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St Nicholas, Rattlesden, Suffolk
The hills roll in from the west, and make gentle folds in the countryside between Stowmarket and Hadleigh. Some of the valleys are quite dramatic, and in one of the steepest sits the village of Rattlesden. Rattlesden is a large village in a wide parish, and in fact the parish contains several other settlements; one of them, Hightown Green, is bigger than many other Suffolk villages. But it is Rattlesden itself that contains the parish church, and what a dramatic setting! Half-timbered houses clamber the slopes either side of the splendidly named River Rat. On the south side they are particularly grand, and include a fine old pub. There is another pub on the north side.
The churchyard drops dramatically away to the south-east. A steep path descends from the road above the graveyard giving a grand view of the building, and it doesn't take much to see that St Nicholas is a little unusual. Although the assemblage of nave, clerestory, aisles and chancel are familiar 15th century rebuildings in this prosperous area, the tower is a little out of the ordinary. Uncastellated, but with a little wooden spire, it was remodelled by Sir Arthur Blomfield in the later years of the 19th century. Replacing an earlier spire which had fallen, but avoiding Richard Phipson's psychedelic fantasies at nearby Woolpit and Great Finborough, he produced something much more austere, although in its way just as singular. The shortness of the spire create an effect a bit like a hat on the thin tower. Two clasping pencil-like buttresses rise on the west side, and the tower appears to lean into them, but this is perhaps just an optical illusion.
The exterior took its present form in four stages. Firstly, the original nave was built in the 13th century, probably replacing a Saxon or Norman building. A hundred years later, the tower was added. Next, the dramatic remodelling occured in the 15th century, when the little church was transformed by the addition of Perpendicular aisles and a clerestory. The clerestory is a beautiful one, and above its windows, between the battlements, is a sequence of holy symbols. They are for the Blessed Virgin and most of the disciples, but also include St Edmund of East Anglia and St Etheldreda of Ely, a reminder that the Priory there was one of the patrons of the living here. The pinnacles finish it all off a treat.
You step in through the south porch into a wide, urban interior. Apart from some medieval benches in the south aisle, the pews were all replaced with modern chairs, which always looks good and is always a blessing to anyone who actually has to sit on the things.
What makes St Nicholas remarkable is that it contains one of the most complete and precise reconstructions of a rood system in England. It was constructed between 1909 and 1916 to the designs of George Fellowes Prynne. It is based on a medieval fragment surviving at the west end. One of the reasons it is so good is that it does not try to recreate a medieval effect, but rather serves to demonstrate the actual mechanics of how the whole thing worked. If you are lucky enough to be allowed through the locked grill, the original roodloft stair in the south aisle takes you up into the loft of the parclose screen as at Dennington, and then up a ladder and through an opening in the south arcade across into the roodloft itself. This crosses to the north arcade, beneath the elegant arch. The rood is a grand thing; however, I suspect that the original rood here may have been even bigger, hence the backlighting from the triple lancet window in the east wall of the nave. The other little opening may have been designed to enclose a sanctus bell, which would have been rung from the rood loft.
The doors in the rood screen are very heavy, effectively separating the chancel from the nave, and the chancel itself is fitted as a choir, which must have been the very thing at the turn of the 20th century. Above all this, this vision of the medieval is completed by the angel roof installed in the 1880s. Imagine all this wood ablaze with colour, and you'll begin to get a feel for what this place must have been like when it was first in its current form towards the end of the 15th century.
The chancel is grand without being overstated, although the art nouveau lamps either side of the sanctuary are something special. Looking back towards the nave and the tower arch, you'll see that it is, unusually, raised up a step, as if to improve the view. The railings dividing it off are actually the former communion rails removed from nearby Kettlebaston at the time of its Anglo-catholic makeover. Within the tower arch a quaint wrought iron staircase spirals into the belfry.
St Nicholas has plenty of good modern glass, especially that in the south aisle chapel by William Aikman of 1936, which contains a hauntingly beautiful Madonna and child. He's also responsible for two of the other earlier windows in this aisle, including the noteworthy Parish Children window. Up in the chancel, also his, is the slightly bizarre rendition of St Nicholas with the face of the Vicar of the time, which is a touch eerie. On the left, Thomas Rattlesden meets Henry VII outside the gates of Bury Abbey, while the figure on the right is St Edmund.
