Reflections on Influences

Ben and I decided to have another mooch during his rest days. The weather didn't live up to the forecast to start with, so we hung out for the morning and caught up. He showed me how to stream my iCloud music to my iPhone. Cool!

After lunch the clouds began to clear, the sun began to shine, so we headed for Leeds General Cemetery/Woodhouse (Lane) Cemetery/St Georges Fields. You will now, no doubt, have seveal questions, which I will try to answer.

Why so many names? - See Wickipedia for the full story.

Where is it? - It's part of the Leeds University Campus, just off Clarendon Road, taking the Cemetery Road entrance.

Why go there? - Well John Atkinson Grimshaw is buried there. A Victorian artist, undervalued during his lifetime, he liked to play with light. I've admired his paintings, particularly the moonlit scenes, for a long time. However, it is only since I took up digital photography that I can explain why. It seems to me that Atkinson Grimshaw hit upon HDR.

We couldn't find his tombstone. It was probably removed when the University created the open space. But we did find some great photo subjects. Ben took the best shot of the day, which he has blipped - see the first link above.

My blip is of a plain glass window in what used to be Leeds Grammar School. We passed it on the way back to the car. Whilst it looks like stained glass, by combining three shots with different exposures (each two stops apart), I have been able to show the reflection of the trees outside, the internal lighting and some detail from the window at the other side of the room. I hope Atkinson Grimshaw, the father of HDR, would approve.