Show us yer film shots then!

Another one from Avoncroft,

My favourite bits from the day were the magnificent metal working workshops and forges. Dark by necessity so that the temperature of the steel could be accurately determined by eye and experience, they are notoriously problematic for film photography. Without a tripod I made do with whatever rests I could to handle the long exposure times, gates, door frames. Whatever.
The huge bellows forcing the air for a half dozen forges, the flaggon for the ale, It is hot and thirsty work and evocative. The steel that these men forged through sheer strength and bucket fulls of sweat is still in existence in every corner of the world.

Oh what sweet music !

Etrsi with FP4 in 510 pyro.

The sound of clanging hammers.JPG
 
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Another from Avoncroft and even better another metal working shop.

This scene was almost totally in the dark, very dim indeed on that side of the workshop, I could just make out some things hanging on the wall barely lit by the glimmers of light streaming through the boarded up windows at the back, again its a prerequisite for the forge work to be carried out in darkness. But what interested me was the tooling that was faintly outlined on the wall, I knew that they were tongs of some description as I have some myself. What fascinates me with blacksmiths is the idea of a Craftsman, a craftsman is master of the working tools of his trade but a Master Craftsman, like all blacksmiths by necessity, can and does make his own tools, each fit for purpose and often may only be used for one particular operation in the forming of the sparkling yellow hot metal.

I rested the Bronica, loaded with FP4+ on the door frame, it was kind of a split stable type door, metered on the darkest corner of the room and exposed for about a second wide open. Developed in 510 pyro. The framing was not up to much because I could barley see so slight crop and set black and white points.

Tool Time


Tool Time-2.JPG
 
Another from Avoncroft, what a great location.

The same building as the last photo but a bit of light penetrated from the doorway behind, I metered on the highlights created on the brickwork.

Bronica Etrsi @50mm with FP4+ developed in 510 pyro.


The Forge

I often wonder where the spark came from for that ephemeral fire where humanity, as we know and live it today, was created. Exactly what was our ancient ancestor doing grubbing and sifting the remnants of that first forge. Was he starving, urgently seeking compensation for knotted bowel How did it appear ? Pock marked and cinder infused or was it gleaming and striving to be discovered through charred branches. What did he report on the discovery and to who.

Metal, wood and stone existed, but metal was accidentally created by man, by burning stones. Then those Artificers began digging for different rocks to test and infuse into the searing embers of the eternal primitive forge of creation.


The Forge.JPG
 
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