I seem to to have arrived almost by accident at a series of posts to Hive where I talk about favourite lightpainting locations. One such place is Magpie Mine in Derbyshire.
At the end of a rocky granite road and through a farmer's field is the mine set on top of presumably man made earthworks. The mine is no longer in use and is a protected industrial monument and is very popular during the daylight with visitors. Not as popular but still frequented at night by people mostly as stupid as me to stand in the dark waving lights at it!
You can read the Wiki about this mine here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magpie_Mine
In short, Magpie Mine was a lead mine and is first recorded back to 1740. After over 200 years of operation, Magpie Mine closed in 1958 and was the last working lead mine in Derbyshire. The Peak District Mines Historical Society now manages the site and has undertaken much restoration work.
Magpie's location away from towns and villages is as far as one can get in the Peak District and is darker at night than the surroundings which makes it suitable for a bit of astrophotography. It's location also means there is less chance of being disturbed by the local wildlife aka hooligans whilst waving lights at it!
This is a post of favourites from the mine I've shot in the past few years. I'm long overdue another visit!
The Winding Gear
On the night I shot this there was just enough vapour hanging in the air to create a little background seperation for a part time lightpainter, Stephen Elliot (not on Hive but soon will be...) to pose in the personnel cage used for lowering the miners down the shaft.
Luckily for Mr. Elliott, the shaft has been concreted over!
I can't help myself
I have a camera rotation device and it goes everywhere with me! This is the above winding gear rotated 4 ways, all in one shot.
Lightpainting with a drone
We held a lightpainting tutorial session one night but the attendees all pretty much knew what they were doing so we set about lighting the mine. Fortunately for me, one of the attendees had a drone with a couple of Lume Cubes strapped to it which was great for subtle lighting. The flare in the shot I initially didn't care for but it grew on me!
One of these days, I'll buy a drone and jump on the bandwagon of lights on drones...
Fisheye Star Trails and the ISS
It was a stroke of luck that during the sequence of shooting 30 second exposures for an hour that the International Space Station made a flypast. I'd like to reshoot this with more subtle lighting on the winding gear using the more modern lights I'm using these days but I'll probably never get as lucky with the ISS flying through the frame!
It's raining sparks
Inside the mine itself is a doorway now doubling as a viewing platform. Very useful to spin burning steel wool over an unsuspecting 
It turns out that cheap umbrellas are surpringly flameproof!
Posing in The Powder House
About 100 meters away from the mine is this circular stone built building with no roof. It was previously used for the storage of explosives for the mining process.
Getting a 6 foot 4 inch lightpainter to stand in a 5 foot 10 inch doorway was possibly a mistake!
Polaris over the Mine
This is another star trail shot but one I need to reshoot. I need to reframe this so it includes lower foreground but at the time I was so obsessed with trying to line up Polaris I made the mistake of forgetting other parts of the composition. Another excuse to return!
Going solo through a field full of bulls
Just after lockdown in 2020, I was desperate to get a star trail image or even actually get out of the house and shoot something! So off I went on a socially isolated solo trip to Magpie Mine only to discover a herd of bulls in the field leading to the mine. Animals and me don't mix; I'm the one with the red target on my back and all the bulls make a beeline for me! But curiously not this time. I walked pretty damn fast on the way in and even faster on the way out! Linford Christie is slow compared to me in a field full of bulls!
This was more of an experimental star trail shot to see the effect of pointing the camera away from Polaris ie; south. I'm not as satisfied with the flatter curves of the stars in motion. Lesson learned and all that but I was desperate to shooting something!
About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to create art.
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Lightpainting is a photographic technique in which exposures are made by moving a hand-held light source while taking a long exposure photograph, either to illuminate a subject or to shine a point of light directly at the camera, or by moving the camera itself during exposure. Nothing is added or removed in post processing.
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