Imbolc Fire Festival - Marsden UK
Druids lead the Imbolc Fire Festival
Druids lead the Imbolc Fire Festival
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Feb, 2020Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at an event called Imbolc held every 2 years high up an the moors over the village of Marsden (West Yorkshire, - England) A picturesque hamlet during the summer months , but very cold and bleak during the winter months. In shot here is the start of the parade where Druids (above) lead the townfolk to a battle between The Green Man (nature) and Jack Frost (winter) - The Green Man must defeat Jack Frost so the sun can return to the land.Time
At Imbolc the townfolk gather and at 19:30 the Druids start a fire lit parade about 1 mile into the moors where battle commences to banish winter from the land. The Druids are aided by Elementals and a character called Mr Fox (in shot) into luring Jack Frost to the battle.Lighting
Marsden Imbolc was shot in torch light only, no street lights or flash , I shot the entire event with a lens unsuitable for night photgraphy in near blackout darkness and sub freezing temperatures mid Winter.Equipment
Imbolc was shot hand held using a Nikon D5200 and a good day lens, but terrible night lens Sigma 18-300. For this night shoot i didn't cary any spare equipment except lens cloths and spare batteries partly because i've done Marsden Imbolc three times before and partly because i wanted to keep the weight down on walk into the moors.Inspiration
As well as military history photography i also enjoy ancient places such as standing stones and Pagan mythology. Hand held night photraphy is Imbolc Fire Festival is an ancient ritual widely held in Northern Europe with pre Christian roots.Editing
Shot in RAW and edited using Lightroom, then i used PSP to try to denoise this shot taken using a lens not suitable to night shotsIn my camera bag
In my camera bag is normally a pair of Nikon D5200 attached to a Sigma 150-500 and Sigma 18-300 for hand held day photographyFeedback
Hand held night photography with no flash is always tricky. I had to use ISO 2000 to shoot this and rely on Lightroom and PSP to denoise.
