City Abstracts (January 2023)

A chance free hour provided an opportunity for abstract photography in Nottingham city centre and some subjects both new and old. The new was provided by the renovated bus station and the steps outside Nottingham College followed by canal reflections, an ever changing subject, covered many times over the years.

The bus station exterior is clad in rich earthy tones which complements the blue sky on a sunny day. The framing for the shots needed to take account of the steep point of view and any perspective correction. These were some of the results:

The steps outside the new Nottingham College are designed more for outdoor seating and it was the shadows that particularly caught my eye:

Canal reflections are an engaging subject. It is hard not to end up with hundreds of images. Each canal side building reflects in a different way with a variety of shapes and colours. The resulting photos can look dull on the back of the camera but then come alive when processed with a simple curve or levels adjustment. These are some examples from the many taken on the day:

City (August 2021)

Visits to the city centre have been few and far between this year and even as we come out of the Covid restrictions and try to return to normal, the trips are mainly brief and functional. The chances for photography are also limited and with only a half hour to fill I was interested in capturing an aspect of the city that I miss - the hard lines, angles and shapes of city architecture. 

With very few people around I found a subject, the clad walls and striking cerise panels of a University building which combined to make the following set of images:

Birmingham (January 2014)

This is the third post from a selection of photographs taken in Birmingham, in 2014. The previous posts feature the Library of Birmingham and the Selfridges Building and these are a few of the other photos taken whilst walking between those locations. The subjects are varied but the main theme is colour in the city centre, from reflections in the steel facade of the railway station, to the market in the Bullring, and the more muted tones of the statues in Victoria Square.

I have enjoyed looking back at this visit to Birmingham, processing a few images that I had forgotten about and some that I had never processed at the time. In the current virus lockdown it has felt like a virtual photography session following, through the photography, a route around the city centre. At the same time I have also started other similar virtual sessions from 2014 which includes the Peak District, the coast of Northumberland, and a fresh look at photographs from the Canary Islands (a virtual holiday!). 

Of course, none of this replaces actually getting out and about with the camera but there does appear to be light at the end of the lockdown tunnel, as the roadmap to the end of all restrictions begins at the start of March. I look forward to this happening but in the meantime here are the pictures from Birmingham in 2014: