Fleetwood Wrecks

Last weekend I headed up the M6 to visit my friend Vic.  On the Saturday morning we ventured out to Fleetwood, near Blackpool, where there are some old wrecked boats on the marshes.  We had inadvertently chosen a day with one of the highest tides of the year.  Whilst it didn't exactly come in at the pace of a galloping horse, it did sneak up on us.  Vic narrowly avoided getting his camera back flooded, and we only managed a few 10-stop shots before retreating to firmer ground.

We passed the middle of the day in Fleetwood itself.  The waves were quite lively and I entertained myself for some time shooting them against a set of concrete steps.

Later in the afternoon, after the tide had receded and the sun was low, we headed back to the wrecks.

Orchid Festival

The annual orchid festival is currently taking place at the Cambridge Botanic Gardens.

e-Luminate Cambridge

Last week the e-Luminate festival took place in Cambridge.  Several buildings across the city centre were turned into light installations.  I visited on a busy Saturday night and mainly spent my time around the Fitzwilliam Museum and Peterhouse college, before ending up at a crowded Senate House.

 

Some Shots of the Shard

I headed into London last Saturday, with the intention of shooting some 10-stop architectural shots around More London.  It was a windy day, so I was hopeful of some interesting shots.  Sadly, the wind broke up the cloud a little too thoroughly for long exposures.  So I mooched around until sunset and settled for some low light shots of the Shard instead.

Misty Day at the American Cemetery

Sunday saw a mist that lasted for most of the day.  I headed to the American Cemetery in Cambridge, as this offered misty trees together with strong foregrounds and lead lines from the graves.

 

More Cambridge Night Shots

Last Sunday, a small group of CCC members met up in Cambridge for some night photography.  We started off before sunset along Kings Parade, taking shots of the shops in the gathering dusk.  For the blue hour, I was keen to get a shot of the Corpus Christi Clock. This had been on my night shoot 'to do' list for a while, since I had seen the potential of cars turning from Bene't Street onto Trumpington street to leave lovely curved light trails.  After spending ages on this single shot, I switched to the Lensbaby for some more shop window pictures, before meeting up with the others in the small fair on Parker's Piece.

Samba Band

On Saturday I went to the Mill Road Winter Fair in Cambridge.  As much as I enjoy street photography, when big crowds are involved, I often struggle to find good images.  It can be difficult to separate individuals from the numbers that surround them.  This time was no exception, and I had taken very few shots before I encountered the Samba band.  After watching them for a while, and taking a few straight pictures, I felt my images weren't successfully capturing the vibrance and mood of their performance.  So I chose instead to take some intentionally blurred images.  These I feel better capture the spirit of the performance.