In Camera ... Postcard AG320

This picture photographed on a hot August day that threatened a storm. It had been a beautifully hot sunny morning, too hot really, and an early afternoon walk along the beach seeking some cooler air was decided upon. Heading down to the beach it was obvious that storm clouds were building on the horizon and going to obscure the brilliant sunlight very soon. The last rays of the sun glinted on the shallow water which was reflecting the dark grey clouds resulting in an unnatural greenish glow. Just as the last light of the sun glanced across the beach I captured this mix of bright sand and water silhouetting the figures against the background of a threatening sky. Ten minutes later the rain was lashing down, obscuring the view completely.

Workshops now available

I am now running workshops, currently of an evening starting at 6.00pm and lasting 3 - 4 hours depending on sunset time and tides. The workshops take up to four photographers - please bring your own camera and tripod (although tripods can be borrowed for the evening if necessary). The sessions are either on the shore at Crosby or up along the Formby coastline and will give tuition as to general photography, how to see a scene as the camera sees it, creative angles, exposure and how to improve your pictures after capture. Other  sessions and times are available on request. Full details are on the website at http://admin2.clikpic.com/rdphoto/section414516_144002.html

In Camera ... Postcard AG309

This image captures the beautiful calm of a wonderful January evening and was taken long after the sun had set. Here is my diary entry written shortly after returning from the beach:

Beach at Sunset. Down to Hall Road at 3.40 to catch the sunset and high tide. The water was lapping around the ankles of the figures closest to the promenade. The sky clear, just a few wisps of cloud over the Welsh Hills. The air sharp and vibrant, the skeletal frames of the wind farm making a strong contrast against the sky and the curved silhouettes of the Welsh Hills standing out clearly against the glowing orange sky as the sun sank into the mountains near Moel Siabod.

There was no wind and the calm sea reflected ripples of light, orange, yellow, blue and green from the sky. The sun was setting swiftly now, the glowing ball of light becoming a semicircle and then a crescent as it dropped below the silhouetted mountains. Rays of light seemed to burst forth from behind the mountains for a short time after the sun had gone, then for a few minutes the colours seemed to fade from the sky. I was about to pack up and return to the warmth of the car but something kept me on the beach. The colours of the western sky intensified, a deeper shade of orange turning to a deeper red climbing to lighter yellows, green and finally the deep blue of the overhead dome . The gently swaying water reflected all the colours from the sky, appearing to glow as it took on all the different hues. I stood there mesmerised by the beauty of the evening, the glowing sky and the calm sea a dappled palate worthy of Monet or Van Gogh. The temperature was 0ºC but, for nearly an hour after sunset I could not tear myself away from the wonderful display that the movement of our earth around the sun had created, a light show that could not be excelled. Venus had appeared in the SW sky, a brilliant diamond against the cerulean blue, and as I finally packed up. a quarter moon was starting to throw its brilliance on the scene. I made my way back up the beach to the car, feeling the cold for the first time as I did so.

In Camera ... Postcard AG299

Early January, at this time of year the sun sets behind the Welsh Hills, usually a bank of cloud appears to obscure the sun before it sets behind the hills but on this evening, and several others to follow, the sun appeared to disappear directly behind the mountains. The air was calm and little disturbed the scene apart from the odd seabird. I had set the camera up on a tripod and was recording the scene as the sun went down. This bird flew across just as I pressed the shutter, captured in a silhouette which reminds me of Picasso's dove of freedom.

In Camera ... Postcard AG271

A squally day of ragged showers and bursts of sunshine, what I call a good, bad day. A day when the light can do unexpected things. You can go down to the beach and be faced with a grey wall of cloud or beautiful light casting a warm glow across the wind torn sands. On this day the light was ever changing as were the clouds. It required quick work and concentration to keep up with rapidly changing conditions but some beautiful images resulted, I love the way the long shadow stretches across the beach in this picture.

In Camera ... Summer Days In Ireland

I have just returned from a trip to Dublin and managed to take advantage of the good weather at the weekend that the whole country seems to have enjoyed. It was better weather than many European destinations and I don't think I have ever seen the Irish Sea look so blue as it did during those warm sunny days. I thought I would share some of my personal photographs with you. The picture above was taken at Skerries, a small coastal town just north of Dublin.

