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!
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.
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!
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.
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…:)
Foggy Dock
Another shot I wasn’t sure about posting – taken on a extremely cold January evening at the Albert Dock.
Sefton Park Palm House
I’d gone wandering in Sefton Park hoping to catch some autumnal sunsets a couple of months back but I’d annoyingly missed the nice light so settled for taking photos of the Palm House instead. I’ve never spent much time investigating this lovely building – it’s on my list of “things I really must spend more time photographing”.
I also bumped into fellow Fab Collective photographer Will – his website is here. Check out his stuff from the Lake District and his time-lapse photography from the top of the Anglican Cathedral. I keep forgetting that I said I’d link to other sites that I follow – that needs to go on another to list!
Hats off
Shot from when the QM2 was in town a while back – can’t get enough of the big ships, the cruise liner terminal is one of the best things to have happened to the city in the past few years.
The only problem with this ship was it’s sheer size – everything else that comes in afterwards is going to look like a tiddler in comparison.
Queen Mary II visits Liverpool – 20th October 2009
The Queen Mary II visits Liverpool – she’s absolutely huge!!! This shot doesn’t do her size justice, even with the people in the foreground, she’s absolutely massive. Check out this wikipedia entry that compares her to an Airbus and you begin to get an idea of her size. Fantastic to see ships like this at Liverpool – shame we couldn’t have sorted out better weather for her arrival. Couldn’t decide between colour or black or white so the mono version is here for comparision.
Spirit of the Blitz – Liverpool Waterfront
Taken tonight (well, Thursday night) – I know this image is far from technically correct, it’s flaretastic, sky is too dark, clock is burnt out etc but I felt like posting it anyway. I’ll go back and re-take it earlier on when there is some more blue in the sky, I spotted earlier in the week how the new lights down the Strand had altered the light down there but didn’t get down in time for some nice twilight.
The statue is called Spirit of the Blitz and it’s in the churchyard of St.Nicholas at the bottom of Chapel Street.
Manweb Danger
I’ve got a bit of an obsession with these old signs at the moment – I like how minimalist they are with their sans serif fonts (I’m reliably informed this font is Gill Sans). God knows how old this one is – when did Manweb stop calling themselves that?
Speke Sunset – Liverpool
The waterfront at Speke – it’s a weird contrast down there between the natural waterfront and the industrial units behind it. I keep promising myself that I’ll spend a bit more time down there but never get round to it (I’d like to have a proper look at the yacht club now it’s finished). There’s some lovely views over to the Welsh mountains and the sunsets are quite often lovely.
Dairy Ice Cream Sundaes – New Brighton Waterfront
Ice cream van on the front at New Brighton. Wanted to go for a retro type feel here – bit of a difference after the Noble posts but there’s just something about this shot I like?
Out On The Tiles III – Pier Head, Liverpool
Last one of the long exposures of the ferry terminal – I like the look this technique brings to a photo, I’m interested in trying it with a film camera.
Incidentally, whilst trying to find more information about the ferry terminal, I found this article on the Architects Journal website then purely by chance a Twitter contact tweeted a blog post about the same article and building – all with mostly negative comments about the building, which I find odd. I’ve spent quite a bit of time down at the waterfront since it’s been redeveloped and talked to a fair few people about it and the reaction has mostly been favourable. It’s been suggested that any positive reaction is due to it replacing another eyesore (in the shape of the Shanghai Palace restaurant, pictured here) – maybe it is but only time will tell…some of the new buildings at Mann Island appear to be nearing completion, it’ll be very interesting to see the reaction to those once finished.
Out On The Tiles II – Pier Head, Liverpool
Next in a series of long exposure shots from the newly redeveloped Pier Head (the first in the series, also a shot of the new ferry terminal, is here). No debate in my mind about whether to go black and white for this one, I like the light hitting this side of the terminal.
Out On The Tiles – Pier Head, Liverpool
Long exposure of the new ferry terminal at the Pier Head – I’ve spent ages processing this image with a very specific result in mind, which isn’t particuarly like me really (and I’ve been listening to Led Zeppelin while I’ve been doing it which gave me the idea for the title, linked in quite well!)
Having said all that, it took me ages to decide if I liked this toned version or the full colour one best – just for completeness sake, the colour version is here at flickr
The Crown Princess Visits Liverpool
The Crown Princess, docked at Liverpool yesterday. She is the largest liner to visit Liverpool’s new cruise liner facility, has crew of 1163 & carries 3114 passengers. Quite an impressive sight too, she is much larger than the likes of the Ark Royal and the recent German Navy visitors.
Textured Liver – Pier Head, Liverpool
I’ve been experimenting with textures recently – I like how they can bring something different to a shot. Two different textures are blended here to get this effect.
As an aside, I’ve been having a look at the viewing stats for this blog – I got a big spike in the number of visitors when I posted this shot of some classic Riley cars on the beach at Formby. It’s a nice photo, don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t understand why it was so popular? Off to the internet – it turns out that there’s a popular ‘adult actress’ called Riley and I’m betting that was what was driving the traffic to my site 
Made me chuckle anyway…
Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Unity – Chapel Street, Liverpool
Yet another reflection shot – I don’t know why I’m compelled to take so many, I just am! This shot is a reflection of Saint Nicholas in the Unity Building on Chapel Street. I noticed this shot ages ago but I’ve never been able to get a shot I like enough to take the time to process it, pleased with this one though.
Spin Spin Sugar – Docks, Liverpool
The Tate & Lyle sugar silo on the dock road. Originally built to bring in sugar from ships at Huskisson Dock but now derelict (so far as I can tell – these pictures of the inside of the silo from the URBEX forums would seem to suggest so), English Heritage have a photo essay on the construction of this building. It’s a very unusual building design wise and has Grade II listed status.
Night & Day – Pier Head, Liverpool
Different viewpoint of the same statue as my last post – the statues are incredibly matte and reflective at the same time, great examples of craftmanship.
Day & Night – Pier Head, Liverpool
These statues are on the side of a building that was built to be a vent for one of the Mersey tunnels (this is for the Queensway tunnel). This one represents Day, there’s a corresponding one for Night. I really like the idea that time was taken to aesthetically improve a very functional thing, the rest of the building is just as ornately designed.
