, Bournville Village Trust. March 2024

Birmingham has a long and rich history and the names of George and Richard Cadbury are linked with the story of the City Their success in creating Cadbury’s Chocolate led to the building of their factory in Bournville. The brothers created a Garden Village around the factory to cater for their employees. Sadly Richard died before seeing the project completed although this spurred on George Cadbury to complete the project. Bournville village is now run by a Trust and is a legacy which is enjoyed by both residents and visitors to the area.

IgersbirminghamUK, Bournville Village Trust. March 2024 — The Rest House which is at the centre of Bournville Village.

IgersbirminghamUK organised their first photographic Instameet of 2024 at Selly Manor which is part of Bournville Village Trust. Selly Manor also has a long story. The original building “Smythes Tenement” dated back to 1476. Over time, the building deteriorated and was split into separate dwellings called the “Rookery”. The house was saved from demolition by George Cadbury who brought the property in 1907 and relocated Selly Manor from Selly Oak to Bournville Garden Village. The House was rebuilt next to the Chocolate Factory in 1916 and opened as a museum.

Nearly 30 photographers arrived at the Museum on a bright sunny Saturday morning. We received a welcome from staff member, Daniel, who gave us an overview of the house and then encouraged us to visit the rest of the area. We were given a leaflet of the heritage trail that takes in all the notable buildings in the Bournville village. We have some excellent photographers in the IgersbirminghamUK ranks as evidenced by the pictures that emerged on Instagram. You can follow the pictures and reels from the day with the following tags and I have provided links to the relevant pages. Please take some time to visit the pages and see the wonderful pictures. Thanks to the other members of the IgersbirminghamUK team for their organisation and help with the meeting Nicky Warwickshire, LenaMac77 and James_never_Jim.

The following is a selection of my pictures from the Selly Manor and Bournville Village Visit.

Further reading on Selly Manor and the Bournville Village Trust.

Following on from Selly Manor some photographers moved onto the Bournville Quaker meeting House where one of the Quakers, Anne, was most kind and showed us around inside. The outside of the church does have a fairy castle feeling. Inside the large hall was impressive with light streaming through the windows. There is a raised platform with chairs and table from the Selly Manor museum. This, as Anne pointed out, is not used for worship as Quakers sit around in circles in the centre of the hall usually with a table. Anne then took us up to the balcony to see the organ and from here we were able to take pictures down into the hall. I was even fortunate that Anne agreed to be in my 100 Strangers project.

IgersbirminghamUK, Selly Manor, Quaker Meeting House, Bournville Village Trust. March 2024 — Bournville Quaker Meeting House.

There is much more to see in and around the Bournville Village Trust and those photographs will have to wait till another day. I spend much of my time talking to other Instagrammers during an Instameet and do not get the opportunity to take that many photographs. Catching up with others and seeing what they have photographed is a bonus with such Instameets. After the meeting we headed off to the Glass House brewery by the canal in Stirchley. We had a good catch up including talking about that elusive picture that got away!

If you are interested in the @IgersbirminghamUK Instameets then I have other accounts on my blog with the one below as a starting point.

Autumnal colours at Birmingham Botanical Gardens lights up IgersbirminghamUK Instameet

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London times – taking in the streets of Islington and Shoreditch

by Damien Walmsley 03/04/2024 04/04/2024

Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024

London is an ideal place for urban photography as it offers so many different places that offer variety. There are several large-scale cityscape vistas which sit with the smaller scale scenes taking in street art and street photography. The start of my recent photo walk with colleague Peter Thompson was the Angel, Islington and from here we accessed the Regent’s canal. A link to this part of my photo walk is below. Leaving the canal we moved around Shoreditch taking in some of the street art and catching people interacting with their urban surroundings. Architecture was another focus of my lens. Finally we finished off at Horizon22 which is also covered in a separate blog entry. So sit back and be prepared for a roller coaster of pictures from my walk in Shoreditch. (All pictures taken on my Fujifilm x100v)

Two churches and one bridge
Start at Birmingham Cathedral and take pictures inside then move down church street towards the pedestrian bridge over Queensway then make our way up Bennett's hill to St Paul's church and pictures inside the church there. I will see if we can get access into both places. What do you think? Based on the following.

Andy Street says. "I’m pledging to launch an international architectural competition to build a NEW BRIDGE connecting the Jewellery Quarter & Colmore Row . The link between two of Brum’s best areas isn’t good enough, we have to deliver an accessible link that celebrates the city’s heritage."
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/competition-fix-rickety-old-city-28913191 — Little Red Riding Hood.

