Saint Deniol’s Hawarden

“Aye! The nights are fair drawing in” is an old saying my grandmother used to use as winter came along. And with it comes storms, more rain and snow, especially in Wales. This morning I was told there was a heavy fall of snow in the Snowdonia National Park last night, so that could well be my next trip out next week, especially if they get more snow.

I was looking back at my photography diary and I can’t believe that the last time I set foot in the National Park proper was August this year, and even that was just a skip around the edge. Before that it was February 2019, when I walked up the Watkins Path.

But that’s not what I want to talk about today. Due to Covid restrictions for Wales my local camera club has not been meeting. But on Wednesday night we were able to get together outside for a shoot at St Deniol’s Church in Hawarden. We were given access to the church, face masks compulsory inside, and the lights were turned on to illuminate the exterior.

So here are the photographs. The one thing I regret about the photograph below is that annoying whit light on the wall of the church. But cloning it out and making it look good was proving so difficult in Photoshop that I decided in the end to just leave it in.

E-M1MarkII OLYMPUS M.12-40mm F2.8 3.2 sec at ƒ / 8.0 ISO 200

Taken from further round the churchyard. This time I was able to clone the light out using the tree.

E-M1MarkII OLYMPUS M.12-40mm F2.8 30.0 sec at ƒ / 8.0 ISO 200

Inside the church is quite ornate. As we had limited time when the lights would be on and the others were still outside I decided to photograph the classic church shot straight away. Then if time permitted I would try and bring in the more interesting features.

E-M1MarkII OLYMPUS M.12-40mm F2.8 1/10 sec at ƒ / 8.0 ISO 200

And the other classic shot for a church, some weird lighting here. It was difficult to get the white balance right. I think it’s got something to do with those overhead spot lights.

E-M1MarkII OLYMPUS M.12-40mm F2.8 1/15 sec at ƒ / 8.0 ISO 200

Although I liked the exterior shots taken at night my preference is to take internal photographs during the day using the natural light streaming through the windows. Bright, overhead lights really do nothing for the photograph.

That’s it for this week. I did run out of time so just the four photographs. But it was an enjoyable evening and it was good to catch up with some of the other photographers from the camera club.

As always, stay safe – Mike