Photowalk 9 - Titchfield Abbey Ruin

I had a spare couple of hours the other day, so I jumped in the car and headed up to Titchfield Abbey, a ruin that I had seen from the road when visiting the local Garden Centres, but never having walked round. Entrance is free (there's not that much to see), and I had the place to myself apart from a maintenance man who had kindly parked his van bang in the front of the main building...



It was one of those days when the sky seemed to be just a blanket of grey - very little tonal differences, but every time I go out I try and think about how I'm going to take some images according to the rules of composition - the Rule of Thirds, trying unusual angles, leading lines, looking for interesting features and anything that might help to "tell a story" about the place or subject in the picture.

I'm not always successful, some captures work and some don't, but I think that as long as there's some sort of decision making process behind your photography, and you can then critique your own work afterwards, you will make progress. It's all about looking at other peoples pictures, thinking about what you like about them, then trying to apply that yourself. Photography Magazines, books and Podcasts are all great resources, and there's so much around that inspiration is everywhere.

(Please click through the photo's to Flickr to see larger versions)


I didn't take this picture straight away, I went inside, then as I was looking at the line of the path leading up to the Abbey, I backed up and realised I could frame the view with the Gateway.

Editing in Photoshop I tried to create an image where the focus was on the Ruin, with the idea of passing from dark to light. I cloned the wall to tidy it up, cleaned up the path, completed the slabs by the door, darkened the Gateway, lightened the ruin itself, then vignetted it all.

This is actually a shot from the rear of the Abbey - that van still hadn't moved, and there was a tree right in the way when I moved around to the side.

I was wandering around the back of the Abbey ruins when I saw this door bracketing a tree - I just wish they'd been more clouds!!

We finish off with a Panorama of the Abbey grounds - that bloody van still hadn't moved so I had to take it from somewhere I could later clone it out, unfortunately meaning that the tree to the left dominates the picture. Rendering the pano is Photoshop CS3 meant that I had to clone a lot of the sky back in, and I'd manage to chop the top of the tree off in the original image, so had to clone that in too. (Click thru to Flickr, look at the large image and you'll see the messy job.)
It's always difficult to keep lines straight when you do these ultra-wide Pano's, but they're worth trying because every now and then you get a blinder.

I enjoyed my walk around Titchfield Abbey a lot more than I thought I would. Disappointed that there were no dramatic clouds, but it gave me great opportunities to practice my Rule of Thirds technique and some leading lines.

Thanks, Rob.