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One of three windows in the north aisle by Powells, 1917 (these fine windows are particularly badly afflicted by the darkening wash applied to them yeasrs later and would be hugely enhanced if it could be removed).
St Mary's is the parish church of the town of Kidderminster and a grand affair it is too, still mostly an early 16th century building of impressive proportions, its extraordinary length in particular. The tower is a major landmark on the northern edge of the town centre, though sadly the construction of the modern ring-road effectively cuts the church off completely from the rest of the town and it can only be reached via a rather uninviting subway beneath the dual-carriageway, thus it doesn't get the footfall it deserves.
The church is usually approached from the south and it is this aspect that makes the biggest impression, most noticeably for its handsome south-west tower and the richly glazed clerestories of the nave (which appears to be composed more of glass than wall), all fine examples of the late medieval Perpendicular style. The length of the building is remarkable as beyond the nave is not only a decent sized chancel but a further chapel to the east as well (an early 16th century chantry chapel, formerly detached but now more integrated and in use as a parish room). There has however been much restoration owing to the fragility of the grey and red sandstones used in the construction, and thus much of the external stonework was renewed in the Victorian period (when the south chapel and vestries connecting to the chantry chapel were added). On the north side of the chancel is a handsome memorial chapel added in the early decades of the 20th century.
Entry is via the porch in the base of the tower at the south-west corner, where the visitor is greeted by a vast interior space whose lighting is somewhat subdued (especially the chancel). the nave is a classic example of the Perpendicular style and of considerable width, culminating above in the bright clerestories and a flat wooden ceiling. There is much of interest to discover here, particularly the monuments which date from the 15th-17th centuries and include several fine tombs, the earliest being a graceful canopied tomb to a noblewoman in the south aisle and a large brass on the north side. The chancel has three more large tombs with recumbent effiges to members of the Cokesey and Blount families, the latter being of post-Reformation date.
Every window of the church is filled with stained glass, mostly of the Victorian period but much of it rather good. The most handsome window is the early 20th century window by Powell's over the main entrance and there is more glass by the same studio in the nave aisles whilst the nave clerestorey has an attractive sequence of angels holding symbols of the Benedicite by Hardmans' installed at the very end of the 19th century. My first encounter with this church was in the late 1990s when working as part of the team that releaded the entire scheme of windows in the nave clerestorey, thus I got to know these angels very well. Sadly however the glass throughout this church suffers from a disfiguring layer of varnish or shellac (applied as 'blackout' at the beginning of World War II and a substance known as 'speltek' according to someone I spoke to at the church). This was smeared over most windows with a rag (the impressions of which were apparent when we worked on the clerestorey windows) and is not easily removed, but small areas where it has detached show how much brightness has been lost while the windows suffocate under this darkening layer. I hope some day the right solvent can be found to remove this stuff with minimal risk to the glass.
Kidderminster's grand parish church rewards a visit and deserves more visitors than it currently receives. It isn't always open but in recent years prior to the pandemic was generally open for a few hours on most days during the summer months (though best to check times before planning a trip). Don't be put off by the seemingly impenetrable barrier of the ringroad, St Mary's is worth seeking out and the nice people who steward their church would I'm sure like to be able to welcome more people to this fine building.
www.worcesteranddudleyhistoricchurches.org.uk/index.php?p...
Water Tower, Bundaberg, ca. 1905 DescriptionPhotographs selected from an album presented to the Hon. J. G. Appel, MLA, Home Secretary, by the North Bundaberg Progress association as a mark of their appreciation of his efforts in connection with the abolition of the toll on the Burnett Traffic Bridge, 1st January 1913. (Description supplied with album)DescriptionEast Water Tower was built in 1902 as the first above-ground storage for Bundaberg's reticulated domestic water supply. Height 120 ft (36.6m); storage capacity 40,000 gals (180 kl); inside diameter 30 ft (9.2m); wall thickness varying from 4 ft 6 ins (112 cm) to 1 ft (25 cm). It stands on the corner of Sussex and Princess Sts, East Bundaberg and is a heritage listed building. (Information taken from: Bundaberg Tourism website, 2006, retrieved 18 April 2006, from: )
The broken windows theory is a criminological theory of the norm-setting and signaling effect of urban disorder and vandalism on additional crime and anti-social behavior. The theory states that maintaining and monitoring urban environments to prevent small crimes such as vandalism, public drinking, and toll-jumping helps to create an atmosphere of order and lawfulness, thereby preventing more serious crimes from happening.
