From High on Flickr.
Continuing my short study of the Selfridges building in Birmingham. This was taken from high up from the car park opposite.
‘henry’ on Flickr.
Another shot of the Selfridges building in Birmingham, this time showing the bridge that connects it to the car park on the other side of the road.
Spheres of Confusion on Flickr.
The second in a short series of shots from Selfridges in Birmingham. This iconic building designed by Future Systems was built in 2003 - and its believed to be largely responsible for the rejuvenation of the centre of Birmingham.
Selfridges on Flickr.
Its a very long time since I’ve visited the bullring - 1992 was the last time I was there, I’d been to a James concert in Manchester and we were travelling back on a National Express coach back home to Greenwich. It was around this time of year and the weather turned - in fact turned so much that the police shut the M6 - all the coaches got diverted to Birmingham bus station where we spent much of the day - actually we found a pub just round the corner from the bullring. The roads didn’t open and we spent the night sleeping under a table in city hall with red cross food parcels and fine bone china !!! It was an experience for sure. Its difficult to remember what the bullring was like then - it was cold, the big round building was there - but the rest of it shabby to say the least.
Today’s a different story though - Birmingham’s gone up market. I’ve been wanting to visit birmingham for ages - of course Selfridges was a big draw - but surely there must be something else there too - so I decided to take a trip up and have an explore. I’m afraid there’s potentially a few of this facade - I know its been taken a million times - but it really is rather striking.
The day was cold and seriously overcast - by 9am (having arrived at 7am) I could have called it a day - seriously chilled to the bone, but I grabbed a coffee warmed up and went exploring a bit more. In the end I quite enjoyed my day there - there’s a couple of shots I wasn’t able to get so I’ll be back at some point. For now a mini series follows.
Oh - and I’ve been playing at the higher end of the histogram. I see lots of dark black architecture images - I’m guilty of that too - and some of them do look stunning but I’m keen to explore the other end - the end that we usually get in the UK and taking shots with completely overcast skies.
Quick question - is the reflection of the cathedral distracting? I quite liked it I thought it added a sense of reality perhaps - but I have one where this is not there - would be interested in your views.
2012 on Flickr.
Well at this time of year I like to look back at the year if nothing more to remind myself what I’ve been doing. Its been one of ups and downs both photographically and elsewhere, but I have to say the ups this year have outweighed the downs, in no particular order:
- I’ve experimented more than ever
- I’ve learnt to develop film
- I have a new camera
- I’ve learnt to manually focus
- I cracked my ribs trying to get that last photo
- I smashed my camera / lens / tripod to smithereens
- I shot lots with my Rollieflex
- I was runner up in LPOTY (urban)
- I was paid by a magazine for some shots
- I grew a beard
- I’ve travelled
- I met old friends
- I met new friends
- I lost touch with people
- I’ve been in so much pain I cried - twice
- I took lots of pictures and published very few
- I’ve started a long term project
- I’ve been to the beach very rarely and took very few seascapes
- I moved to google+, and then back again to flickr
- I was published in magazines and a couple of books too
So all in all its been an eventful year, one that I’ve really enjoyed, but I didn’t hit my goals for the year although they probably weren’t that realistic.
As for next year who knows, I do have some goals for the year - hopefully they’re more realistic and more achievable.
Gherkin on Flickr.
A few years ago I published a shot which I entitled Finally - the Gherkin - it had taken me ages to get a shot that I really liked. The building is wonderful its shape so curvaceous - but its this very shape that made it so difficult to shoot. The shot was straight up to the top with the clouds whizzing over head. I was really pleased to get the shot. But over time I’ve looked at it and grown to think that the shot really didn’t do the building justice - it didn’t show off the beauty. So since then I’ve hunted all over the city for that view - and I’d pretty much given up it just didn’t exist. That was until recently (well earlier this year) when a view opened up as the ever changing cityscape devoured another nondescript 60s building to be replaced - well by another probably nondescript office block. I’ve no idea how long this view will last below and the right the construction is well under way (one of the reasons for the long exposure) - but for now its there - I feel this shows off why I like the building so much.
weltschmerz 2 on Flickr.
More from my angst project. This is the Shard - 5 exposures all in camera on a single frame. Its shot in the fog which seem to be perfect conditions for multi-exposures. I’m still learning about multi exposure photography of what works and what doesn’t - I’ve had some preconceived ideas about what should work - but having taken the shots they just don’t - More London is a good case in point. Anyway will be carrying on with this for a little while and see where it takes me.
weltschmerz on Flickr.
Something of a different architectural style to my usual shots. This was an attempt to portray how I felt at the time - and to be honest how I’ve felt for much of the year this year. The shot is an in-camera multi exposure shot comprising of 6 frames.
spheres on Flickr.
A long time since I posted here, loads happening, but this structure really caught my eye at the olympic park. The sun lit up those curves against an intensely dark blue sky
Kollhoff meets Piano on Flickr.
This is a shot from of the Debis building to the left and the Hans Kollhoff building in the background, both on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. Taken back in the spring on the Google+ Photowalk of Berlin. This was taken on the Sunday and pretty over cast and cold, still what light there was was reflecting nicely from the Debis building. Even though the building in the background looks like its from a different era altogether they were in fact completed at the same time. The Debis building is undergoing a bit of a refurb at the moment though hence the scaffolding.
