World Heritage Night

Liverpool's waterfront is a world heritage site a status that is well deserved. Central to that are the Three Graces which are (from left to right) The Liver Building, The Cunard Building and The Port of Liverpool Building. I think they are really spectacular and look marvellous lit up at night. Liverpool is now a regular destination for major cruise lines and this would be the site that first greets visitors as they disembark for a tour of the city.

There is a debate about whether the heritage site status is a benefit to the city or not. On the one hand it is a recognition for the wonderful architecture and it helps to boost much needed tourism to the city. On the other hand it is argued that it creates a bar to innovation and development. I am sceptical about the second argument because if you draw back from the three graces you will see the development of hotels on one side and the new Liverpool Museum and Open Eye Gallery at Mann Island on the other all of which are great examples of stand out modern architecture. It may be that there is little room for further development along the waterfront but I think the new and the old combine really well.

Old Meets New

Liverpool is such a wonderful city with some stunning architecture and especially along the waterfront at the Pier Head. 

I love reflections and it was impossible to just walk past this view of the Port of Liverpool building reflected in the sheer black glass wall of the Open Eye Gallery which are probably my two favourite buildings in the city. If you ever get the chance you should head down to the Pier Head and enjoy the wonderful architecture and stroll through the Port of Liverpool  building looking up at the glorious dome over the atrium I promise you won't be disappointed.

I think looking at these images that the people walking in the shadow of the Open Eye are probably unaware of the perfect reflection of the building just across the road. The buildings are from different eras and in such different styles but somehow they work so well together.

I was faced with my usual dilemma between colour or B&W and I think on this occasion colour wins out, just but then again when I look at the pictures tomorrow I might just change my mind.

Port of Liverpool

I almost didn't post anything today but decided that I would post this one for the happy memories associated with it.

This is the central some of the magnificent Port of Liverpool building at the pier head, one of Liverpool's famous "Three Graces" and one of the buildings that earns Liverpool waterfront World Heritage status.

I saw this for the first time when I came to Liverpool as a student and a fellow student known affectionately as "Tall Paul" who had grown up in the Dingle area of the city took it upon himself to give me a tour of the sights.

That was in 1990 and I had never gone back until a couple of weeks ago when I passed through the building on the way to choose my daughter's wedding dress.

Night Lights

Yesterday I went down to the waterfront near the woodside ferry terminal with a purpose. I wanted to get some good shots of the Liverpool waterfront which is a world heritage site and a beautiful site in different light conditions. 

I had a specific project in mind and set up my camera on its tripod to take a series of shots over long period of time and as the sun set and the city lights came on I was gearing up for the final elements of my project. But the Stena Line's "Stena Mersey" hove into view.

I was pretty fed up at that point as I thought my project was going to be a failure but I think with some careful cropping I should be able to salvage something. In the meantime while I work on that I have a few other shots to share and to start with I have decided to use this image of the night time sky line and incorporate the huge ferry which was the source of my distress. 

I love the colours in this shot and the bright highlights from the ships lights and the glow from the buildings on the opposite bank. I used my 24 - 105 mm lens at 32mm f16 and ISO 400 and a shutter speed of 0.4sec. The slow shutter speed has given a smooth texture to the surface of the river which had been churned up by the ferry.

Mont St Michel

More from Normandy today... here are a few shots of Mont St Michel. It was a bustling maze of steep narrow streets up to the monastery at the top. I enjoyed the visit as it was a place I had wanted to visit for many years however I think I got the biggest buzz when I saw it from a distance for the first time and I think the last of today's pictures is my favourite by far.