Glendalough is a popular tourist destination in the heart of the Wicklow Mountains just over an hours drive south of Dublin, two lakes of brilliant crystal clear water reflecting the blue of the clear skies and surrounded by verdant green forest. A good spot for walking and getting away from it all - but not on one of the hottest days of the year as the popular low level walks were teeming with visitors and from early afternoon there was a queue for the car parks. Fortunately we had arrived early and enjoyed the best of the day before the area became flooded with tourists.

Back in Dublin the Bull Bridge at Dollymount is a good spot for an evening walk and we enjoyed the late warm evening sunshine of the year's longest days and clear views across the bay to the Wicklow Mountains. I loved the way the late evening sun brought out the texture of the wood on this ancient bridge.

In Camera ... Postcard AG262

A very cold October day, a strong north west wind was blowing sand along the beach as I waited for the QE2 to make her final approach up the Mersey. This picture was the result of a long cold wait, something one has to be prepared to do when you preplan a picture such as this.
I had first arrived on the beach when the QE2 was a bright spot on a sunlit horizon and picked my spot where I thought she would be framed by the iron men as she sailed past. It was almost an hour before she sailed into this position, an hour in which the weather changed as cloud began to build up and I hoped that, as more and more people appeared on the beach, no one would walk in front of my position. There was one moment when a late arriving photographer ran down onto the beach as the vessel sailed in front of the wind turbines and he stopped for a moment right in the centre of my shot before moving on to the left as the QE2 sailed into my picture and a ray of sunlight came through the clouds lighting her structure beautifully. That burst of light was good fortune and not something I could arrange, lifting the vessel out of the cloudy background.
The large print of this image has proved to be a very popular picture, a record of a historic moment on Crosby beach.

In Camera ... Postcard AG222

This is one of the original postcards that proved very popular, the dark shades of blue and the strong silhouette seem to work for many people. I love the way the light from the sky is reflected in the water flowing between the ripples of sand on the beach.
The picture was captured on a January evening about 45 minutes after sunset, The tide was just on the turn and it was one of those days when a big bank of cloud builds up on the western horizon at sunset, the highlights on the beach are from small gaps in the higher clouds, the last blue light of the day before it was extinguished completely by an approaching storm. The picture looks deceptively calm but in fact the clouds were moving swiftly in from the west, other pictures taken at this time show them as blurred fast moving shapes in the sky.
The exposure for this image was around 15 seconds and it is this long exposure that has calmed the rough waters and created the smooth reflections around the iron man.

In Camera ... Postcard AG202

Early afternoon late February, it had been a morning of heavy rain and strong winds. Around lunch time there was a glimmer of light in the sky, clouds torn asunder by the strong winds. I knew the tide was on its way out and would leave the beach shiny and wet should the sun break through.

As I arrived at the beach a patch of blue sky appeared amidst the black clouds and the sun beamed down resulting in this almost monochromatic image as the light reflected off the wet sands. The passing bird was pure good fortune, but I liked the way the sculptures appeared almost spotlit on nature's stage.

In Camera ... Postcard AG198

It had been a dreary November day of greyness and heavy rain but, late afternoon, the sky cleared from the west and I went down to a very wet beach as the last light of the sun cast a warm purplish glow over the beach. I like the way that the light from sky accents the rusty surface of the sculpture whilst the lights of the industrial docks shine brightly in the distance. 

Exposed using a tripod the exposure was around 4 seconds, any slight ripples on the water have smoothed over in the longer exposure.

In Camera ... Postcard AG183

Taken in late October, the sun is now setting more to the south west and the Welsh Hills rather than behind the new wind farm at Burbo Bank. A cold day, an icy chill seemed to strike across the beach as the sun went down and the air was suddenly filled with birds, a definite taste of winter on the way.

In Camera ... Postcard AG182

2007 was the year the horizon became filled with more metal sculptures, this time the purely mechanical shapes of the wind turbines but, one has to admit, they can add a certain art form to the landscape. Mid September and the sun sets directly behind the centre of the wind farm throwing their shapes into strong relief against the glowing sky. I liked the contrast between the art form and the mechanical sculptures, the figure from Another Place once strong against the sky is now dwarfed by the new giants on the horizon.