Back in the nave are several reminders of the connections between this parish and the United States. The Kimball family came from here, and their ancestors have installed a plaque in the north aisle as well as paying for the bringing together of fragments of medieval glass in a north aisle window. The north aisle chapel remembers the presence of the USAAF on Rattlesden airfield during WWII. The 'K' on the prayer desk recalls not only the Kimballs, but also that it was the operation letter for planes flying from the base.
I almost didn't post this shot, as it was a study in cloud HDR textures. After much deliberation, i decided to take the plunge and post it anyway(Kacey gave me the push i needed....:).
5 exposure HDR (-4EV, -3EV, -2EV, 0EV, +2EV)
EXIF:
Nikon D7000
AF-S NIKKOR 35mm 1.8G Prime lens
ISO-100
F/4
various shutter speeds
hand-held
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A dramatic sunset on the Hirzel in the direction of Zug and central Switzerland.
Hirzel, Switzerland
Your Dramatic Clothing Personality can both intimidate and intrigue.
You favor straight lines and avoid frilly accessories. You like creating a strong statement fashion.
Your celebrity style twins: Monica Bellucci, Helena Christensen, Anne Hathaway, Milla Jovovich, Megan Fox, Fran Drescher, Sela Ward, Dita von Teese
You're not always into the latest fashion trends and like showing off some authority in the way you dress. You tend to choose clothes with angular necklines, shapes and edges, like for example jackets with shoulders pads and you're into diagonal abstract prints.
Dramatic fashion style often reflects your direct, headstrong and authority-like persona.
Another 'branch' from this style is the socialite who loves to dress a bit glamorous but polished and like to convey a sense of status, like a couture Chanel bag. Dramatic clothing personality overlaps with Trendy and Classic.
Note: You'll notice that women who have a Dramatic clothing personality (and look good) usually carry characteristics like angular bone structure, exotic face (high cheekbones, angular jawline, defined/prominent nose, etc.), deep, vivid coloring (dark hair) and most often a tall figure (5'7 and up).
Accentuate Your Style With (closet essentials): Bold jewelry such as bracelets cuffs and bangles, large gemstone bead necklace and jewelry, and other accessories with angular shapes (think Art Deco), tops and jackets with prominent shoulders.
How to Improve Your Style/Word of Warning: With your fashion forwardness you'll risk going 'over-board' with bold colors and strong designs. This can intimidate both men and women (but will naturally the 'stronger' Alpha male) so you might want to tone it down a little with adding more classics (basics clothes, solid colors, etc.) to your outfits.
Balance out your look by adding more basics or softer elements. Settle down with only one bold piece at a time in your outfit and let it 'breathe' .
Where to shop: French Connection, fashion couture stores such as Net-a-porter and Mytheresa (Max Mara, Versace, Gucci), Bebe
Charles Dickens used the churchyard of St James' Church as his inspiration in the opening chapter of Great Expectations, where the hero Pip meets Magwitch the convict. The site - on the Hoo Peninsula with marshes stretching north to the Thames estuary, is dramatically desolate and bleak in winter, recalling the sinister opening scene in David Lean's 1946 film of the book.
Here, you can find what have become known as Pip's Graves - the forlorn gravestones of 13 babies that Dickens describes in the chapter as "little stone lozenges each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row beside their [parents'] graves".
Inside, the church is light and spacious. There is a 500-year-old timber door that still swings on its ancient hinges - even though it now leads to a blocked north doorway! Another quirky feature is the 19th-century vestry - its walls are lined from top to bottom with thousands of cockle shells - the emblem of St James.
The monuments in the church walls and floor are a fascinating record of those who once lived here. They include a slab with a brass effigy of Feyth Brook, who died in 1508 and was the wife of Lord Cobham, of nearby Cooling Castle.
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St James' Church dates from the late 13th century. No evidence of an earlier building survives. It seems likely that the de Cobham family, who held the manor from 1241, were instrumental in its construction. The nave, chancel and the lower part of the tower were part of the initial building phase stretching into the 14th century. The tower was completed to the height at which it now stands by about 1400.
