Shirehall Shoot – Drone

Saturday saw me heading out with the drone as my wife was out singing with her choir. I parked up outside the Shirehall with my drone on the passenger seat and then inserted the battery and switched it all on ready to fly. The DJI Mini 4 Pro went on the roof of the car to pick up some satellites and learn it’s home position before I exited the car and stood in a place where I could keep visual line of sight on the drone at all times.

Why was I here?

I was out to capture some shots in the sunny afternoon, as I figure that revisiting a subject at different times of day and night will give a better idea of the look of the building and it’s surroundings. I was after some squares or rectangles captured through the sensor for my practice project, as I’ve been spotting four sided shapes all over the building, from the mosaics on the frontages, the windows, to the old fountain and pool, the windows of the court rooms, the skylights of the library and all over.

I suppose that this shape is not unusual on buildings but it’s become more apparent as the weeks have progressed that I keep seeing them in the prints I’ve made, the photos I’ve captured, the videos I’ve collected and I’ve become a little obsessed.

Up in the air the drone hovered carefully whilst I took a few carefully lined up photos of the roofs and windows. The solar panels that cover most of the roof space also fit the bill and a single shot of them all filling the frame makes it an interesting image that puzzles the mind when no context is available.

Bad News

I’m also out taking photos as I’ve had a response back from the council after I asked for access to the buildings to make photos of the interior, as I did at the end of 2024.

My email asking for a tour:

Hello again P*******,

Apologies if you are no longer the correct person to ask about this, if there is someone else, I should contact please let me know.

In August last year you very kindly helped me with a walk around some of the Shirehall buildings before it was vacated by the council staff. This year I have an extended University project to capture a “Portrait of Shirehall” and I would find it extremely helpful if I could have a stroll through some areas of the interior of the buildings, taking time to photograph the empty offices and even the touchpoints where office chairs wore the carpet, door plates have been worn by people using the doors and areas of the interiors that is now an empty shell. I have captured some photos of the exteriors using a drone, digital and film cameras and would like to spend some time in the interiors.

The photos are to be used in a university project to document the 1960s modernist buildings and perhaps even stories from the people who used to work within the walls. It will not be used in any political manner and is merely to keep a record of the facilities for future generations. Some of my previous works can be seen on http://bobgriffiths.uk or my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/batunibob/.

Many thanks for your consideration.

Kind regards,

Bob

and the reply from the responsible person at the Shropshire Council:

Good afternoon, Bob.

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to inform you that, unfortunately, since the Shirehall is now vacant, we are no longer granting access to anyone unless it is required for the minimal operational needs of the building. This decision has been made to ensure the security & H&S requirements of the site.

However, you are certainly welcome to take photographs of the external areas of the Shirehall.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. If you have any further questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Best regards,

M*****

I had thought I might be in with a chance to get in again but with that avenue closed, I’ll need to focus on the exterior shots, and depending on the tutors’ opinion maybe use some of the interior photos I made in late 2024.

Exhibition Opportunity

On a good note, as part of my facebook callout I had a message from someone in the Shrewsbury Civic Society and after some phone calls I’m chuffed to say that they are accepting a piece of my work for the Shirehall themed exhibition in the new year. It will be in the Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery in April 2026.

I’ll learn more about it closer to the time but I need to select one of my photographs for the exhibition and then get on with presenting it ready for display.

VideoDrone

After the photographs had been saved to the sonboards SD card I lined up the drone with one of the floors with the multi-colour reflective window films and did a flight from left to right and a reverse flight too. I like the reflections of the scene that the workers would have seen from the offices and also the differing colours of the window film as it traverses across. The only thing I was not 100% happy with was the shadow and reflection of the drone being visible in the video, but it shows how the images were captured.

I’ll take the photos and video of the shoot into the next week practice tutorial and then the group review the week after.

It’s a bit of a shame that I am unable to get inside the building again but I’ll have to bite the bullet and just get on with it.

Let’s see where we go from here. Rectangles Of Regret perhaps?