Blandford Forum Camera Club

Unfortunately, I was not able to be present at this event and I had but a hazy notion of what exactly was involved.  Norman had explained that we were to convene within Milton Abbey at dusk and that while some set up and manned their cameras others would move about within the field of view, flashing at intervals.  I knew too that some like to illuminate more detail within the subject area by shining a torch on it.  Beyond this I knew nothing.  Read below where all is revealed, thanks to Keith Chaloner:  

‘The last Club meeting in September saw around 20 of us exchange the secular for the sublime and meet at Milton Abbey rather than our converted water tower home.  We were to ‘Paint with Light’, which sounded in keeping with our venue. However the reality was that instead of precision digital cameras calculating exposure, we opened our shutters and guessed how many times we would need to illuminate the subject with an off-camera flash in order for something magical to result. Fortunately the guessing got better as the evening progressed and some managed to record actual images!  

To an un-enlightened onlooker, our efforts looked like the unrestrained antics of a bunch of high-powered fireflies in the dimly lit Abbey. Indeed the Chaplain, who had somehow been omitted from those-who-knew we were coming, was rather surprised. However hostilities were suspended when it was explained that permission for our visit had been agreed; with the school bus driver.   

Those who missed the evening really did miss out. The setting and the Abbey is superb, and some of us spent more time outside capturing the sunset and the exterior of the Abbey and School than we did inside.  

The evening concluded with a visit to liven up the local hostelry which up to the time of our visit was peaceful and inhabited only by a few diners. 

An evening to remember.’

Malcolm Bowditch