Tag Archives: cambridgeshire

The Town Bridge in Huntingdon


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Nikon D700 - 24-70mm/ f2.8 - 30 seconds @ f/10, ISO 200, +2 EV

Another city in the River Great Ouse, Huntingdon, is not very far from the Chinese Bridge in Godmanchester. This old bridge in Huntingdon is a well-preserved medieval stone bridge that connects Huntingdon to Godmanchester. The current bridge was constructed around 1332, with work starting on both banks or the river. It was intended for both pedestrian and horse-drawn transport but now serves exclusively for light vehicular traffic. There’s another bridge parallel to the town bridge just a few meters upstream, it is now used as a pedestrian bridge.

It was a quick shoot at this place, just a shoot-and-run kind of evening. The scene was quite one-dimensional and as usual, light was limited. But I did like how the textures on the stone bridge mimics that of the building right next to it, and the warm reddish-gold reflections on the water was a nice plus. [...Wait, more photos!]


As I Was Going to St. Ives


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St Ives Bridge is a 15th century bridge crossing the River Great Ouse. It is one of only 4 bridges in England with a built-in chapel; the other 3 are in Rotherham, Wakefield and Bradford-upon-Avon. The structure not only served as a chapel but was at different times a tollhouse, an inn, a notorious public house, and a doctor's surgery house.

St. Ives is a small little-known town in Cambridgeshire which I’m sure not many of you have either visited or seen pictures of, as I have not until last night. But I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of it. The name St. Ives has been popularized in the famous riddle or song.

St. Ives is not much of a photographic town either and not many landmarks to speak of, but there’s a bridge there that intrigued me and I wanted to give it a shot. It is the second bridge with a built-in chapel that I’ve visited this year; I believe there are only 4 of its kind here in England. The other bridge I’ve visited was in Bradford-upon-Avon. [...Wait, there's more...]


Cambridge in the Dark


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Where during the day, light is not usually a problem in taking photos, at night time, LIGHT – be it ambient or artificial, is a big factor in capturing successful images.  In my case where 90% of time I shoot during twilight, and shoot mostly cityscapes, much of my photography depends on the last remaining light of the day plus sufficient artificial lights in my surroundings. In large urban and industrialized cities, that’s not usually a problem, because there is enough light and even light pollution coming from high-rises and office buildings, and even from popular tourist landmarks. In smaller and more laid-back cities where the city center and businesses close down early, and there are no well-lit buildings to speak of at night, producing a usable image is a challenge.

The historic city of Cambridge, being a university town, has most of its famous landmarks – including beautiful churches and bridges – contained within the school campuses. Although its prestigious colleges are open to tourists for most of the day, they still close down at sundown, or sometimes even earlier.

It’s no wonder that there are not very many images of Cambridge at night, and only maybe a handful of twilight images, if at all. Inspite of that, I still wanted to give it a try, and have even tried a couple of times in the past months only to retreat before twilight because I was not convinced with the light. Knowing that I have to do this sooner or later, this time I made sure I stuck around long enough to see what I can come up with in this sleepy town.

Punts are a popular way of seeing the sights in Cambridge, while winding down the river Cam. These punts can be found by Magdalene bridge at the Quayside. Magdalene College can be seen across the river. 30 sec @ F/16, ISO 100.

The Quayside is one of the few areas lit at night, but even this place is still quite dark after sundown, so I made sure I captured it early into twilight where there's still enough light in the sky. The long exposure also helped in "brightening up" the scene. 20 seconds @ F/16. ISO 100, EV +.33.

The Round Church or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Even with moonlight (though partially covered with clouds), this area was very dark at blue hour. This just shows you what long exposure and some EV adjustment can do to save the day. 30 sec @ F/11, ISO 100, +1 EV.

Two of my favorite shots of the night are of the red phone box I found on Bridge Street. There were quite a few of these on this road, but I chose this one because it was the only one with the TELEPHONE light on. 15 sec @ F/11, ISO 100.

Same phone box as above but facing the opposite side of the street. The buses moved really slow but in a steady flow, which worked to my advantage as it gave me a smooth trail. The bright trails worked as an additional and much-needed light source. Part of St. John's College, bathed in the dark, can be seen across the street. 13 sec @ F/9, ISO 100.