I try to control the trainspotter* tendencies in my personality, but I do like taking pictures of organ mirrors (wait for my fully-illustrated coffee table book Organ Mirrors of the World), because they are often a makeshift and inappropriate afterthought to the case design. However this one is pure genius. The Chancel Organ at St Giles Cripplegate is awkwardly placed (so what’s new, I hear you mutter) and for services on the Summer Course we are often conducted by a relay of Course Tutors, which is little unnerving (though naturally they are very good at it).
Since last year someone has commissioned this impressive mirror on a stand. I think you can see how it was made – you could even make your own! You have to get used to looking downwards, rather than upwards, but hey, we’re organists, we adapt.
This is probably a silly request, but if you have any organ mirror pictures, please send them in – to theladyorganist@gmail.com. If (when) they are published, you will get full credit – unless you are too embarrassed, of course.
*For non-UK readers who may be baffled by this term, trainspotters are men (almost always) in anoraks, clutching thermos flasks, who stand in bunches at the end of railway platforms, recording the identification numbers of the engines that pass. That’s it.
My comment relates to Organ Mirrors.
I have been advised to get an extended stand for either iPhone or iPad; along the lines of the selfie but with tripod limbs.
Switch on the Camera App and choose the best place to see what you need to see at the Altaror choir etc. I would suggest turning on the video on the Camera app to keep the view open to cover the service or Mass. If you can set a timer to keep the camera open this would be helpful too.
Thanks for this idea! I have two little CCTV cameras hooked up to an iPad at my church via the church intranet. Brilliant when it works, though sometimes atmospheric conditions (that’s what we think it is) can interfere with the intranet and the pictures go down – usually just at a critical point during Communion 🙁