f/11, 1/125, 35mm, ISO 100

More pictures of the dramatic light we enjoyed on Friday’s photoshoot at St. Martha’s-on-the-Hill, Chilworth, Surrey.  My title is a little tongue-in-cheek as I am ambivalent about the expression ‘God rays’ which seems a simplification, with hints of dumbing-down, of the perfectly adequate term, ‘crepuscular rays’. I wrote a post about these rays and you can see it here.  As I discussed, one can understand why these spectacular rays have over the centuries been associated with a higher power.

f/11, 1/8, 90mm, ISO 100

St. Martha’s is a lovely little church perched on the top of a hill with a panoramic view of Surrey.  A local ‘tall tale’ is associated with the spot, in which St. Martha’s church and St. Catherine’s chapel, across the River Wey valley, were built by two giants, sisters named, of course, Martha and Catherine.  According to the story, they had only one tool, a hammer, which they shared by tossing it across the valley.

f/11, 1/30, 35mm, ISO 100

My 365/31 is from 2009, a detail from the interior of a local cafe, Il Siciliano, now under different ownership, name and decor. The Scarface mural didn’t last long and I speculated that perhaps they’d run foul of copyright issues and had to remove it.  While I do not condone the breach of copyright, I must confess that the mural was nice while it lasted.

365/31

My 365/32 is also from 2009.  I had a lovely Sunday walk with my camera that afternoon.  The evening was bitterly cold, and overnight we had one of the heaviest snowfalls I could remember in the South of England. Needless to day, I was obliged to go out the next day and shoot the same views all over again, transformed as they were by their fresh blanket of white.

365/32