Trying to make the most of the little time I had up in the North West, I decided to wrap up warm and head out on my own before meeting up with Dave later on. I literally just walked the seafront and found plenty of shooting opportunities.
It’s a strange feeling being in someone else’s environment; I almost felt like I shouldn’t be shooting some of the subjects I came across. It almost felt a bit like theft. One thing the NW coast is definitely short of in the dead of winter is people. While I’m sure there were plenty about somewhere, I certainly didn’t cross paths with many. It was only just after 9:00 AM and hovering around -4°C when I shot this. It’s not an experience I’d fully recommend to everyone, but it was brilliant fun just being out with my camera again.
I absolutely loved the time I had up there. I guess it was unimpinged (is that even a word?)—what I mean is, I didn’t have to think about the kids too much. Being relieved of that daily stress for a couple of days was wonderful, and it’s a favor I’d very much like to return to my wife as soon as we can afford to do it.
Anyway, I did meet up with Dave an hour or so later, and we ventured back up to the railway and power station. I’ll be blogging an image from that particular excursion tomorrow night.
Technically, this image is a 3-frame HDR, bracketed in 1-stop increments either side of the base exposure listed below. It was a 3 image HDR in 1Stop increments either side of the exposure below, created in Photomatix Pro, and I followed the tutorials written by my good friend at Chromasia which enabled me to give it a go. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not necessarily a major-league fan of HDR, but I thought I’d give it a proper go—and I actually quite enjoyed it… csj
capture date | 10.01.2009
camera | Canon EOS 5D
lens | 17-40mm f/4 L Series
focal length | 21mm
aperture | f/11
shutter speed | 1/30
shooting mode | aperture priority
exposure bias | +0.0
metering mode | pattern
ISO | 200
flash | no
image quality | RAW + 16-bit TIFF
RAW converter | Photoshop CS3 + Lightroom + Photomatix Pro
cropped? | no (minor skew & localized editing)
I really like this shot a lot. Hope you and Dave get some cool stuff on your trip. I’m stoked to see it 🙂
Very good HDR. I love the muted tones.
Nicely done – not overcooked like many HDRs. I suppose an Oyster’s Delight would to be not eaten!
I am not usually a big fan of HDR either, but this works very well with those muted colours. The sky is wonderful and I absolutely love the ghost tram.
I’d be very happy to, I’ve already got an idea swirling about in my head 😛
the leaning tower of blackpool
I think this works really well, and the tram adds a nice ghostly touch. I think I particularly like it because it’s an angle I’ve not thought to shoot – though don’t know why after seeing this one.
Craig: Thanks mate, I left the tram in the frame to create a ghost like image, I did have a clean frame without it, but quite liked the essence of nostalgia.
Dedicated: Write me the short story and I’ll use it in a future post here. I have several images to post, and it would be cool, if you could come up with a short story relating to the Cold / Abandoned Streets and Coast of the North West coast of England during the winter….. 😉 csj
This is very nice mate, the perspective and tones are great. This is another subtle result also, only the tram is giving it away slightly. Anyway I really like it.
I think I might feel the same about being in someone else’s environment but you’ve put your own stamp on it.
Uninpinged? Don’t think it is but what the hell we know what you mean ;O)
This is the sort of image that makes me want to write a short story about it. XP Um, let’s see, I’ve been having trouble formulating my thoughts into proper sentences…I mean there a lot of elements together (sky, various structures, etc.) in this photo that spark my imagination about a scene and that’s always neat to see ^^;