Guiding Light

My last outing with my camera had been to a local woodland where I photographed fungi, which was very relaxing. A week later I found myself on the beach at New Brighton photographing the lighthouse and sea defences, which was also fun and relaxing. I didn't have a lot of time but fortunately despite a couple of light showers the weather and the light was very kind to me so I was able to get some nice shots.

I have photographed this lighthouse a few times in stormy weather and it really looks magnificent with waves crashing around it. However, this was the first time I had been down to see it with the tide at its lowest and on such a nice day. Whatever the weather I think it must be a welcome beacon to the shipping that comes into the River Mersey.

I experimented a little with a variable ND filter and longer exposures for some of these shots to  get the most out of the reflections and the sky. I have also mixed up some colour and black and white images for contrast.

Walking on the beach was pretty safe, but I often like to make things difficult for myself; (in the past I have waded into the middle of streams to get a better angle on a waterfall, or set up close to the edge of a cliff for a particular view), so why should this outing be any different. I wanted to get some shots of the sea defences which involved a bit of scrambling over some slippery rocks and it was a bit fiddly setting up my tripod and finding a safe foothold at the same time. I think the effort paid off. I have shot these in black and white because I think it creates a better image. In colour images the green seaweed coating on the concrete groynes is a bit too much and doesn't give as much definition or depth. I think the shot of the groynes which includes the lighthouse (the penultimate image) would have been better using my 17 - 40mm lens instead of the 24-105mm because 24mm just wasn't wide enough to get it all in as I had wanted. However, swapping lenses at that point was a risk too far. There is always next time...

Enjoy, and feel free to comment.

Slow Down

 As I am writing this and selecting photos for today I am listening to the new album by Yann Tiersen Rathlin From A Distance/The Liquid Hour. It is very mellow and full of beautiful compositions, well worth a listen. I will be going to see him perform the new album in Liverpool tonight so I am really looking forward to that. Anyway the title of the blog fits well with the music and fits with the images below too.

The scene in these photos is Glencoe Lochan which we reached after a decent walk from the campsite, following the Glencoe Orbital Walk. I took several shots from different points around the lake but have just chosen these two for today, maybe I will come back to some of the others another time. If you look on Google Maps the lake is almost completely dry so I was very pleased to see it was full when I visited allowing me to get some long exposure shots of the lake and its surroundings. These were both about 2 second exposures using an ND filter to help smooth out the surface of the lake (it was a little breezy) and get these beautiful reflections.

There is a clear path around the lake and this part of the walk is very accessible (the woodland walk we took was less so but very enjoyable) and there were several people out enjoying the weather. I was pleased to be able to slow down and really take in the surroundings and to capture images which I think show off this location at its best. You can tell that spring is well under way with the fresh colours of the trees and in the reflections.

It was so good to visit here with my brother, making memories. I can think of a few people I would happily share this spot with.

Look Up, Look Down

 Although I had visited Venice several times before I had never been inside the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute. I had photographed it from the other side of the canal but never taken the time to walk round to take a closer look. On my recent visit to the city the church had scaffolding covering the façade and when I walked around to explore I was a little worried that the whole building would be closed or have restricted access. I think many other people must have thought the same because while it was still open to the public there was no one else inside when I entered.

It was a warm day and so it was refreshing to step inside to the cool and shade and to enjoy the sense of calm.

What immediately struck me was the beautiful tiled floor, which is the subject of todays pictures. As with the exterior of the building there was restoration work taking place inside, and if you look carefully you might see pieces of yellow tape marking areas on the floor that need to be restored.

I am not sure that these photos really do justice to the scale and workmanship of this marble floor that has been there for centuries. I was mesmerised by the design and in awe of the creative minds behind it. I absolutely loved it and walked round a couple of times trying to take it all in.

I also love the way the whole design is reflected in the highly polished underside of the chandelier that hangs directly above. Was that, I wonder just coincidence or was it  part of the original plan? 

In The Jewish Quarter

 Historically Vienna had a thriving Jewish community and this is celebrated in really cool museum in Judenplatz and just outside of this stands a very moving holocaust memorial.

The streets around Judenplatz are very atmospheric, none more so than Schulhof (the first three images) which is where there was once a school, "Schulhof" translates to "school yard".

I particularly like the third image where the sunlight reflected in the windows on the right is projected onto the walls of the church on the left.

The final image I have added as this is a square on the edge of the Jewish quarter and is home to the fire service museum. I don't think I have ever seen such a pretty fire station. I believe that the building was completed in 1730. The exhibitions are housed on the upper floors and are manned by members of the fire service and visits to the museum can be interrupted when the crews get a shout and have to go out and save lives.

A Summer Palace

 Built as a summer palace for Prince Eugene of Savoy the Belvedere is a complex of baroque palaces, an orangery, stables and parkland. It is now a museum of art, housing world class exhibitions. and it is designated a world heritage site.

At one point the upper Belverdere as seen in these images was the home of Franz Ferdinand, heir to the imperial throne. Following his assassination and the start of the first world war the palace complex was nationalised and became home for collections and exhibitions of modern art.

Kings Dock, Port of Liverpool

 There is a nice contrast in these images of the historic architecture of the Albert Dock Warehouses (now the Merseyside Maritime Museum) and the modern architecture of the newer developments on the Strand showing how investment in Liverpool over recent years has helped improve the city centre and make it an attractive place to live, work or visit.

Even on a cold day this is a popular place for families to visit and explore Liverpool's rich history, to reflect on the positives and negatives and also to enjoy the sights and sounds of the waterfront.