You made it to here and your reward are links to my other recent London Times postings.

London Times – The London Horizon from Horizon22

Walking the Regent’s Canal – the Shoreditch stretch

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A foggy start to the day in Birmingham

by Damien Walmsley 10/03/2024 10/03/2024

Pulling the curtains back, I saw the fog which lifts any photographers spirits. Fortunately, I had to be in Birmingham early and I knew that I would be able to get some good pictures of Dorridge station in the fog before it lifted. I was even more pleased that the fog had not lifted by the time I got to Birmingham city centre. The fog was still around the Bull Ring and Moor Street turning normal street scenes into atmospheric and mysterious places. The silhouettes of commuters provided the focus to many of the pictures. The majority of the photographs were taken with my iPhone15 which were then converted to black and white to take advantage of the contrasts available. I used Silver Efex Pro and I like the fine art processing or occasionally the overexposed settings that are provided. I also include pictures from the start of my journey in Dorridge where the fog was even thicker.

Dorridge station in the fog.

Fog at Dorridge, March 2024 — The platforms shrouded in fog.

I do like foggy mornings as these blog posts show.

Fog in the morning

The fog creates a black and white landscape

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Watching and photographing a starling murmuration

by Damien Walmsley 21/02/2024 07/03/2024

Starling murmuration, Redditch, February 2023

The message went out. “There is likely to be a starling murmuration on Sunday night. The venue will be the roof of a shopping centre car park in Redditch, Worcestershire”. This message was sent out on social media by Jim Panda who knows a thing or two about wildlife. A few years back, he had organised a meeting where over 100 people attended a starling murmuration in the same location. Now Jim let the social media world know that the murmurations were back (if they ever had been away).

On a Sunday afternoon people gathered on the top of the shopping centre car park. The time was just after four o’clock. The evening was beautiful and whilst there was initially some light rain, the main event for a while was destined to be a beautiful rainbow. People had answered Jim’s call and were turning up to see the murmuration. As we stood overlooking the southern aspect of the car park, very little was happening. Two pigeons were spotted and even a couple of seagulls flew by teasing the assembled photographers and onlookers. Besides this nothing else was stirring. Jim remained calm and reassured people who asked that the starlings had been here for the last few nights. The waiting did have its advantages as it gave many of us the opportunity to talk to fellow photographers. We caught up with the news and gossip in our local photographic community. Behind us a beautiful sunset was gathering pace and the colours in the cloud began to deepen. Occasionally one of two starlings flew past, teasing us as we waited for the main event.

Without knowing how or when it happened, a flock of around 10 starlings flew by. Then a few more groups just happened to appear and the birds started to coalesce. Then magically a larger group of starlings was in front of us with more birds joining the main group all the time. The murmuration was in full flight. Everyone lined up on the southern wall and watched the birds fly back and forth. Everyone had their iPhones, cameras and eyes on the birds.

Starling murmuration, Redditch, February 2023

The colours in the clouds from the sunset produced a spectacular backdrop for the movement of the birds. At last, I understood why it is called a murmuration. The spectacular flypast was accompanied by the noise of the flapping wings. The event was mesmerising and a few times I stopped taking photographs and just watched the birds fly around. There were several good photographers on the roof and this was demonstrated by the excellent videos and pictures that have been posted after the event.

I took some snippets of video for the family back home. I had my trusty Canon D5 MkIV and used both my standard 40-70mm and 200mm lenses. I experimented with some long exposures which did not get a great reaction from the family! See what you think. The iPhone was brilliant as I was able to take several videos of the Starlings plus a few wide angled shots. The traditional pictures of the birds against the clouds worked well. From a story telling point of view, I wanted to show the photographers on the wall taking pictures of the murmuration. There was a long line of people who were captivated by the event before them. The birds make different shapes and I saw an arrow. Also there was a snake’s head eating the other birds although you may argue the shapes are something else.

Time passed quickly and the birds were coming to the end of their fly past. The car park has a line of evergreen trees at the front entrance. Groups of birds broke away from the main group and suddenly dropped into the trees. There was a lovely fluttering sound accompanied by the rustle of the leaves as they finally came to rest. This was repeated over the next 5 minutes leaving a few starlings still flying in formation. Then this final group disappeared into the trees and the murmuration was finished.

Dusk had arrived and taken a firm grip of the last light of the day. The dark of the night was just around the corner. We made our way back to our cars and drove off chatting excitedly about the event and rushing home to see and post our pictures. If you ever get the chance to witness a murmuration then you will understand that the words and pictures do not convey the atmosphere of experiencing one of nature’s great events.

