I met my friend Greg last night for our usually-monthly “camera club” outing. We drove over to Haworth and spent a couple of hours wandering around with our cameras. When we drove past the fire station, there was a drill going on, with firemen in bright yellow, full biohazard suits. When we got back with the cameras, they were gone. We’d probably have been arrested for photographing them anyway.
We spent some time in the park. I took some pictures of the abandoned play equipment in the frosty darkness, but wasn’t happy with any of the results. I spent a good few minutes on my back on the frosty ground though getting this shot of a basketball basket against the starry sky.
We ended the walk in the churchyard, which was brightly lit to show the church off to its full potential. I love the image at the top of this post. It is eerie and atmospheric. I shot it over 30 seconds with a tiny aperture of f/18 to enhance the starburst effect of the lights. I was going to opt for a 16:9 aspect ratio, but I liked the contrast in the tree branches too much to crop them away. I am pleased with the 4:3 one chosen.
Post-processing, I have applied a fairly drastic S curve to give it a contrasty look (too much, perhaps?). I have also used a colour monochrome adjustment using a pale beige at 73% opacity to bring the colours close to monochrome whilst keeping it true to the strange, cold feeling of being there.