In Camera ... Postcard AG158

This picture was captured late in the afternoon at the end of a November day full of sunshine and showers, one of those mixed weather days when anything can happen. I knew there was going to be a high tide just after sunset and instinctively felt that it would be a good evening for photography. I was down just before sunset as the tide approached and the sky was quite photogenic. As often happens, the longer I waited and the darker it became the better the photographs I obtained. It is a strange paradox, photography depends upon light to make images, but often the best images are made with very little light, long exposures bringing out the best of what little light remains. The time just after sunset, the twilight hour, is, I find, a magical time for photography, especially beside moving water, the air becomes still and the soft light hides many imperfections in the scene.

On this day the dramatic dark shapes of the clouds contrasted well with what little light remained in the sky and I love the way the colours of the sky are captured in the reflections on the water. This was a visit to the beach that was well worth while, not only for the pictures I obtained (have a look at the range AG158 - AG170), but also the experience of just being there, standing alone with the statues, sharing a moment of tranquility and beauty is something that cannot easily be put into words.

This picture was one of the earliest captured that night when the shutter speed was still fast enough to show the individual waves, longer exposures soften moving water.

In Camera ... Postcard AG146

This picture was captured late on an October afternoon. It had been a day of mixed weather, quite windy and some heavy showers. I had been working in the office all afternoon and wondered about getting out and down to the beach for an hour. Around 15.30 it suddenly went very dark, there was a rumble of thunder and the rains came down really heavy. I thought that was the end of my visit to the beach but, just after four, I saw a glimmer of brightness out to the west, it was still raining hard but I thought to myself "There might be a rainbow if the sun breaks through".
I quickly grabbed the camera bag and drove down to the beach by the Leisure Centre; as I arrived the light of the sun burst through a gap in the clouds low on the western horizon. I ran onto the beach setting up the tripod as I did so. Looking inland, to the east, behind me the dark thundery sky created a wonderful backdrop for a perfect arc of a rainbow. It was now only about five minutes before sunset and the light coming through that gap in the clouds would not last very long. It strengthened as I mounted the camera on the tripod and created a brilliant double rainbow. I managed to obtain three decent images before the sun disappeared into cloud again low on the horizon and the rainbow faded away. I was fortunate with my positioning being directly in line with the sun and the figures as you can see from the long low shadows in the picture. The arc of the rainbow covered quite a distance and this image is composed from two overlapping pictures, the only way I could capture both ends in one shot.

In Camera ... Postcard AG63

A late November afternoon, a crystal clear day but not a breath of wind to ripple a pool of water left by the outgoing tide. A stroll on the beach became a wait by this mirror like pool as the sun went down, the passing Irish ferry adding a touch of movement in the stillness.

This shot was actually hand held with the camera a couple of inches off the surface of the sand as I lay flat out on the wet beach to capture the perfect reflection of the iron man. The previous day had been cold and stormy but today was magical. The stillness of the day, the silence of the air apart from the distant throb of the ship's engines carrying across the water and the black silhouettes resulted in a haunting beauty to the end of the day. The sculptures have added their own magic to the Sefton coastline,  making pictures possible where none existed before.

In Camera ... Postcard AG45

This was a very windy clear day in October, days like this are not usually good for sunsets as there are not enough dust particles in the air to refract the light but I decided to go down to the beach just in case. The strong, chilly north westerly was keeping the air clear and the beach deserted - just me and the iron men. The clarity of the air and the clean wide open space resulted in my capturing this image which I feel captures the essence of the sculpture, portraying the insignificance of man against the wide open spaces of nature.
The shot is actually a panorama of two images joined together which helps give a wider  almost three dimensional feel to the landscape, the camera on a tripod, essential in low light and windy conditions.

In Camera ... Postcard AG30

The new postcards are proving to be very popular and I thought I would go through the circumstances in which each image was captured.
This picture was taken just before sunrise in August 2005, not long after the sculptures were placed. I had been waiting for a full moon which, at this time of the year, sets in the north west. The weather conditions had been very settled and I knew that I would have to get up early the following morning for this picture with the setting moon and the pink glow of dawn. The tide was also low which helped show the vast expanse of beach containing several of the figures.
My planning paid off with this mystical image in which the sky is suffused with the glow of the rising sun behind me, the full moon just at the edge of the earth's penumbra and the beach still in the shadow of the earth as the iron men gaze forever westward.
The camera was on a tripod for this shot which was exposed for around half a second in the pre dawn light.