Fun in the Lakes

On a relaxing week in the Lakes and how I took a 10×8 to a beginners’ workshop

By late 2013 I was two years into my new job and was definitely feeling time-poor. I was travelling a lot and the photography sessions were limited to weekends, whenever I got the chance – mostly to continue my Mulgrave work which was proceeding well.

I was playing with cameras a lot and had picked up a 10×8 camera for black and white work and continued to put film through my Mamiya RZ67 although for Mulgrave I was using the Linhof Technikardan.

In that context I heard of and booked on a workshop in November, not paying too much attention to the details. It turned out to be ostensibly a beginners’ workshop – though the attendees were not exclusively new starters – and I had brought a 10×8 and the Mamiya to use! Regardless I had fun. Not least this session spent in and around a quarry in Borrowdale.

The conditions had been remarkable that year for colour and the birch trees had still kept their leaves quite late – which sometimes happens if we get low levels of wind for a few weeks. I had also been experimenting with shooting medium format on the Mamiya close to wide open and I tried it out on this lovely young birch tree I found at the top of the quarry. I have never seen it since with such colour.

It was a strange period photographically. Although Mulgrave was progressing well and was beginning to take form as a project, I was restless as the constant messing with cameras was showing. It felt like the learning curve of photography had begun to dry up – it was mostly learning how to use cameras like the Arca 10×8 and less exploration of photographic ideas. The alternative image is exactly that – made the day before on a session overlooking Derwent Water using the Arca 10×8 – and it was typical of that year. I absolutely loved making it.

The experience of making images with cameras like the Arca was exceptional and in subsequent years I began to lose sight of the fact that the relaxation was an important, if not the most important, purpose. It’s an easy spiral to slip into. Time was becoming the dominant factor – and lack of time and opportunity would dominate for much of the next few years. But for the moment, days like these in the outdoors with these cameras were still relaxing and fun and were a release from the stresses of work. That is priceless.