If you want some photographic tips on how to photograph a murmuration then this Amateur Photographer article is very useful.

How to photograph starling murmurations

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Borealis: bringing the northern lights to the Bullring in Birmingham

by Damien Walmsley 14/02/2024 07/03/2024

Borealis in the Bullring, Birmingham, February 2024

The Bullring centre is hosting a light show called Borealis for one week in February. This production by the artist Dan Acher is on display every evening during the week. With a mixture of dry ice smoke and laser beams, the “northern lights” are recreated in the centre of Birmingham. The performance is accompanied by haunting music which sets the scene and cranks up the atmosphere. When you stand still and look up at the colours, you are transported to a magical place where the northern lights are happening. Borealis is a photographer’s dream. As the laser beams crisscross through the smoke, colours are created and these are highlighted by the surrounding buildings. The gentle breeze in the area moves the smoke around leading to pleasing patterns against the backdrop of the Selfridges building and St Martin’s Church.

.
I arrived there just as the sun was setting and the golden hour followed by the blue hour provided a changing backdrop to the scenes being created. The hypnotic music added to the atmosphere. The smoke adds to the surreal atmosphere and produces a haunting appearance to the area which is part dreamy and romantic at the same time. As it is half term week there are many people in the city shopping. The area around St Martin’s was packed with onlookers gazing into the sky. There was one child dressed in white who seemed to be leading the crowds in a service for the Borealis. The imagery could be appreciated either close up or at a distance allowing everyone to take in the spectacle.

Using both iPhone and my Fujifilm x100v, I had fun taking pictures before heading off for an evening meal in town. After dinner, I dropped by to see Borealis on my way to the train, the night was dark and there was a different take to the light show as the powerful laser colours shone through the smoke layers. I stayed around for a few more pictures. Even at that late time, there were people out and about enjoying the show.

Here is a link if you wish to know more about the work of Dan Acher.

BOREALIS

The last light show in Birmingham that I visited was in February 2020 when the world was still very young and the idea that a virus would force us all indoors was a fanciful idea. My record of the festival light from 2020 is outlined on a previous blog.

Festival of Light

About the picture taking.
I was fortunate to have a dinner booked in town at 6pm. This gave me time to see the Borealis early and late in the evening. I always have my iPhone with me and wherever possible my Fujifilm x100v. When I arrived, my mind already starts to think how can I tell a story about the show. There were several things that caught my eye. The smokey atmosphere was one. Standing at the top of St Martin’s Walk looking downwards to the Church is a popular vantage point and captures the haze above the crowds. I moved closer to take in the sunset and the source of the smoke and lasers. My photographic mind is thinking about the big picture and then the smaller things that make up the view. What amazed me were the crowds of people, so I knew that I wanted them in the picture. I swap from iPhone to compact camera when taking my pictures. The iPhone is so good but I find that it wants to adjust the shadows and compensate for the darkness. Meanwhile the x100v requires a very high ISO and wide aperture to let the light in. Fortunately post processing is done with Lightroom and the “denoise” button is a dream to use. This has rejuvenated my night time use with the Fujifilm and I am not afraid to crank up the ISO. Selecting images proved a challenge and I limited myself to just 8 pictures. As always on social media, there were some very good pictures taken by other photographers. Seeing them, I think to myself, if only I had taken that photograph but I know that they also challenge me to adjust my view of the scene when out taking photographs. A selection of them may be found on the Beautiful Productions Instagram page.

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A psychedelic colour tunnel in Utrecht

by Damien Walmsley 01/05/2023 05/05/2023

The tunnel in Utrecht, the Netherlands, April 2023.

There is a tunnel in Utrecht that leads from the Ganzenmarkt to the Oudegracht wharves. I discovered the tunnel by chance after a late night in the town as part of the conference dinner. Walking back to my hotel, I passed by the restaurants and the bars. My eye caught a flashing light and I looked over the railing and saw colourful lights radiating out of a tunnel close to the canal. I walked down and found this colourful psychedelic tunnel. The lighting of the tunnel kept changing and there were three people dancing in what looked like a trance. They were oblivious to my presence and so I took some pictures and then headed home.

The next morning I retraced my steps to the tunnel. The location is a photographer’s dream site for pictures especially as the colourful lights are constantly changing on a regular cycle. The street art is colourful and the illumination provides a changing backdrop. I asked a colleague to return with me so that I could place him at the entrance then use his silhouette to provide a focus to the pictures. Enjoy the result. Sorry if it is somewhat self-indulgent but it was such a great place to photograph.

