Monoists trip to Brookwood Cemetery on the “Second Hottest UK Day ever” – July 2022.

28/07/2022 Paul Hendley

The Bracknell Camera Club’s Monoist Special interest group agreed to make to trip to the Brookwood Cemetery on Monday 18 July for one of their special late opening evenings in order to catch some interesting light. Around ten members signed up and plans were laid. Unfortunately, the Met Office stepped in and started making alarming forecasts of dangerous temperatures and, when the day arrived, the predictions were dire and cancellations came thick and fast.

Consequently, at 1630 only three of us met at the Cemetery office; Billy Watson, David Watkins and I. Surprisingly, the temperature was a lot more pleasant than remaining indoors – especially under the many trees. The south side of the cemetery is an enormous and fascinating area, there is an ornamental pond area near the office with many roads and paths leading across the area. Graves are haphazardly spaced and range from new condition to nearly fully overgrown. Much of the area consisted of roughly mown weeds around and inside the graves while elsewhere the gravestones poked out of 3 foot high banks of bracken. There are astonishing old trees that add to the general feeling of peace and quiet – we all saw many birds including green woodpeckers and huge numbers of insects. It provides endless opportunities to find new compositions from Macro to wide landscapes.

We diverged and found our own subjects for 2.5 hours, the light was great with golden sidelight creating light and shade patterns under the trees and then met up to compare notes. All in all a great way to spend a hot evening and definitely worth a return visit.