More images of England

Dennis Craggs August 2026

Henley Regatta Views around Marlow Fly past of PA474 Avro Lancaster Salisbury cathedral London Devon ained glass by John Piper Stained glass by John Piper Stowe house and gardens Fungi found on Marlow Common Brighton Oxford The Hawk Trust

y Regatta 2016 and I had the opportunity to crew an oar and moor up with enley Whalers on the boom on the centre of the regatta course on the river es. It look a little bit of luck and much repetition to capture this. It was sary to hold the camera a foot or two above the surface of the river so using ew finder was impossible and live view on the back of the camera was only of d assistance. I manually focussed on a point where the boats pass, set a high er speed and a low aperture to dissolve the background and by trial and error, ved this. I wanted to catch the splash of water on the oars and in a number of s I have done this but this is my favourite because it captures the best osition of stroke and cox. And there is a lady in red in the background.

had the opportunity in a later year to ascend the tower of St Mary's church nley to take some aerial shots. I include on the following pages some photos of the regatta on this and other occasions.

Henley Regatta 2016 and I had the opportunity to crew an oar and moor up with the Henley Whalers on the boom on the centre of the regatta course on the river Thames. It look a little bit of luck and much repetition to capture this. It was necessary to hold the camera a foot or two above the surface of the river so using the view finder was impossible and live view on the back of the camera was only of limited assistance. I manually focussed on a point where the boats pass, set a high shutter speed and a low aperture to dissolve the background and by trial and error, achieved this. I wanted to catch the splash of water on the oars and in a number of images I have done this but this is my favourite because it captures the best composition of stroke and cox. And there is a lady in red in the background.

I also had the opportunity in a later year to ascend the tower of St Mary's church in Henley to take some aerial shots. I include on the following pages some photos taken of the regatta on this and other occasions.

difficult to get interesting landscape images around towns and villages in nd but this view from Marlow lock is a goodie, including the riverside, church ridge. It was early morning with a mist coming off the river, I was there just dawn (This before I learned on workshops that you really need to be up and e in the dark before dawn) but the mist dispersed very quickly and this was bout the end of it. I need to go back there at sunset too. The swan was in a y spot more by luck than by design.

It is difficult to get interesting landscape images around towns and villages in England but this view from Marlow lock is a goodie, including the riverside, church and bridge. It was early morning with a mist coming off the river, I was there just after dawn (This before I learned on workshops that you really need to be up and on site in the dark before dawn) but the mist dispersed very quickly and this was just about the end of it. I need to go back there at sunset too. The swan was in a handy spot more by luck than by design.

same morning, I believe, I walked all the way up the riverside from Marlow owards Bisham and Hurley lock. As I was a few hundred yards below Bisham, passed on the river by these fishermen in their boat cruising at speed eam. I thought on the spur of the moment that there might be the tunity to capture the image of the boat in front of the church, a sort of aneously planned idea, and ran some distance to keep up. No time to stop ompose and set settings, it was point and shoot. This one won a modest etition in the Henley photographic club and was published in the Henley ard. The cameras settings seem to have been okay too. I have tried various rings in monochrome but settled on this. It was taken in jpeg on my old n power shot.

That same morning, I believe, I walked all the way up the riverside from Marlow Lock towards Bisham and Hurley lock. As I was a few hundred yards below Bisham, I was passed on the river by these fishermen in their boat cruising at speed upstream. I thought on the spur of the moment that there might be the opportunity to capture the image of the boat in front of the church, a sort of spontaneously planned idea, and ran some distance to keep up. No time to stop and compose and set settings, it was point and shoot. This one won a modest competition in the Henley photographic club and was published in the Henley Standard. The cameras settings seem to have been okay too. I have tried various renderings in monochrome but settled on this. It was taken in jpeg on my old Canon power shot.

nt an evening taking night shots around Marlow bridge and this must have towards the end as it is right at the very end of the best of the blue period. It aken, with their permission, from just outside the entrance of the Complete r hotel and the cherry blossom provides the perfect opportunity to work this on. The roadway in front of the hotel is difficult to compose out so it is a bit of promise. I planned to catch the light trail of a car crossing the bridge, it was ccidental. I put it to the Marlow Photography club and it was used on the cover of the spring edition of the Marlovian, the town magazine. For free, of e. The long exposure catches the wind blowing the blossom which all adds to g it a bit of a favourite.

de some further photos of Marlow on the following pages.

