Isles of Scilly Camera Obscura and Cabinet of Curiosities

I spent a few days on holiday (23-27 September 2017) in St Mary's on the Isles of Scilly.  We were very lucky with good weather except for the day we were due to fly home and had to postpone our departure until the next day due to poor visibility and bad weather.  

Whilst we were there we visited the IoS Camera Obscura on St Mary's which is a brilliant idea, and well worth a visit. It's very close to Porthcressa Beach, just a short walk up the hill to Buzza Tower. We went on a clear and sunny day and the quality of the images were amazing - very bright and very crisp. It's amazing to think that you're basically standing inside an incredibly high definition camera and looking out over the beautiful Isles of Scilly. Mr Obscura was full of passion and enthusiasm for the camera (and rightly so) and very friendly. Overall it was fun, inexpensive, very interesting and family friendly.

 

Old watch tower converted, now housing Camera Obscura

Image of St Mary's harbout using Camera Obscura

We were treated to a view of the entire island and at first it just looked like a beautiful painting and then I realised that we could see the people on the beach moving and the odd seagull flying past - quite extraordinary. It would be fantastic to visit on a day when the sea is rough.

Later in the day we saw the tower from a distance and were able to appreciate how high up it was to the surrounding area.

Camera Obscura Tower from Garrison Walls, St Mary's