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.