I spent an evening taking night shots around Marlow bridge and this must have been towards the end as it is right at the very end of the best of the blue period. It was taken, with their permission, from just outside the entrance of the Complete Angler hotel and the cherry blossom provides the perfect opportunity to work this location. The roadway in front of the hotel is difficult to compose out so it is a bit of a compromise. I planned to catch the light trail of a car crossing the bridge, it was not accidental. I put it to the Marlow Photography club and it was used on the front cover of the spring edition of the Marlovian, the town magazine. For free, of course. The long exposure catches the wind blowing the blossom which all adds to making it a bit of a favourite.

I include some further photos of Marlow on the following pages.

y 2022, I had the opportunity to take photos from the top of the tower of St Mary’s h, Henley, of a fly past of aircraft during the traditional boat rally. Having taken advice should use a shutter speed of less than 1/250 sec so as not to 'freeze the props', on the day I took photos of a Hurricane fly past using this shutter speed and of course at this distance, all of the photos had excessive movement blur, bearing in mind that I was using 00mm lens hand held. The following day, I set my shutter speed at 1/2500 sec and took eries of photos of the Lancaster fly past. The aircraft appeared from the south, circled ew down the length of the Thames before circling around over Hambleden, returning up and circling again for a third fly past before disappearing off to the north-west. The props course 'frozen' at this shutter speed, which some feel gives an unnatural look to the . Had I planned the shoot properly, which of course assumes that I would actually know e the aircraft would come from, where it would fly and how many times it would pass, I have tested a number of different shutter speeds for the best compromise result but it l a little bit too exciting and short of time to think too straight.

ircraft is known as PA474 and is a four-engined, Second World War era, Avro Lancaster bomber operated by the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. It is one of only two sters in flying condition, built by Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd at its Broughton factory near er in 1945 and was to be part of the British Tiger Force for strategic bombing in the Far Following the end of the war with Japan, this was not needed and PA474 entered ge. With gun turrets removed it was assigned to Photographic Reconnaissance duties 82 Squadron in East and South Africa. On return from squadron service, PA474 was d to Flight Refuelling Limited and was planned to be used as a pilotless drone but then d was transferred to the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield, Bedfordshire to be used for on the Handley Page laminar flow wing. The test wings were mounted vertically above ar fuselage. In 1964 it came under the control of the Air Historical Branch for possible y in the proposed RAF Museum. During this time the aircraft appeared in two films: ation Crossbow and The Guns of Navarone. It was stored first at Wroughton and then at w then, after a request in 1965 from 44 Squadron, the Lancaster moved to RAF ington for restoration back to wartime standard including refitting the front and rear s. In 1973 it was transferred to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. In 1975 a midturret was found in Argentina and fitted. During the winter of 1995 the Lancaster was with a new main spar to extend its flying life. On 7 May 2015, the aircraft suffered a fire starboard outer engine. A safe landing was made at RAF Coningsby. It flew again on 12 ber 2015 after extensive work to fix the damage caused by the fire to number four e. It was later announced that with the ongoing maintenance, PA474 should still be rthy until 2065.

e a number of trips down to Salisbury to take photographs in the cathedral. It e a challenge because of the number of tourists milling around but this was later in the evening. The cathedral knave has the most amazing font, what I n infinity font because of the way the water free flows over the edge into s built into the floor. I was thumping around with my tripod but it was quite so nobody was too bothered (often cathedrals and other locations ban the f tripods). I took a number of images of the great arched roof, some in ama, but selected this image to include in this book as it captures the totality s great church. Love the symmetry.

ut on the following pages some other photos on these trips.

I made a number of trips down to Salisbury to take photographs in the cathedral. It can be a challenge because of the number of tourists milling around but this was taken later in the evening. The cathedral knave has the most amazing font, what I call an infinity font because of the way the water free flows over the edge into drains built into the floor. I was thumping around with my tripod but it was quite quiet so nobody was too bothered (often cathedrals and other locations ban the use of tripods). I took a number of images of the great arched roof, some in panorama, but selected this image to include in this book as it captures the totality of this great church. Love the symmetry.

I set out on the following pages some other photos on these trips.

amous Cecil Brewer Staircase at Heal’s Furniture Store is (according to s) listed in ‘Places To See In Your Lifetime’. It was designed in 1916 by the ect Cecil Brewer, cousin of Ambrose Heal who founded the store. It’s a rite spot for photographers so it’s necessary to dodge the competition to the capture but it’s fun to do and I felt deserving of a place in this collection shapes and textures. You have to work a bit to get the composition, ensuring here are no swirls cut off and it all fits the frame well, all whilst holding the ra over the edge.

