Chris Dearnley Photography
Somewhere, deep underground is a long railway tunnel. Where trains once steamed through the dark, today it is abandoned, the track lifted, the portals blocked off. The tunnel is litter strewn and empty, save for two people who are making their way through the darkness.
I am one of those people, and often find myself squeezing into the pitch black mouth of the tunnel, carrying with me equipment to take photographs of the forgotten remains or our great railway heritage.
These tunnels are not silent. Water frequently drips from the curved brick lined roof, or occasionally pours in a torrent from airshafts.
The hazards are everywhere, falling masonry, open drains and the increasing possibility that one day, something will give and the whole structure will buckle and collapse. However, in the meantime there are shots to be had.
Taking pictures here is not as easy as it looks.
This is not the place for flash, as the darkness eats it up.
You need the right equipment to get interesting pictures. A tripod, without doubt is essential. So is the right lighting. I have a big search blaster (a torch!) that I use for light painting these places, plus a couple of other torches to light the way and back-up etc.
Search blasters are fine at doing their job, but have a very short battery life, often little more than 20 minutes. Search blasters use a tungsten bulb, which provide a warm light. LED torches can be colder, and often turn blue when a long exposure is done.
Settings are different down here. Different tunnels, due to their circumstances, light up very differently.
The orange iron ore and the white calcites that leach through the walls create wonderful colours, and flooded tunnels reflect the light off the water.
It’s worth experimenting with exposure times too. I always aim for the lowest iso possible to avoid noise, and often expose for 30 seconds between f7.1 and f9. Obviously, the larger the aperture, the more light gets in, so play around and see what works best.
Lining up shots is very important. I tend to use the flash for this.
This shot [left] is actually two pictures. The image on the left is the final version, on the right it the one lit by flash to line it up. Once lined up, the shot is then taken. During the time the shutter is open I use the searchblaster to light up the tunnel. “Paint” the walls, the roof and the floor as evenly as possibly to avoid areas being left dark, or burned out.
I’m aiming to get an even spread of light, remembering that areas further away will need more light than those close by.
These places aren’t always easy to get to, and conditions may be poor. I recommend spending the time getting all of the shots you want, and then some.
Don’t forget to look for other things worthy of capturing too. One of the shots above shows an old airshaft, now capped on the surface. Other features may include signs, old graffiti, track, or markings. It is always worth varying what you are doing too.
Different heights or angles add interest to the photograph. The photograph (above) shows the light source from further away from the camera, creating different shadows and greater contrast.
Disclaimer: ‘exploration photography’ of this nature can be dangerous, and should be attempted at your own risk!
