Well it's been a little while since I had the chance to venture underground so this was a nice surprise this late in the season. The fun staff at Britannia Mines were looking for some new shots for some posters and adverts. They're doing a big re-vamp of the entire complex and it is quite exciting. Here's a few of me hamming up for the camera and a shot of the tunnels.

This was fun, I had no idea where my hands were supposed to go on this thing. There is only one handle. Go figure.

The tunnels are incredibly intricate, with recesses and rough-hewn stone outcrops everywhere.  

I had the full run of the place and wandering around in the dark, by myself, with only a hand torch was surprisingly ok. Most of the tunnels were reasonably well lit too. The place is very well run and the staff made sure I knew what I was doing. If you get the chance this place is a must see.

Lighting: I only had one lighting malfunction, and so did the entire shoot with one SB800, a lightstand, umbrella for closeups and my tripod. The only downside was cleaning all the mud off of the legs of everything. Plus there is a lot of water dripping from the ceilings and pooling on the ground. Next time I'll bring a model and get some much better shots of miners at work.