Want to know more about Utrecht and this amazing tunnel.
Discover Utrecht
Ganzenmarkt
Student life in Utrecht

Also please see my companion piece to my visit to Utrecht.
Photographing the streets and canals of Utrecht

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Bluebells in the Heart of England Forest

by Damien Walmsley 30/04/2023 01/05/2023

Bluebell Walk, Heart of England Forest, Great Alne. April 2023

Who doesn’t love the sight of bluebells gently swaying in the breeze. Many of our ancient woodlands are at risk by the creeping threat of development and that is why I support the annual Bluebell Wood Fundraising Open Day in the Heart of England Forest. Conserving our woodlands for future generations is very much a priority. Great Alne Woodland is just off Spurnal Lane, and is a part of a Natural Burial Ground. The ancient wood has a stunning display of bluebells at the end of April and is open to visitors for two days.

My daughter loves visiting this quiet and picturesque woodland and there are so many good photographic opportunities. I brought along my camera equipment and found that the early morning light was perfect. The contrast of blue and green is a joy to see and photograph. My lensball was also put to good use for a few pictures. A useful photographic tip for maximising the benefit of your lensball is to use your macro lens for the pictures. This technique works a treat.

My 52 week project challenge was bokeh and the bluebells provided several opportunities to focus on the flowers with a wide open lens (f/2.8). This throws the background out of focus producing lovely Bokeh.

During my visit to the woodland, I met Toby, who is the organiser of this charity event. He kindly agreed to have his picture taken and be part of my 100 strangers project which is slowly moving forward on my Flickr pages.

The organisation of the day is excellent. The walk starts in the car park and takes you through the woodland with some well positioned spots for those important selfies. I noticed that the event is becoming more popular but via the use of ticketing, our family took part in the walk and did not meet many other people. For a short time, the woodland was ours to enjoy and we were able to take in the sights of those beautiful bluebells. My grandson loves the place as you can see from the following pictures.

Please consider donating to the Heart of England Forest charity and look out for future events that they organise.

If you want to see my other blogs on Bluebells, including last year’s walk in the wood, then I have provided links below.

Bluebell walk in Great Alne Woods

Bluebells in Austy Wood

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Black and White Architecture in Birmingham

by Damien Walmsley 21/04/2023 01/05/2023

Black and White Architecture, Birmingham April 2023.

My challenge for this week’s 52 weeks project was black and white photography. As I was in Birmingham for my research work, I took the opportunity to wander the streets of the city looking for pictures of buildings. Armed with my trusty Fujifilm x100v, I stepped off the bus at the O2 arena stop. On the opposite side of the road, there are new high raised buildings going up. All are aimed at the residential market. These skyscrapers are going up all over and the city looks unfinished or going places depending on which way you think.

My next stop was the square area of buildings that house the Holiday Inn, 3 Arena central and the Alpha Tower. Many shapes, angles and lines as the tall buildings are all clustered together. The Library of Birmingham and the Town Hall were also the subjects of my study on black and white architecture. Finally the rain, which had been falling heavily all day, got the better of me and soaked through, I headed towards Snow Hill Station for my train home. I still managed to get a few pictures of the Snow Hill skyscrapers.

My processing was a mixture of simple black and white or enhanced work with Silver Efex. The results were interesting and I was surprised that I captured so many buildings in different ways. I reflected all this was done without the need to photograph those iconic Birmingham buildings of the BT Tower, the Rotunda or the Cube. I will probably give the ones that I missed the black and white treatment another time. Meanwhile enjoy the ones that I have in this blog.

If you enjoyed this blog then how about a splash of colour with your architecture.

Exploring King’s Cross

Edinburgh – the tourist view

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Key Hill Cemetery Instameet – IgersbirminghamUK

by Damien Walmsley 17/04/2023 19/05/2023

Key Hill Cemetery, Jewellery Quarter, April 2023

The cemeteries of the Jewellery Quarter offer a fascinating glimpse into Birmingham’s past. There are two sites, Key Hill and Warstone Lane, with both cemeteries containing the burials of notable Birmingham people. The Friends of Key Hill cemetery and Warstone Lane cemetery work to maintain and protect these important historical landmarks. An @igersbirminghamuk Instameet was held in conjunction with @JQ_BID (Jewellery Quarter Business Improvement District). We aimed to start at Key Hill and then move to Warstone cemetery. As it transpired, we spent so much time in Key Hill that we agreed we must return for a Warstone Lane Cemetery tour later in the year. This blog is about our visit to Key Hill Cemetery.

