Season Images – Page 9 – BLOGThis is the Blog of Season Images which belongs to photographer Len Abrams, ARPS

7 more Cathedrals Photographed

Northern England

During Half-Term (20-26 February 2011) Karen and I traveled to northern England to photograph 6 more cathedrals: Ripon, Bradford, York Minster Cathedral, Durham, and Newcastle in the east, and Carlisle in the west. We braved a range of weather with one brief glimpse of the sun. This makes 42 of the 43 English Cathedrals now photographed – I photograph the last English Cathedral on 3 March – Peel Cathedral on the Isle of Man.

Carlisle Cathedral was a challenge as when I arrived I was told that I could not use a tripod. As I shoot at a low ISO value with typical exposures of 20 – 30 seconds, I had to do some creative thinking. Carlisle is the only cathedral out of the 43 in England which had this restriction but no doubt for good reason as they said images of the cathedral had been used inappropriately – if I had known this before hand I could probably have made an arrangement.

Wales

We visited St David’s Cathedral in west Wales which is the first Welsh cathedral I have photographed. St David’s is the smallest city in the UK because of the cathedral. There are 6 cathedrals in Wales altogether: St David’s : Llandaff : Bangor : Newport : St Asaph : Brecon. This now makes for a new target – the Cathedrals of England and Wales!

St Paul’s Cathedral, London

I spent Wednesday 16 February in London photographing St Paul’s Cathedral. A selection of images from my visit can be seen on the Season Images gallery – follow this link.

St Paul’s is an amazing and inspiring building with a history tied closely to London and the life of the Anglican Church in the United Kingdom. St Paul’s is not an easy place to photograph. Ordinary visitors are not permitted to take photographs. A special permit needs to be pre-arranged and costs £300 per hour – I was very kindly given a special rate of £120/hr. A member of the Cathedral staff is required to accompany you. Given the hundreds of tourists and dozens of groups of children moving about on most days, this is no doubt a good thing. Many thanks to Hannah Talbot, the Cathedral Press and Communications Officer who was very helpful.

I joined the 12:30 Eucharist service which was great although a little lost in the cavernous vastness of the Cathedral. The West end of the Nave is striking in its simplicity whereas the East end with the High Alter is breathtakingly ornate.

A particular highlight for me was William Holman Hunt’s painting “The Light of the World” of Christ knocking on the door.

Woodland moods

If you go down to the woods today ……

I spent some time in the woods on the North Downs in Surrey near Caterham yesterday to enjoy a rare sunny day with Toffee Dog and my cameras, trying to capture the mood of the woods in the midst of winter. The creepers entwine themselves around the trees in tight spindly embraces which constrict and smother. A touch of green promises warmer times to come.

These images are available individually in 40 x 16 inch (1.0 x 0.4m) panels or as a set of 4 panels in either Acrylic or Blockmounts. Contact Len Abrams for details.

Images of Charcoal Impacts in Africa

[Note: A selection of charcoal images is now available for purchase and download from the Image Market – HERE.]

Uganda and Ethiopia

Charcoal market in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

I have added to my collection of images showing the impacts of the wide spread practice of charcoal making on the environment in Africa, which results in vast areas of deforestation. (See the images in the Season Images Gallery.) The use of charcoal as a cheap household energy source is just about the only option open to the ever increasing urban fringe populations where firewood has long since gone and other options such as LPG or electricity are either not available or are too expensive. For a more detailed comment on charcoaling, go to my blog entitled “Charcoal and deforestation“. On travels in Africa at the end of 2010, I captured images in Uganda and Ethiopia of urban charcoal markets – a key element in the supply chain.

Kigali – the cleanest city in Africa?

I also visited Kigali in Rwanda where there is a surprising initiative underway which has resulted in the cleanest African city I have ever seen – not a spot of garbage anywhere. A cooperative called Association for the Conservation of the Environment (ACEN) which makes briquettes from garbage as an alternative to charcoal. Garbage is brought in to several centers throughout the city and paid for – providing a marginal income for some of the poorest and resulting in the cleanest African city I have ever seen! The garbage is separated before the organics are shredded, dried and molded into briquettes – the inorganics are recycled. This results in less demand for charcoal and less pressure on rural environments, which, together with a cleaner city is a win – win for everyone.

5 More English Cathedrals photographed

I used the period between Christmas and New Year (and the thaw from the recent ice and snow!) to go with Karen (my wife) to the English midlands and photograph a further 5 cathedrals. There are 43 Anglican cathedrals in England and with the recent 5, (Manchester, Liverpool, Wakefield, Blackburn and Sheffield) I have now reached 35.

Manchester Cathedral

We traveled to Manchester first – construction of the church which was the predecessor of the cathedral began in 1215. The church became a cathedral in 1847. It has been through a long history of restoration and reconstruction, it was bombed in World War II and by the IRA in 1996. It is a somewhat brooding building. See the Manchester Cathedral Images here.

Liverpool Cathedral

Liverpool is the largest cathedral in England and the largest Anglican cathedral in the world – it is truly amazing. It is a 20th century cathedral – designed by architect Giles Gilbert Scott, who was 22 years old when he won the commission. Begun in 1904, it was completed in 1978, 18 years after Scott died. The bells of Liverpool Cathedral are the highest and heaviest ringing peal in the world and the organ is the largest in England with 10,268 pipes. The whole experience is one of audacious magnificence at scale! See the Liverpool Cathedral Images here.

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