Looking for easy access to dark (no daylight ) cave for photography project.

Walter-Hugo

New member
Hi

I am shooting pictures of caves for a photography project and I am looking for any caves with easy access ( I am a novice ) that become completely black.
Any recommendations would be really appreciated.
Can be anywhere in the uk.

Cheers

Walter :)
 

alastairgott

Well-known member
Have you got any examples of your photography work.

Mum sold some out of date film of my Grandads on ebay which apparently people will buy, something called Orthochromatic film. produces some good effects when it's out of date apparently?
 

mrodoc

Well-known member
Giving advice like this depends on where you live and you failed to mention this. I can suggest somewhere in Scotland but not much use if you live in Cornwall!
 

badger

Active member
op does say anywhere in the uk, But agree with you Pete, would be much better to know where in the uk plus what caving experience they might have
 

Ian P

Administrator
Staff member
Valley Entrance
Yordas (as already mentioned)

2 caves close together that could fit the bill.
 

Walter-Hugo

New member
Hi everyone.

Thank you so much for the suggestions. I am definitely going to try a few of these out in the coming months.
I am based in the south of England but I am happy to travel all round the uk to make great images.

So any more suggestions for a novice caver like me would be really appreciated.
I will post some pictures soon.

Thanks again

Walter 😊
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Depending where you are in the south of England, the caves of South Wales aren't too far away. Maybe consider Eglws Faen (spelling may not be entirely right!) near Crickhowell. Give some thought to where you park before setting off walking; I think there is a history of grumpy locals being less than pleased with folk who park inconsiderately.

This cave is pretty easy and has a biggish chamber near the entrance from memory. Daylight may come in the first bit but you always have the option of a night trip. I seem to remember doing a through trip from here to another entrance using cigarette lighters but I ought to stress I was with a bunch of very experienced cavers and I'm certainly not recommending this. In fact it'd perhaps make sense to contact an experienced local caver wherever you end up filming if you're not a caver yourself; there are hazards in all caves, which you may not immediately recognise.

There is also Powell's Cave alongside the road up to the South Wales Caving Club HQ, a big and easy through trip. In a certain northern caving club's library there is a photograph taken just after the war of someone riding a motorbike through it, complete with goggles and greatcoat. (This kind of stunt would be very much frowned upon nowadays, in the interests of conservation. Which leads me on nicely to mention that you also need to make sure that nothing you do damages the cave environment in any way.)

Whichever part of the country you end up in, maybe post on here when you've chosen the venue and ask if a local caver is willing to meet up for a couple of hours, just to oversee what you want to do and make sure it has a happy ending - for you and for the cave.
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Sorry - I also meant to mention that many caves have access arrangements which have been arrived at after lots of patient negotiations and which are fragile enough to result in loss of access if folk don't do the right thing. This is another good reason to be in contact with local cavers, once you narrow down where you want to go. That way there's less chance of you inadvertently causing a problem.
 

JoshW

Well-known member
Depending on where you are in the south, and you're just looking for dark spaces as a blank canvas, consider other underground spaces i.e. mines, tunnels, abandoned building type spaces at night.

If you're using enough powerful flashes with a quick enough sync speed, daylight can be negated anyway!

There's always ways around it.

Of course if you're looking to do photography of the cave itself then the recommendation of other underground spaces doesn't work.

The more information about the project you give us the more we can help :)
 
Top