Cool Metallic Reflection

Firstly, I know I said in my last post that I would share some pictures from inside the Museum of Liverpool, specifically I was going to show some pictures of the cool curves of the spiral stairway, however when I looked at the images this morning I wasn't convinced I liked them enough to share so I have decided to go with something different.

The images above are almost identical except for the fact that one is in full colour and the other is monochrome. The exposure and contrast are slightly different in each image too.

The buildings in this image are along the Strand in Liverpool overlooking Kings Dock. There was a thin film of ice on the water which the bright sun had not managed to melt. The sun reflecting off the side of one of the buildings gives the water a metallic quality which I think is really nice.

I hadn't noticed at the time I took the pictures but the pillars supporting the building in the centre of the shot are much like the pillars which support power station cooling towers.

 

Love Liverpool

 I have a little more time on my hands now and so there is a very good chance I will be getting out and about a lot more which can only be a good thing.

Earlier this week as the conditions were pretty good I decided to head into Liverpool for a couple of hours to see whether I could capture anything good. As you can see from the pictures above, the sky was crisp and clear, there was ice on the dock and a definite chill in the air (not quite the coldest day of the year but pretty close to it).

I firstly went down to the waterfront to photograph the architecture around the docks before heading back through town where I captured a few shots of people going about their business in the run up to Christmas, so I have a fair bit to work on and to share.

It is a while since I have been down to the waterfront and I had not realised how popular it has become for people to affix padlocks to the chain link fence around the docks. You can see from the above pictures that it has definitely become "a thing" here in Liverpool as it has in other cities all over. For the effect I think I like the locks in the third image as they go all along the riverside where I think the sheer volume of them has more impact. 

However, although there are currently fewer locks along the dockside fences they do create a fantastic frame for the buildings in the background. In these images the main building is the Museum of Liverpool which is itself a stunning building. I will be sharing some more shots of the museum in the coming days.

Dead Calm

 

                                                                                                                                                   

So yesterday I said I would be posting the last of my shots from my walk on the beach and that I would post multiple images, and that is what I have done...

I was a little surprised to see so many boats on the water at the marine lake because it was almost completely dead calm, with barely a breath of wind at all. Progress on the water was incredibly slow and by the time the first group of boats was coming back the crews were having to stand up in their boats and flap the sails back and forth in order to create enough momentum to get back to the jetty. I was really surprised then when a second group of boats went out as in the last image and they were standing up, flapping for all they were worth to get out onto the lake.

All the same I thought the colourful sails reflected in the still water of the lake made for some great images, I particularly like the first image with the three boats line astern with the sails tilted at different angles.

I really wanted to add a link to some music to go with todays post and I was trying to find something that fit with the sailing motif, however I didn't actually think what I observed and photographed could fairly be described as sailing (and I thought Sailing by Rod Stewart would be a bit cheesy) so I have gone a little outside the box on this one. The song is  "Nothing Is Easy" (click the link) by Jethro Tull, it is track 1 side 2 from the classic album Stand UP (1969). I think it is definitely worth a listen and I think both the album title and song title fit well with the images. Enjoy!

There's No One Home

 

A walk on the beach will invariably result in finding lots of seashells and along the shore between Hoylake and West Kirby there are millions upon millions of them. Each shell host to a creature (clam, mussel, oyster, cockle, whelk, razor clam etc) which in turn is a source of food for the many wading birds and gulls that can be found along the coastline here.

I thought this was quite a magnificent specimen, once home to a whelk (a type of sea snail) but now abandoned and exposed by the tide. I liked the way the light caught it and the reflection it cast in the shallow puddle in the sand.

Light The Way

 

In the first of today's images you can see the lighthouse which stands at the end of Stanley Road in Hoylake, it overlooks Liverpool Bay, the Dee Estuary and the Royal Liverpool Golf Course. It is not an active lighthouse but is a replica of one of the four lighthouses that were built along the Wirral coastline to guide shipping into Liverpool (two were in Hoylake and two in Leasowe) none of which are  now active.

There is a small slipway onto the beach near Red Rocks which on a summer day (or any day for that matter) is a nice spot for a walk or to relax and enjoy the scenery. It is also a good spot on a clear night to observe, or even photograph the night sky, looking west out into the Irish Sea or south along the Dee estuary (although that direction does suffer with light pollution from the towns along the river's edge) there are so many stars to be seen..

The second image shows Hilbre Island, there is a small,  functioning lighthouse on the island but it is a simple white tower with a red LED beacon that can be seen up to 5 miles away.

The island has an interesting history and as a nature reserve it is designated a  Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Cut off by the high tide it is possible to walk across to the island when the tide goes out, to explore rock pools, observe the flocks of wading birds and watch the grey seals that live on a nearby sand bank and swim around the island. 

The island has been occupied on and off since the stone age, it has been a site of pilgrimage with a monastic cell established there between 1080 and 1550. The monks were responsible for maintaining a beacon for shipping and on the island in the late 1600's rock salt was produced on the island.

The two images were taken on the same day. The shot of Hilbre island was taken first and then a short while later as the weather conditions improved the second shot of the lighthouse and the reflections on the beach things appear so much brighter because of the low winter sun.

On An Island

 Looking across the pond to this small island I noticed a tumbledown shack which on its own, at first glance was not particularly interesting but taking a ,moment to really look I noticed the reflection in the calm water and the variety of colours illuminated by the sun.

These shots were taken from different vantage points and used 4 second exposures to enhance the reflections.