Crichton Mains Souterrain with a Pegasus whose shadow looks like a Snake then like a Seahorse... 4K

Crichton Mains Souterrain with a Pegasus whose shadow looks like a Snake and then like a Seahorse and then… In the shadow of the Pegasus look out for the Snake and then the Seahorse and all that follows on from that of course. From out of the shadows I am forming the light on a few pictures. Some of these pictures might not be for you? I mentioned going underground in none safety approved ruins would you said no? If I said going underground in the middle of nothing except empty fields with a definite either a crawl, or a shuggle to get in using an advancing sitting position, (a.k.a. sliding on your fundament), to enter a slightly collapsing muddy Souterrain of unknown age, (possibly either over one thousand years, maybe two, or three thousand or more years), that has long root strands from the ceiling constantly dripping their slow solution to the damp and squelchy floor that traps your feet just ever so slightly generating noises of footsteps that follow you from out of the depths of the ever enfolding dark behind you and that the roots from the roof are also always ready to run their outstretched mineral searching anchors through your hair, even, I add again ‘even’ if it had a Pegasus Carving, possibly Roman, are you still saying no? Should I send a picture, or have I introduced it incorrectly? The Picture is cute, very subterranean(-y). At the furthest reach of the darkness whilst using my head torch for better pictures I got the torch straps tangled in my hair. In trying to release the torch from my hair the light failed leaving me in deep darkness with considerably less hair as the tangle in the head torch straps held tightly onto a section of my scalp covering. My other torches were outside. So I tried a few potential fixes and all were destined to fully achieve no joy of light. I had to move carefully on the uneven floor in total dark with great squelching noises like hissing water snakes around my ankles and tendrils galore hanging out of the ceiling intent on damply making up for the hair that I had just left in the Souterrain. I am usually a backup person with extra essential products where available and applicable. I had some very fine lights with well charged batteries just waiting for me in the darkening evening light outside the Souterrain. It was an immense experience working my way out and I enjoyed it to the max. The ‘without light’ slow pace was a superb sensorial fest. Not only did I ignore the voice inside my head that said I would have a light fail, but later on back at home I did not fully credit the same ‘voice’, by ‘voice’ I mean just an echoing bit of me rolling around inside my head telling me, “What could go wrong?” The ‘voice’ said ‘this is a fire hazard’ as I tried to see if the non working head torch would need a charge. The power cable on the head torch got so hot I could smell it burning and it was too hot to touch. Today I would listen to that voice, the one that tells you, “What could go wrong?”, but today unfortunately it has nothing to say. © PHH Sykes 2022 phhsykes@gmail.com

Please Don’t Stare

A lot of my test shots would satisfy the requirements of a podophiliac.  My feet are often the subject of shots taken to determine the setup of the camera.   Picturing feet can easily answer questions such as, is the flash working and if so at what intensity?  My toes may not hold the answers but usually a picture or three of them will show how everything is working with the camera.  Every now and again a test shot of an unchosen subject brings about strange results.  Here I was testing wireless flash after making adjustments and I did not look through the camera lens to choose the subject area.  To my mind there is a natural shape or two here evoking the art work of H. R. Giger.  If you don’t see it then all the better for you.  Sometimes the eye of the beholder does reveal the mindscape that only they create.  I am not a great fan of the grotesque in art but I do think that some of the best examples in that genre build on direct inspiration even reflection from nature. 

In the natural world around us we can find so much to sumptuously enjoy as well as some delicate intricacies that can tickle our innate responses into subtle disturbing reactions.  To my eye there is at least one peculiar monstrous shape in this image.  It is created by angle, perspective, lights and focus on a thoroughly non monstrous subject.  If seen by the eye there would be nothing to a second glance more than a natural plant form.  It is possible that there would be a lingering strange memory of a shape that triggered an automatic response.  Once you have seen and identified the strange shape it loses any ability to create an intense response at least for a while.  With the use of a single lens to record a still image the prevailing conditions have created a monster and I feel that I have unwittingly become a photographic Victor Frankenstein.  

Photographs and Words ©2013 PHH Sykes

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