Dying Craft

Dying Craft

Maybe that would have been a better title for the piece. Built in the days of wheelwrights/wainwrghts and cartwrights. Look at the skill that's gone into the making of those wheels!

Flatbed Milk Churn Wagon
Bredbury Hall Hotel and Country Club, 2011

The wagon is now being used as a showpiece outside Bredbury Hall, a place where I was staying on business again. As I've mentioned in the last few posts, I first stayed there back in 2008 and on my return last month, it was a great chance to be able to shoot this wonderful echo from the past in its entirety.

I took my ultra-wide angle zoom lens to be able to get it all in frame. Thanks must go again to my brother, Trevor, for such a great gift a couple of Christmases ago.

I challenge anyone to get a better composition of this piece! I had to go round and round, up on tippy-toes and crouching down, walking backwards and forwards, camera glued to my face !

Some of the reasons I settled on this viewpoint / composition:

• The turned front wheel gives it a feeling of movement
• The angle / point of view / perspective takes the eye on a nice little journey on the way through the image
• The whole wagon is pointing in the direction of some milk churns, with which it would have had a daily connection in getting the milk churns to the dairy or out for sale
• The lamp jutting into the sky was an added bonus!
• And finally, the wooden stump on the left acts as a nice stop and prevents the eye from wandering out of the picture.

Have a look at the close-up of the wheel closest to you - you can see it three or four posts ago - and admire the craft of the wainwright.

comments / critique / feedback / tweets / buzzes / +1s always welcome :)