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Much variety to see in Hilliers cave (Fairy Quarry, Mendip)

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One from the previous batch. None are posed. It does mean that I have to anticipate things a bit like the shift change image. Usually the TG 6 and the LED torch are close by. I waited until his reflected light illuminated his face. Yes he put is glasses on later. A fall of drill dust would have suggested action which came in later images. He was just about to swop over drill bits from 11mm to the 12mm in the foreground. On I Auto with flash off we have f2 at 1/25 sec at 800 ISO. Res 4.94Mb which is enough for me as I dont shoot in RAW. RAW can tempt you into too much editing so nowadays some images look distinctly overcooked or artificial. My edits on Photoshop 18 are usually cropping, contrast and sometimes haze removal. ( the latter might need additional colour correction.) Basically I like to see things just as they appear in the cave to a caver. Too much can make it look like a show cave. I do try to resist the looking at ( gawping ) pose so common today. Anyway thats me. There is no right or wrong way unless you think of the rule of thirds. I always try to frame an image differant from the thousands you might see on Google Image. That then is your own take on the scene rather than a copy from elsewhere. As a photo historian I can actually name the photographer on some postcards without looking at the back. You could say that Frith were very formulaic. Used best light and the same long view angles along the streets. The collages are simple using Flickr and Screenshot. Funny nobody else seems to do it.

 
You might notice a recurring theme with my photos. The back lit profile. Simple you put the torch behind you when you take the photo at arms length. The Wall. Quarter Way Up Hole. TG 6 f2 1/30 640 ISO. Make sure the flash is off.

 
Another draughting hole opened, and another part of the big boulder choke to add to the list ;)
 

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Where are all the cave photographers gone ? Not here so probably Facebook. So to make up for it here is a mega splodge. It is one image actually so not cheating. A Day in a Diggers Life.



From the most prolific cave image internet poster in the world. Well some of them have to be OK I guess but never formulaic.
 
Where are all the cave photographers gone ? Not here so probably Facebook.

I'm not on Facebook, perish the thought, but I haven't had chance to do much underground photography lately, other than phone recording of projects, and they're either not interesting enough to publish, or too interesting! But here's a little montage of three from the new mine.
 

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I've spent a bit of time recently starting a project where I'm taking portraits of some the original members of the Eldon using an old Hasselblad 500CM.

You can see the series to date here...

The Eldon

Hopefully going to expand on this later in the year and maybe add some audio. There's a book full of stories in there waiting to be told!
 
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