Key Hill is part of the Jewellery Quarter and I have visited the area before. The sister cementery Warstone is more popular due to it being nearer to the heart of the Jewellery Quarter. Key Hill is often overlooked yet it has so much to offer in history and stories of people buried in the cemetery. As organiser of the meeting, I had arranged for people to meet at the Key Hill entrance near to the ring road, forgetting there is another entrance at Key Hill Road. Then a few people got mixed up with the 2 cemeteries. Luckily, we all found each other and the Instameet got started. Josie from the JQ_BID was our host and proved to be a knowledgeable guide. Her enthusiastic storytelling brought the past histories of the area to the present. We were very fortunate as Josie agreed to open the Catacombs for viewing. First she gave some fascinating insights into the background of the cemetery. There was the obligatory group photograph and then we congregated outside the entrance to the catacombs. The large cast iron doors were unlocked.

This was the first opening of the year and, as Josie explained, catacombs may work well in Mediterranean climates but in Birmingham the inside chamber was cool and damp. We used our iPhones for illumination and looked around the walls which included inscriptions of the people who were buried there. Picture taking was not straightforward due to the lack of light. The many iPhones helped bring some light to the dark interior. Some of the IgersbirminghamUK photographers did well with the low light levels and I encourage you to review their photographs on Instagram and other social feeds. The links are below.

Following the tour of the catacombs, Josie took us to several notable graves. The first was Constance Naden (1858 – 1889) who was a writer, poet and philosopher. Whilst Constance’s work was well regarded in her lifetime, there has been a resurgence of interest in her writings especially her ability to bring science and literature together. Learning about her life and legacy proved to be enlightening and she achieved so much in a short life succumbing to ovarian cancer at the age of 31.

Other notable graves that we stopped to discuss further stories included John Benjamin Tolkien (1784 – 1840) the grandfather of J.R. Tolkien and Thomas Walker. The grave of Thomas Walker has a brick design and the coat of arms of the City council. He had the idea of using highly durable blue engineering bricks for paving roads which led to better pavements and roads throughout Birmingham. We moved onto the family graves of the Chamberlain family which included Joseph Chamberlain (1836 – 1914). As former Mayor of Birmingham and founder of the University, the city owes a great debt to Joseph Chamberlain but as Dr Matt Cole writes on the University of Birmingham web site “Chamberlain’s legacy is so broad and idiosyncratic that it likely to leave no-one in full agreement with him.”. As a group we discussed his legacy and then one of the IgersbirminghamUK organisers @James_never_jim noticed the adjacent grave of James Austin Gargory who lived in Bull Street. He was an optician but also brought in different engineering items and was also an enthusiastic photographer.

Other graves included the Martineau family which linked to our previous Instameet at Martineau Gardens. We also visited the grave of Alfred Bird, the inventor of Custard. An interesting grave was that of Shadi Mohammed who died during the Blitz, In an episode known as the “Sand Bag” deaths, Shadi, his wife and several others died when a wall of sand bags collapsed on them. There were many many more stories to be told.

The storytelling of Josie was excellent and we lost all track of time until she remembered that she needed to help at the JQ beer festival. The morning was eventful and many photographs were taken. We thanked Josie for hosting the meeting and we all made our separate ways. A few of us ended up in the Rose Taven in the centre of the JQ for a drink and a chat about the photographs we took and those that got away.

If you want to catch up on photographs taken by the IgersbirminghamUK community then please use these hashtags to search Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for more pictures.

#igersbirminghamuk
#jqbid
#igbuk_meet_JQBID

Whilst we were visiting, we could see many bluebells getting ready to bloom in the next few weeks. I aim to return and take some pictures of the flowers when they are in full flower. Hope to see you there!

If you like this post then you may like the following blog.

St Paul’s Church in the spring

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Oil on the water

by Damien Walmsley 02/02/2023 08/03/2023

This posting of oil and water photography brings you a selection of more colourful abstract pictures. Here are some more eye popping pictures from the colourful world of Oil and water. Make sure you stay for the links at the end as well.

Oil and water, at home, February 2nd 2023 — The mix of the colours

If you enjoyed this then here are some more Oil and Water blogs including how it was done. I hope you liked the title that pays homage to the Deep Purple song, ‘Smoke on the water’.

Oil and water

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