Panorama from Altitude

Here’s an interesting shot—one of the many that presented themselves as I kept my camera pointed out the window during approach to Newcastle Airport on my first UK trip. This was the 9^th of November, 2006, and I was about to reach my landfall in the north after changing planes in London. This is the Royal Quays Marina, on the north side of the River Tyne, and the morning sun was at just the right angle to illuminate things nicely. You can see how early it is from the length of the shadows. I was shooting telephoto, so altitude must still have been some thousands of feet. No cleverness here, just point and shoot. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

Flaps Down!

The last time I ran a frame from the approach to Singapore in November 2007 (my second UK trip) was October of ‘24, and there are still some great frames to consider. This is quite late in the approach to Changi Airport—the the flaps are fully deployed and the ground is not far away. It’s interesting how the eye cannot decide which focal point to go to—the sunset colours at top left, or the dirt and oil on the normally obscured portions of the flaps.. Looking at this picture, I can feel the motion of the plane like it was yesterday, am awaiting the sensation of main gear contact, then reverse thrust... Ah, those were the days! Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

The Old and the New

Juxtaposing the old and the new is a favourite photographic theme of mine, and here is a gap of a thousand years: a modern roll-on-roll-off vehicle ferry heading south off the mouth of the River Tyne, in Northumberland, UK, framed over the stone ruins of Tynemouth Priority, which has occupied the headland, along with an associated castle, since the Middle Ages. I took this frame on November 15^th, 2010. The weather was being very fair that day, and I had an excellent visit, using the cross-river ferry service. Sixteen years—it seems like yesterday. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview, squared up using fine rotation; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

A Harmony of Steel

I’ll always come back to vanishing point symmetry—it’s just so eye-catching, with its implications of motion and the third dimension. Here is a study of architectural relationships, a major railway station, one of the most fun places to capture this kind of image. It’s the Manchester Piccadilly Centre, photographed on November 19^th, 2006, and I believe it’s early in the morning—there are very few people about and the shadows are long. This would be my departure leg. I had one night in Blackpool, having come across the country on the Transpennine Express from the Yorkshire coast, and I was bound for London next day. I snapped this shot from high on one of the escalators, which I recall being exceptionally smooth, not jostling the shot at all. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

Lush at Altitude

Apologies for the dearth of posts in August! My laptop was in the shop for work, and with work being so pressing I completely forgot about the photo blog! Here’s a frame from May 8^th, 2011, taken at Loftier Botanic Gardens on a visit with friends. The park is just behind Mt Lofty in the Adelaide Hills and in fact runs up to the ridge line. These are lush, tropic plants that do well in the moisture available at altitude—there is a defile known as Fern Gully, and you can certainly see why! Nothing clever here, but the composition is pleasing, the light conditions excellent, and the exposure spot on. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

The Jungle in the City

Photography is notorious for deceiving the eye. This example of lush, tropical vegetation suggests a low latitude, something one would capture on expedition into the world’s wild places, and indeed it might be but for the wonder of botanical gardens. This image was captured on October 6^th, 2012, during a visit with friends to the tropical house of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Adelaide South Australia—and what a spectacular place it is, rising high in its modernistic architecture, creating an internal rainforest. Not to be confused with the old Victorian tropical house, whose glass architecture has long graced the gardens, this new structure is far larger and contains an ambitious display the equal of any in the world. No photographic cleverness here, just a simple frame and capture, with minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

When Water Holds the Sky

Reflections are always fun to work with, and still waters are that perfect mirror for the bright sky. Lakes are, by their nature, spectacular fodder for photographers interested in landscape studies. Lakes don’t have to be large to deliver the visual goods—this one is small indeed. Here a palm reflects among the lily pads at Himeji Gardens, on Adelaide’s South Terrace. The Japanese gardens, created to celebrate the city’s twin status with Himeji, are a haven of peace and always a delight to visit. I got this frame during a visit with friends on June 12^th, 2011—cool weather here in the south, when afternoon sun vied with dark clouds in the east. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

Australian Winter Sea

This frame was captured a few days over fourteen years ago, on July 7^th 2012, during a coastal walk with friends. This is essentially midwinter in Australia, cold and sharp, but one of those bright, clear days when the place looks and feels so different. The day I post this is very much the same, with bright sun inviting a walk momentarily. This view looks over the Gulf St Vincent, westward from the Adelaide foreshore, though I don’t recall exactly where on the coast we were at the time. A simple snap—but the horizon is level without fine rotation, something of a miracle for me in those days! Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

Catching the Ephemeral

Nothing is more changeable than the sky, and and nothing more fleeting than rainbows. When they appear, you shoot, and sometimes the result is excellent. I grabbed this one from the Westfield mall at Marion, South Australia, on May 24^th, 2012. I was probably on my way home from the university, as I was at the bus stops serving the route, and living close by at the time. I often carried the camera for opportunistic shooting in those days, and got many interesting studies of the sky and buildings. This storm went through in the afternoon, leaving a strong rainbow to the east, and I was able to shoot a whole sequence. Here, the rush of traffic on Sturt Road creates the business of human occupation, while the rainbow is the hand of nature, oblivious of human doing—a dichotomy I always enjoy. This is perhaps the most careful framing of the effect in the shoot, with telephoto employed to compress the perspective between the foreground and the rainbow. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

The Grand Old Institution

 

This is the Natural History Museum, on Cromwell Rd. in London, which from the outside still looks much as it did when it opened in April, 1881. Brainchild of Sir Richard Owen, that “Count Dracula” of palaeontology, it has always been one of the leading institutions of its kind in the world. I photographed it on November 1^st, 2010, on my third UK trip; this was the second time I visited London’s South Kensington museum district, and it was also the last time I had the chance to do so. Distance and cost are relentless, after all. I was really under the weather on that trip, so was unable to appreciate the sights as they deserved—still, I brought home the pictures, and I have them to this day. This is a simple street snap, but at least I managed to hold the camera square! I remember the sun being so low in the sky, despite a late morning time, that most of the street was in deep shadow. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Urban Jungle

This is the redeveloped east of London, after the old, blighted areas leftover from Victorian times were finally swept away. I took this photograph through a train window—the Docklands Light Railway—on my way to Greenwich, back in November, 2007, on my second England trip. It was early in the day, as I recall, and things were very quiet in the new residential areas that used to be London’s busy docks. Now they’re trendy marinas, and the old days of empire are a distant memory. Note a few reflection in the glass. The redevelopment of the East End was extensive, and what were the haunts of the poor in the days of Sherlock Holmes are now the home of the well-to-do. Nothing clever in this shot, just keeping it square (no fine rotation required) and managing the reflections to a minimum. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

Gold and Grey

Sometimes the image comes together with the right lighting angle and the right time of day, to make the most of a simple subject. This was taken through a train window (note the faint reflection of a vertical surface at the top of the frame) in November, 2007, on my second UK trip, in the Esk Valley, Yorkshire, as I was relocating from Whitby to Sunderland for the NEICN conference at the university. The hour was not late but the sun angle at that time of year certainly is, creating an evening feel, though there would be several hours of daylight remaining. The sun angle created a “golden hour” effect early in the day, and with the light falling on the autumn hillside the grey clouds beyond make for the perfect contrast. There seems little way to plan for such scenes when on the move—the opportunistic photographer just grabs them when they happen. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.