Ramping Up…
It’s been a while since I’ve posted any pictures of the waterfront so I thought that whilst I was on the Wirral I’d take a new one – I actually thought I’d managed to get a shot of the skyline without a crane in sight but closer observation of the full size pic reveals two! I suppose it’s a sign that the city is still growing despite difficult economic times and as such is a good thing – it’d be nice to get just *one* pic without any in though!
Sneaky
Man sneaking cigarette in the rain outside Lime Street station, taken on the same day as the Lime Street Shelter photo on my Liverpool Desktop Wallpaper page – very very wet and very very dark.
How Now Brown Cow!
Next in the series of images that I’ve had on my hard drive for a while, this was shot from the 78 bus, late on a sunny crisp October afternoon last year – I much prefer the autumn/winter for shooting as you get longer shadows & more interesting light, as opposed to the British ‘summer’ which alternates between overcast, very overcast & rain (although sometimes rain does present it’s own opportunities).
Inspired by the excellent website From The Upper Deck, a collection of images taken from the top deck of London buses.
No monies
This is the first in a series of images that I’ve kicked around in Aperture for a while – the type of image that you’re not sure about for one reason or another – compositionally, post-processing, whatever. One of the tests I do if I’m not sure about an image is the ‘wallpaper test’ – I set the image as my wallpaper for a day or two, gives me plenty of opportunity to look at it and judge whether I like it or not. This passed!
This shop used to be a butty bar type arrangement on Old Hall Street but has fallen into disrepair – I constantly go on about what a shame it is when shops, buildings etc end up in this kind of state but love taking photos of this kind of decay. I’m a contrary bugger.
I realise I’ve not been posting much recently – lots on. I will rectify this in the next week or so, got a fair bit lined up. Stay tuned….
Port of Liverpool at dusk
The Port of Liverpool building, one of Liverpool’s Three Graces. The building has been gleaming following a clean up – it’s quite a contrast to see photos of the buildings from years gone by, soot-blackened. The construction of the new buildings at Mann Island can just be seen on the right hand side.
Dusk
Taken whilst waiting for the right light to come along for the recent Engineering building England flag shot – it was a lovely evening to be sat on the plaza at the Cathedral, that end of town is so quiet at night time, a total contrast to how busy it is during the day. It would have been nice to get somebody in shot for a sense of scale but I sat there for an hour at least and no-one went past.
Littlewoods Building, Edge Lane
The Littlewoods building, off Edge Lane. Awesome building, shame it’s still empty.
For England!
The University of Liverpool’s Engineering Department is currently lit up like the St.Georges Cross for the World Cup – it’s normally setup to fade through a series of colours. It looks absolutely fantastic – hopefully they’ll have reason to leave it on after today – come on England! 
Envy
Last in the series of off-kilter reflections – I did say they’d all be in black and white but on reflection (arf!) I prefer this one in colour. Also experimenting with a watermark on my images – let me know what you think.
Hanover/Gradwell
3rd in the series of reflections – this was one of those occasions when you get a lot of funny looks – if people can obviously see what you’re taking a photo of then they don’t seem to mind much but if it’s not immediately obvious, like here where it appeared I was taking a photo of a corner of a window of an empty shop, it really confuses people. Definitely a location with scope for more shots this one.
If you’re in the St.Helens area, I’ve got some prints showing at a new gallery opening there – the Mash gallery is open from Thursday daytime onwards – they’re just around the corner from the railway station, on Haydock Street. It’s a great space and I’m really excited to be displaying there.
Bold Reflection
Next in the series of off-centre reflection shots. A lot of the shops that are now based in Liverpool One have left empty shops dotted around the rest of the city centre area – this is one such shop on Bold Street. It’s a shame to see so many empty shops but it gives you a chance to get shots like these without being hassled.
Radiant Reflection I – Hanover Street
I took the opportunity of being in Liverpool city centre on a gloriously sunny Saturday afternoon to take some reflection shots – the combination of good weather and being the weekend at the same time compelled me to make a special effort!
I’ve tried to avoid my typical symmetrical shots and go for something a little more left or right of centre – this is the first in a series of four, all reflections, all black and white.
Web of Light Panoramic, Exchange Flags
One I’ve dug out from the archives – I loved this installation (which is why I’ve got loads of photos of it!) Exhchange Flags is one of my favourite places in Liverpool to photograph and it’s great to see it being used more and more – it’s stood empty for far too long.
Regent/Waterloo
This bridge has been closed for a long time, pending repair works. I’ve heard rumours that it was due to be demolished but my flickr contact 4737 carlin has a more recent photo of it showing work underway, which I’m really pleased about as some of the first photos I ever took were of this bridge and the surrounding area, it’d be a real shame to see it disappear.
I’m selling prints at an arts event at Childwall College this weekend, specifically Saturday 11 till 4, at the Calidad event at Childwall College. Come down and say hello!
Max and Mum
Complete departure from my normal type of photography but this is one of the fox cubs that have appeared in our garden with his mum. There’s two cubs, this one (Max) and his timid little sibling who so far nameless and is a lot more camera shy. They appear twice a day – just when the sun is coming up and just when the sun is going down. Trying to get photos of them has given me a new found respect for wildlife photographers – trying to get a photo of a rapid ball of fluff in almost always terrible light has proved to be a real challenge, albeit a new and different one for me.
As I recently sold my zoom lens, I decided to try a service that had been recommended to me by some other photographers – lensesforhire.co.uk. I picked the Nikon 18-200VR as I’m in need for a general zoom lens – the service so far has been excellent, the lens turned up when promised in a secure box with all the necessary accessories. Assuming the lens goes back ok, it’s definitely a service I’ll be using again.
Sprung!
I noticed this tree encircled by daffodils on a walk around in Sefton Park today – there are loads of them in the park, I seem to have missed them in full bloom as they mostly seem to be on the wane but was still a nice thing to see. Looked like a lovely day outside but it was actually freezing!
The Lesson Learnt
I’ve been meaning to get a shot from here for a while and took the opportunity last week – I also learnt a valuable lesson – just because a bollard is in the middle of the road in a quiet part of town doesn’t mean someone hasn’t painted it and not put any kind of sign up. I’ve got a lovely stripy addition to my jeans now….
Apologies to those who have signed up to receive updates via e-mail – due to a server outage at my ISP, several recent posts were re-sent over mail, sorry again. Not signed up to receive updates via mail? Why not?
21
Today is the 21st Anniversary of the Hillsborough Football Disaster where 96 innocent Liverpool fans where crushed in the Leppings Lane End and died. Justice for the 96 – You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Echo Wheel of Liverpool III
Last of the shots of the big wheel, for now anyway. Trying to find a different angle of the wheel, this shot was taken from the Liverpool Marina.
The Echo Wheel of Liverpool II
Second shot of the new wheel on the waterfront – still disappointed it’s not the other way round so it’ll be more visible from the Wirral side (the Liverpool One wheel was mostly obscured by other buildings) but no-one ever thinks of the photographers….
The Echo Wheel of Liverpool
One of two shots of the wheel I managed to get before being moved on by Arena security (very politely, it must be said.) The wheel is 60 metres (thanks to Wallacemarino for the correction) high and you’re supposed to be able to see all the way to Wales on a good day – not been on yet so I’ll reserve judgement.
I can’t make my mind up whether this looks better in colour or black and white, so have a look at the mono version here.