The famous Cecil Brewer Staircase at Heal’s Furniture Store is (according to Heal’s) listed in ‘Places To See In Your Lifetime’. It was designed in 1916 by the architect Cecil Brewer, cousin of Ambrose Heal who founded the store. It’s a favourite spot for photographers so it’s necessary to dodge the competition to make the capture but it’s fun to do and I felt deserving of a place in this collection for its shapes and textures. You have to work a bit to get the composition, ensuring that there are no swirls cut off and it all fits the frame well, all whilst holding the camera over the edge.

this photograph on a walk around the Blackwall basin near Canary Wharf in East London. I htened it up in light room and rendered it in monochrome so it is all rectangles and triangles and s a harsh representation of the modern architecture in Canary Wharf. I have paid a few visits to the uilding in my time.

een lockdowns in October 2020, I walked from London Bridge to Tower e and then along the north bank of the Thames with the objective of taking graphs of the Shard from every possible angle, mostly reflections in the many fronted buildings that are going up in London. I had previously seen a osition similar to this on the Internet from this location near London Bridge anted to obtain something similar. I used a long exposure to give the clouds movement and to smooth out the water and lifted the exposure on parts of hotograph to highlight the architectural features. It was taken not long after so you can see the light coming up from the east.

Between lockdowns in October 2020, I walked from London Bridge to Tower Bridge and then along the north bank of the Thames with the objective of taking photographs of the Shard from every possible angle, mostly reflections in the many glass fronted buildings that are going up in London. I had previously seen a composition similar to this on the Internet from this location near London Bridge and wanted to obtain something similar. I used a long exposure to give the clouds some movement and to smooth out the water and lifted the exposure on parts of the photograph to highlight the architectural features. It was taken not long after dawn so you can see the light coming up from the east.

n the early 17th century, the Queen’s House was designed by Inigo Jones as a private garden house nne of Denmark, Queen consort of King James I. The tulip staircase, so named because of the tulip on the ironwork, was the first geometric, centrally unsupported staircase built in Britain. Each tread tilevered and supported by the tread below. The building is now an art gallery so I took the tunity to walk through the art collection before spending some time dodging tourists on the ase. It really is one of the hidden gems of London. Of all the thousands of photos of London that I have included in this collection, I ended up choosing two of staircases. I also took a rather fun pic my Gopro.

s another product of a walking tour around Canary Wharf. We spent some time taking photographs reflections in the water in the Blackwall basin and, in this case, of the autumn leaves trapped in the eflecting the office building behind. It might count as an abstract photograph but I prefer to make a graph that is of a more of less recognisable subject.

a number of photographs in this location all using an intentional camera movement technique, involves using a slightly slow shutter speed and moving the camera intentionally whilst pressing utter, thus creating blur. It is necessary to take quite a lot of photographs and use trial and error in to obtain the desired result. I deliberately used this technique in order to eliminate recognisable e from the subject matter as they are a distraction from the architecture. Using this technique s people look rather like Lowery characters. Some people of course make interesting photographic cts in their own right but this photograph was all about the architecture, the water fountain and the Using this technique makes the photographs a little bit more interesting. The security guards in properties of course do not like to see people taking photographs outside and we were approached umber of occasions and asked to move on.

e following pages I have included a number of photos taken on the various trips to London. The first ages are all at Canary Wharf.

hoto was taken in the stream below Venford water reservoir near Holne in n, a short walk down stream from the road over the dam. The falls are quite n away and not frequently visited although photographers do find their way here from time to time. We had to clamber down the bank with all of our kit et up our tripods in a huddle at the side of the pool. It seemed to be the right tunity to take a long exposure of five seconds to achieve this effect in the . It’s very mossy and a bit spooky but then Devon can be.

This photo was taken in the stream below Venford water reservoir near Holne in Devon, a short walk down stream from the road over the dam. The falls are quite hidden away and not frequently visited although photographers do find their way down here from time to time. We had to clamber down the bank with all of our kit and set up our tripods in a huddle at the side of the pool. It seemed to be the right opportunity to take a long exposure of five seconds to achieve this effect in the water. It’s very mossy and a bit spooky but then Devon can be.

walked some distance over the moor around Saddle Tor to reach this location, festooned with ells and spring Hawthorn blossom. I have walked around Haytor rocks on a previous visit to Devon. I this is a fairly standard composition but I like it. It was a rare opportunity to make the best of a clear ky in a photograph as otherwise clouds are much more interesting.

photos from this Devon trip on the following pages.