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Photographer in Huddersfield - Commercial, Fashion, Portrait, Event, Wedding

Photographer Huddersfield WestYorkshire
  • Portraits
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Welcome to my Blog!  a place to hear about my latest photographic shenanigans including my ongoing obsession with film photography and old 35mm film cameras. We'll also take a look behind the scenes on some of my commercial projects, share updates oncreative projects, photo stories and all sorts of stuff!

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Nikon FE Review
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Nik & Trick FT12 review
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Guest blogging - Emulsive and World on Film
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Feb 15, 2018
The Ineffable Pathos of Ruin....
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Feb 9, 2018
Shooting 35mm film in the studio
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Feb 6, 2018
Rollei 35S review - shooting from the hip!
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Feb 6, 2018
Jan 30, 2018
Fomapan 200 35mm film review
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Jan 27, 2018
Pentax Spotmatic F Review
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Walking and Meandering Round A Bit - Canon 70-200 f4 L lens review
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Dec 10, 2017
Conscious Hour - Huddersfield Speaks out!
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Oct 2, 2017
Review of the Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm 1.8 lens on the Sony NEX3n mirrorless camera
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Sony NEX 3N Camera with Olympus OM Zuiko manual focus lenses review
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Colne Valley Museum - Part 1
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Pen Y Ghent - Photo Walk
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Steel City: Olympus OM2n Rollei Retro 80s review
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Mar 11, 2017
Moonmentum!! the Finale of Slaithwaite Moonraking Festival
Mar 11, 2017
Mar 11, 2017

Moonmentum!! the Finale of Slaithwaite Moonraking Festival

March 11, 2017 in event photography, photography

It's been an eventful couple of weeks since I photographed the Slaithwaite (Slawit) Moonraking Festival during which time my son Harrison was born !! hence this blog post is a little late getting to press - I've been otherwise engaged!

always wear protection folks....

always wear protection folks....

Its been a real honour to have been the official photographer in support of this years Moonraking Festival - as always my camera has granted me privileged behind the scenes access, created an opportunity to meet loads of amazing people and even a couple of cheeky beers on the house into the bargain! ;)

The weather did it's level best to dampen spirits and as the day wore on I was increasingly concerned about my camera gears ability to survive the potentially rain soaked proceedings - neccesity being the mother of invention I was not to be detered and after some intense planning and research I came up with an inventive solution (a plastic bag and some cellotape) it actually worked quite well but it was kind of annyoying and thankfully I was able to ditch my (now patented) camera protection system after the first hour as the rain eased off.

After a week of activities including a fundraising music and poetry night and of course lantern making workshops the grand Moonraking Finale took place beside Globe Mill in the centre of the village, where the story of ‘Raking the Moon’ was acted out and followed by a huge procession of lanterns and music.

This living legend is a celebration of living in the Colne Valley and has been taking place in Slaithwaite for 30 years. Moonraking stories are centuries old and are connected to many communities around the country that have a waterway – Slaithwaite is one of these and this inspired local group Satellite Arts to create the current contemporary revival.

One of the stories tells how a band of smugglers would hide their illegal bounty brought in by narrow boat under the canal bridge. On the night of a full moon, they took their rakes and went to fish out one of the barrels of rum, but they were caught in the act by the militia. They avoided arrest by claiming to be out ‘Moonraking’, the reflection of the full moon being clearly seen in the water!

So now, on a wet February evening, the village gathers by the canal; music is played and songs are sung and a giant lantern Moon is floated along the canal on a raft. Women with rakes attempt to pull it onto the bank. Comic gnomes with long beards succeed in landing the Moon by using a crane. Once lifted out, the gnomes carry it around the village accompanied by a procession of locals carrying their own candle lit lanterns.

The magical parade climbs the steep Bankgate rise, to Hilltop. The Moon is danced along the streets to the sound of samba drums and jazzy bands. People wave from windows and come out of their houses to cheer as the lantern carnival passes by.

With the main street closed and bands, performers and lanterns everywhere it was all I could do to keep up with proceedings - eventually I just allowed the event to wash over me and hopefully I managed to capture the essence of what was a really fun, inspirational community experience - if you missed it then make sure you come along for the next one in 2019! I'll see you there and I can't wait to bring my son along for the ride too!

Light up your lantern, light up your light

Remember your friends on this cold frosty night

The Moon she has fallen out of the sky

Take her round Slaithwaite and hold her up high

Peace to the village, peace to the town

Peace to all cities all the world round.

It was an amazing experience from start to finish - the panic over the terrible weather and whether this would put people off to the relief that folk turned up in their hundreds despite the rain - the procession, the bands, street performers and of course the villagers and the village itself contributed to make the evening an immersive magical experience and something I will never forget!

Tags: Photography blog, Photographer, photo, community project
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email: info@chrischinnockphotography.com
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