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….
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.
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.
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?
Lutyens Crypt, Metropolitan Cathedral
Lutyens Crypt, underneath the Metropolitan (Catholic) Cathedral. Edwin Lutyens original design for the Cathedral would have made it the second largest in the world but the onset of World War II stopped construction (the unfinished crypt was used as an air raid shelter during the war). After the war a lack of funds meant that a new design was necessary and the new cathedral stands on top of the crypt.
This was my first time down in the crypt and it’s a beautiful space. I’m only really familiar with it as CAMRA hold a beer festival down there every year – seems like an odd place for a beer festival? It’s definitely worth a visit, beer drinker or not.
Waterfront
I wanted to get a photo of the Liverpool skyline with the Liverpool One wheel in it before it was taken down but only managed to get over to the Wirral on Friday night when it was very windy and the river was very choppy, so no nice reflections and I couldn’t get an angle to get the wheel without a building in front.
There’s going to be a new wheel in front of the Echo Arena but I think it’s a real shame that the Liverpool One wheel couldn’t have stayed where it was – it was a real attention grabber, a talking point and gave Chavasse Park some purpose. The site in front of the arena is only going to afford a good view of, well, the Arena and the Albert Docks. Interesting if you’ve only come to see a concert and have 15 minutes to spare but it’s not showing the city off in the best possible way (having said that, if they build it side on in front of the Arena it’ll be a lot easier to see from the Wirral…:)
Cains Brewery
Last on in the series of dubiousness. This is Cains Brewery, right on the edge of the city centre. It’s a weird but fantastic building – I’ve had a few attempts at doing the long exposure thing here and this is the best I’ve managed. It’s difficult to try and do the long exposure shots here as it’s on the edge of a very long road and standing at the side of it with a tripod makes people think you’re a cozzer with a speed gun – been called a few nasty things trying to get this shot!
Say Hello & Wave Goodbye…
Taken in mid-March, this is another shot I wasn’t entirely happy with, mainly due to annoyance with myself! I only had the one lens with me this day, an old 50mm that I don’t use enough and was trying to force myself to get acquainted with properly – would have loved to have seen this shot when I had the 10-20 with me!
Liverpool ONE Wheel II
Again, I’ve gone for different shots (or different processing at least) of the big wheel. I had a fun afternoon wandering around it – was great to see how pleased people were with it. There’s rumours we might get a permanent wheel – I hope so.
Liverpool ONE Wheel
I’ve had a go at getting some different shots of the wheel – I’m sure someone has already taken all of these shots as the wheel has been togged to death but it doesn’t hurt to try….there’s a short video down there as well, which is a new thing for me.
Creativity
Another one from the archives – a long exposure on Church Street from last year when the Capital of Culture banners were up.
In other news, I was made redundant from my full time job on Tuesday so it looks like I’ll have more time to update the blog, maybe even full-time if I can put a good enough business case together, who knows?
Foggy Chinese Arch – Chinatown, Liverpool
One from the archives – this is the arch at the top of Chinatown, just before the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Rainy Days – Liverpool
The recent atrocious weather has been putting me off getting outside with the camera which is silly really – the rain makes for some interesting shots.
So I reasoned that I should get out and get some rainy day shots – it was only spitting when I left the office but by the time I got into town it was torrential so most of these shots are taken huddling under some sort of cover!
Bricks removed – Mathew Street
Spotted this sign on Mathew Street – walk past this wall all the time and I’ve never noticed it.
Exchange Flags at Night
Exchange Flags at night – someone has put up these cool spotlights that seem to get moved around a fair bit, so every time I go back the light has changed. They’re currently pointed at the floor in front of the statue and at the newsroom war memorial in the wall near the walkthroughs. Was after an old black and white movie feel here.
I’ve also started working on a 365 project – for those who don’t know what a 365 project is, the idea is you take a photo every single day for a year. There’s no particular theme to mine but to keep it interesting (to me anyway!) I am sticking to the one camera body (my old D40, assuming it lasts the course) and an old Nikon 50mm 1.8 lens – manual metering, manual focus, nothing automatic in other words. You can find the first six days of my 365 here.