St James' Church seems to have been little altered until the 19th century, when there was a sustained burst of activity in and around the church. The vestry was built onto the south wall, and the porch took on its present appearance. There was also a new pine reading desk, banners for the altar, carpets for the chancel, pulpit stairs and altar kneelers. In the space of a few years, the church was thoroughly renovated.
he church itself is built of a characteristic Kentish mixture of ragstone and flint, with a variety of other stone, including chalk, also to be seen. The tower was probably the final part of the church to be completed, at the end of the 14th century.
The small stone lean-to structure on the south wall is the 19th century vestry. The interior walls of the vestry are covered from floor to ceiling in the most unusual, yet appropriate form of decoration; they are lined with hundreds of cockle shells, mounted here in the 19th century. This shell was worn as an emblem by pilgrims to one of the most renowned holy sites in Western Europe, the shrine at Santiago de Compostela of St James - the patron saint of Cooling church.
The porch over the current entrance was also rebuilt in the 19th century, after many hundreds of years during which access to the church was through a porch over the north door, which is now blocked up. Inside the church, the large north door is still swinging on its hinges before its blocked-up doorway! Although this north door has not been in use for many years, its construction of braced panels, long hinge arms and huge lock make it an intriguing survivor.
There are six heavily-worn benches inside the church at the west end; these are possibly the original furniture dating back to the 14th century (the other benches inside the church were replaced in 1869).
Halfway between the north and south doors stands the 13th-century font, perhaps the oldest unaltered feature of the church.
The nave gangway is paved with four memorial slabs, one plain and uninscribed, the others of some interest. The first has a brass inscription to a man called Thomas Woodycare, who died in 1611; the second has no brass but only the recess where the plates have been lost, revealing the absence of four figures, an inscription and perhaps a badge. The final memorial displays both an inscription and a brass figure, of Feyth Brook, the wife of John Brook, Lord Cobham, who died in 1508.
St James' Church is well known for its association with Charles Dickens, who lived nearby in Higham, and who is thought to have set the opening to Great Expectations in its churchyard, complete with the row of children's tombstones now inevitably referred to as Pip's graves.
Dickens pictures them as '....five little stone lozenges each about a foot and a half long which were arranged in a neat row ... and were sacred to the memory of five little brothers of mine....'
In fact the Cooling graves belong to the children of two families, aged between 1 month and about a year and a half, who died in the late 18th and 19th centuries.
It is impossible to stand in the churchyard and not feel the impact of that 'dark, flat wilderness ... intersected with dykes and mounds and gates' and the 'distinct savage lair' of the sea (Great Expectations).
I love being in the pottery with my camera. There is always something new to capture. These large 'piecemeal' bowls are ready to be fired...but I've watched them come into being bit by bit, much like a pieced quilt. Dramatic! cy365 day244
Its been awhile since i've had a shot i can share with the world. I've been doing some shoots for clients lately that either can't have the photos public yet or they are not appropriate for my portfolio. Either way here is some of the work i can post.
Michael came to me wanting dramatic photos for the wall at the theater where he is working. he showed me a 25 year old classic Hollywood type headshot that screamed burn me! He told me I need someone that will give me a "dramatic funeral" well I don't know what that really meant but I gave him dramatic. I'll have to make the trip to the theater to see the shot they choose to display!
Strobist
3 light setup
AB800 Center Boomed overhead through beauty dish.
AB800 2:00 & 10:00 Full power through Med Soft Box
Shot against a white wall in small studio
Color temp adjust to give green cast
Vignette
Sharpness and detail increase (VIEW LARGE TO SEE DETAIL)
Minor D+B in PS t
It was rainy last suturday. After the rain ,we took a walk and came across the rainbow in the evening. It is dramatic.
A rather dramatic shot of Jessie J in concert at The Usher Hall in Edinburgh last week.
You can see more pics of her in my Jessie J set.
My thanks are due to Victoria Fuller from The Usher Hall, Alex Hewitt from The Scotsman and Jemma Litchfield from Purple PR for their assistance in getting my photo pass. :-)