Somewhere I hadn’t visited before, but was prompted to do the other day after picking up a leaflet, was Ribble Valley Sculpture Trail at Clitheroe.

Sculpture trail’s ‘Ribble King’ metal kingfisher.

Full marks to the photographer and team who put the leaflet together but alas the local vandals had done their worst with one or two of the sculptures. Also, the local council had closed the public conveniences at the park entrance, so go prepared!

Negatives out of the way, the 1.5 mile trail is a pleasant walk interrupted by a handful of interesting and varied pieces of artwork, the highlight of which for me was Matthew Roby’s ‘The Ribble King‘, which overlooks the river of the same name. Tricky to photograph because of surrounding vegetation, I was glad I chose a winter visit.

Good against a blue sky.

Kingfisher silhouetted.

Today’s tip is, having found an interesting subject, experiment with different angles, different lenses and different exposures and as in my samples, get three completely different images. In silhouettes, I always believe in leaving in just a touch of detail in the shadows so it doesn’t look completely two dimensional.

Deer in stainless steel.

I absolutely loved the pair of Clare Bigger’s life-size Sika Deer leaping out of the undergrowth, the discoloured metal in the dappled sunlight and sense of movement. My photography tip here is, don’t be afraid to crop, zoom right in and get something a bit more striking. The leafy background was too close to be able to blur it out with a small f-stop.

Striking head and shoulders.

Fortunately, the dark background helped the sculpture to stand out nicely, no doubt a fact not lost on the person who decided where to site them.

The final installation I wanted to feature was rather ‘phallic’ ceramic ‘Lords And Ladies‘ sculpture hy Halima Cassell.

Giant ceramic plant beside the path.

Go for a close-up.

 

 

 

 

Hard to believe this sculpture is made of ceramic bricks. It takes a much closer look and an interesting photo with the high contrast side lighting, to see the edges of the bricks.

I hope you have enjoyed my brief look at Brungerley Park and Cross Hill Nature Reserve’s sculpture trail. More places to go and photography tips COMING SOON!