Rails, steps and going up

I had this criticism towards the end of last year – only a mild one I assure you, that most of my photographs were on the level! Not looking up or down.

There is some truth in all of that because when I first began photography, my old dad suggested that I would get better pictures if I pointed the camera directly at what it was that I was trying to take a picture of.

I suspect dad got rather tired of shelling out 3/6d to have a film developed and printed only to discover that the photograph of mum had bits missing (anything just above her nose.) and a picture of my sister tap dancing had the rather essential left and right feet missing. Net result – my first lesson in “how to frame a picture.”

Since then I have never looked back that is until the above criticism.

So quietly fuming, I went off in search of something to look up to, such as a spiral staircase. Frankly spiral staircases on the outside or inside of a building are are not easy to find and when you do locate one the owners/ caretakers are a bit dubious about letting individuals up and down them. The matter is made worse if the said individual is carrying a camera. Production of a camera automatically triggers a 15 minute lecture on the subject of “health and safety.”

I ventured in to the tower at Walton on the Naze. The custodian launched in to his well-rehearsed monologue but was interrupted by an incoming call on his mobile phone. He had difficulty receiving the call and had to pop outside the door so I escaped and got to work with the camera.

Not easy to get images in such a confined space especially when there is no chance of putting up a tripod.

There we are that is what this is all about.

Included are one or two false starts I suppose where there are other staircases.

Or not – (staircase without spiral!)

 Another time I will sort out some “looking down images.” Make sure you have some anti-vertigo tablets handy.