[Wikipedia]
An angel's wing beats at every window, but only the listening hear and rise. ~Muriel Strode (1875–1964), My Little Book of Life, 1912
Taken of 901 Dayton Street on the "Millionaire’s Row" in the West End Neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio.
The houses on this section of Dayton street are very impressive. Some have been completely restored while others, like the one next to this one, remain to be renovated. Since the area is on the historic registry, my guess is that there are some pretty restrict regulations as to what can be done to them. Several of the houses have interesting basement windows like this one has. Although the streets immediately around Dayton Street are fairly run down, it does appear that several are being restored. The unfortunate thing in my mind is that this area once had many similar homes which have long since been torn down to split what had become a ghetto of sorts and to make way for the construction of Interstate 75. What I heard in my youth is that 75 was routed where it is specifically to break up what some folks at the time saw as a ghetto which they wanted to contain from spreading. In the process, Cincinnati lost much of it's charm and history.
So, I had a lot of fun with this week's theme. Just walking down the alley behind my work I found all kinds of blue things. It was very hard to decide what to add to the group. I also realized I like old stuff.
Using natural light from the windows.
no major edit - just add contrast on the eyes.
EOS 7D
50mm 1.4
Natural lighting
Explored #492 .. :)
Perhaps the most beautiful window at All Saints is the Angel window by Powells c1900 on the west side of the north transept. It lights a chamber used for storage and has to be glimpsed through a door, thus is sadly missed by most visitors to the church. (the lower left angel was damaged by a scaffolder in the mid 1990s and now has a replacement head).
All Saints is Leamington Spa's cathedral-like main church, begun in 1843 over the site of a much more modest building. The bulk of the church was completed in the following years by J.C.Jackson, though the west end of the nave and the soaring south west tower were added in 1898-1902 by Sir Arthur Blomfield. It seems a crossing tower was originally intended but only the stump was built, owing to insufficient foundations or funds. Nevertheless a small clock tower with a spire was added off the north transept giving the church a distinctive outline.
The apse and transepts are largely French gothic in style (an odd choice for a Regency town) with elaborately traceried rose windows based on authentic examples in Rouen (alas without stained glass). The apse windows are amongst the tallest of their kind in an English parish church.
The interior is impressivelty spacious despite being somewhat gloomy. The west end was partitioned off to form gallery and parish rooms in c1990, (utilising the rood screen from the demolished Holy Trinity, Rugby). The only vestige of the medieval church is a small worn effigy of an abbot in the north transept porch.
The church has much glass of the Victorian period, the rich apse windows of 1851 being the work of Chance Bros of Birmingham and in part shown at the great exhibition. They were much improved by restoration in the late 1990s.
Or any other means of shading the lens from the direct rays of the sun.
The top half of the window is shaded with with a white translucent blind, the shadows on which show you where the light is coming from, and how the shadows fall on the window panes below.
You can see the large difference in image clarity and dynamic range from the shaded parts of the window panes compared to the parts lit by the direct rays of the sun. To make the effect more obvious the window panes are dirtier than your lens :-)
Note that if you want to use a filter, such as a UV filter, to protect your lens, that will shift the glass surface requiring to be shaded further out, and therefore require a bigger lens hood.
Original: DSC07073X
Topic: Fabric: we wear it, sleep on it, decorate with it. Make a photo of an interesting cloth design or texture.
I just wanted some dreamy moody abstraction. These are white curtains in my living room.
Please view large. The texture is almost lost in the regular size.
Strobist: SB800 gelled green, zoomed 105mm and SB900 gelled orange, zoomed 200mm, both bare and both at manual power setting of 1/128 pointing at the subject one next to the other. Flashes triggered by the camera built-in flash (non-contributing).
Practice photography at Daily Shoot. Learn to light at Strobist.