Sunset in Salford Quays, with the new footbridge and part of the new and developing MediaCity UK. I can't ask for a better light than this and the winds were good to me that night. It was definitely one of those fulfilling shoots where the conditions were all perfect, and you pack up for the night smiling.
I’ve shown you its softer side, but I still prefer the Salford Quays in blue. [...See more photos here!...]
I was still able to catch some morning blues when I stepped out in the morning. Shot facing southward, the sun was just warming up and a sliver of a moon was soon to disappear. A rowing team showed up for training and for a moment there, that got me worried about my reflections. Luckily, they went the other way.
The hotel I stayed at in Salford was right on the quay, and the window leading to the room even overlooks the Lowry footbridge and the Manchester Ship Canal. So getting up to shoot for sunrise was as easy as stepping out the front door.
We have been blessed with beautiful weather the past weekend, it’s almost surreal. I can not remember the last time I’ve experienced a day where it was sunny and clear through and through. It will almost be like sin if you did not get up for sunrise and capture what seems to be a very infrequent occurrence in this country nowadays.
For me, it’s so refreshing to see these soft pink and purple colors onscreen. I guess I’ve been so used to seeing nothing but blues that I think my eyes have been partial to that color. I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone for these pastel-colored tones, but I think they turned out alright. [...More photos here!]
The Butterfly bridge won in a design competition in 1995. The winning design was by C. Wilkinson & Partners (Architects) and Jan Bobrowski & Partners (Engineers) and has won national and international acclaim in a number of architectural journals.
I just returned from a short-but-sweet trip to Bilbao, Spain and will be working on my photos from there soon. In the meantime, let me share these ones from my return to the town of Bedford not too long ago.
I have not had the chance to shoot this bridge – the Butterfly bridge – the last time I visited Bedford. I was able to scout it at night and saw that it was another un-illuminated bridge. There were some floodlights on the bottom of the bridge but for some reason it did not light up. Anyway, with a little help from the sky radiating great pastel colors at dusk, I was able to capture the bridge with still some interesting light. [...Wait, more photos!]
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!]
The River Great Ouse viewed from Purfleet Quay.
This would be my fourth city on the River Great Ouse – King’s Lynn, a sea port and market town in Norfolk in East England. An uneventful night for me – no rain, no goose bully, no stepping on animal poop, just a still night under merry ‘ole England’s usual dreary winter skies. Enjoy!
*On a side note, I am now on Twitter so FOLLOW ME here if you will, or you can click on the little bird in the sidebar. [...Wait, more photos!]
Still early into blue hour, but since I knew the bridge was not going to be lit up, I started early while I still had some ambient light. The wind was not forgiving that night as you can see from the motion on the willow tree branches.
I found another small town that sits by the River Great Ouse, the third one in this series – St. Ives, Bedford, and now Godmanchester. And I’ve said it before, the trouble with these small towns is that most of them are very dark at night. Having seen very little of Godmanchester online, and even on Flickr, I did not have my hopes up as far as lighting goes. But I like to challenge myself that way and explore the possibilities I can come up with.
I’ve seen quite a few oriental bridges but never one like this; maybe it’s because I’m more familiar with the Japanese ones. This Chinese bridge, which is Godmanchester’s main landmark, was named so because it was built in Chinese architectural style in 1827. It has since been replaced a couple of times because of bad condition. Not a spectacular bridge by any means, as compared to the mighty old bridges of Europe, but these gems in smaller towns make photography a little less mundane and fresher to the eyes, albeit more challenging.
Bedford Bridge and the river Great Ouse. These swans were a challenge to include in the shot - I wasn't sure if I wanted them there or not. Since they moved all the time and I wanted to freeze their motion, I had to shorten exposure time. Bedford bridge was nicely lit in blue too, but at the same time, it was also hard to separate it from the blueness of the sky.
Hope everyone’s New Year started out nicely. For the first day of 2011, I thought I’d visit the town of Bedford, and there I was greeted by a group of swans by the river. Swans are known to be symbols of beauty and grace, but new to me is that they are also regarded as masters of earth, wind and water.
I thought I’d share with you this poem I came across today:
Swan of beauty, swan of grace / A queen among her ancient race / She glides across the mirrored lake / No ripple does the surface break. (Susa Morgan Black) [...Wait, more photos!]
As the year is drawing to a close, I thought I’d put together a short list of what I consider my most memorable shots of the year. The selection is based on both viewer feedback and my own attachment to a particular shot. For behind each photograph is a story to tell, a little something for me to remember them by, and some have proven to be more memorable than others. If you have not followed my work on Flickr, this is a good sampling of my work.
I’ve decided to categorize them into such : (1) REFLECTIONS (2) BRIDGES (3) FOUNTAINS (4) LIGHT TRAILS and (5) MY PERSONAL FAVORITES.
It’s no secret that successful photographs are the products of perfect light and perfect timing. Capturing great light trails definitely needs perfect timing, and obviously, it helps to be in a location with a good flow of traffic, but not necessarily. Sometimes, all it takes is one bus to come at the right time. But there are other factors to a successful light trail shot other than perfect time – and those are – lots of patience and being on the safe side of the road.
My Top Ten Most Memorable Light Trails of 2010:
VALENCIA, SPAIN - Torres de Serranos. The flow of traffic was not ideal on this night so I had to wait quite a bit; in the meantime, the light in the sky was changing fast. I knew that buses, instead of cars, would complete my vision here, and fortunately 2 buses came to a halt just when the last bit of blue hour light was fading away.
[...Click for the rest of my Top Ten Light Trails...]
As the year is drawing to a close, I thought I’d put together a short list of what I consider my most memorable shots of the year. The selection is based on both viewer feedback and my own attachment to a particular shot. For behind each photograph is a story to tell, a little something for me to remember them by, and some have proven to be more memorable than others. If you have not followed my work on Flickr, this is a good sampling of my work.
I’ve decided to categorize them into such : (1) REFLECTIONS (2) BRIDGES (3) FOUNTAINS (4) LIGHT TRAILS and (5) MY PERSONAL FAVORITES.
Where there’s a body of water, there’s usually a bridge somewhere. And in Europe there is a plethora of beautiful bridges, all filled with rich history and character. There are big-city modern bridges and small-town old-fashioned bridges. The bridge list is endless – suspension bridge, cable-stayed bridge, drawbridge, pedestrian footbridge, even bridges with built-in houses, shops, and a city hall.
Here are my Top Ten Most Memorable Bridges of this year.
MAINZ, GERMANY - Theodor Heuss Bridge. I had to visit this location a second time because I ran out of light the first time before I could go under the bridge. The second time I went, the river level was high so I can't go down. Wanting to be dead-center under the bridge so I can get all 4 starbursts in, I had to squeeze myself and my tripod in between a tiny spot in front of a car parked behind me and the edge of the embankment. I barely managed without falling off, but I got my shot.
[...Click for the rest of my Top Ten Bridges...]
Just wanted to share with you what I got for Christmas. Nope, it’s not the 24-70mm lens – I already have that. This one’s even better (arguably) - it’s a coffee cup! So far, I’ve had 2 mornings with cup-of-Joe’s in this delightful insulated cup. The only problem is, it freaks me out every time I see it in the sink, I keep forgetting it’s just a cup 
Hope you all had a Merry one.
If it were not for the yellow band that goes around the cup, I would have been fooled. On the real lens, as with all the Nikon pro Nano glass, the band comes in a nice gold finish. Of course, Nikon makes you pay for it. For what the lens costs, it should also make coffee for you! This cup also comes with a screw-in top cover and bottom cap, and even a Nikon pouch. Coffee anyone?