Lancaster Canal

Lancaster Canal 2, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

I followed this narrowboat up the canal on Sunday, photographing it from my boat as it passed under a couple of bridges.
The owner appears to make (or perhaps supplement) his living by making rope fenders for other boaters, advertising his profession on the stern of the boat and towing his workshop behind like a tender.
While I can completely see the attraction of this lifestyle, it has a bit of a vintage flavour to it that, quite by coincidence, sits well with the style of the image.
I wasn't aiming for the 1930's travel poster look, but as a result of using a laptop with a low resolution screen I managed to overdo the strength (and under do the light smoothing) as I put it through Photomatix.
So, enemies of HDR look away now. For once I am glad that style has triumphed over substance.

Sunderland Point with Orton

Sunderland Point HDR with Orton, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

Thought I'd have another go at Orton. This was processed from a single RAw file into a pseudo hdr file then tonemapped with Photomatix. I then opened it in Photoshop, and created two duplicate layers, blended one as screen, then created another copy and added gaussian blur and blended this as multiply. I then sharpened the other layer with unsharp mask and merged the visible layers. I then sharpened the merged tiff a bit with smart sharpen. This is the 8 bit jpeg. I'm not sure about the image but I'm starting to get to grips with the Orton effect.

Whalley Viaduct

Whalley Railway Viaduct, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

Drove over to Whalley today, mostly because I felt like it, partly because I am moderately compelled to do so every summer at least once. I took the road over the Trough of Bowland, which, oddly, is spectacular but unphotogenic in equal measure and arrived just as the sun disappeared behind some high cloud.
While I can see the attractions of the high street, the church and the Cistercian Abbey, I have previously found the railway viaduct that passes over the Ribble Valley near the school where I taught in the late 70's to be the most visually striking aspect of the village.
So, after having photographed the Abbey Gatehouse I tried to capture something of the enormity and complexity of what is essentially a half mile long bridge made of bricks.
I shot this with a Nikon 10.5mm fisheye so I could include the river and the footbridge as well as the arches of the railway bridge.
I quite like the two vanishing points and the discordant composition that ignores every rule, and thought I would emphasize it by desaturating the image after turning it into a 'pseudo' HDR file with Photomatix.
I also sharpened it twice.
Very off message, but it may be my last opportunity for a while.

Skyline

'Skyline' at Lytham., originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

While out photowandering (not quite as aimless as it sounds, but not really deliberate location photography either) I found this boat, possibly an ex ship's lifeboat, stranded on the shoreline near Lytham. The day was dull, overcast and there was rain in the air so I was frankly glad to find something to photograph before I was forced to give up and go to Tesco for a bit of EDRT.
That's Economic Downturn Retail Therapy, buying stuff like cheese and paracetomol that you need anyway as if its Harvey Nichols binge buying.

I know. But it works for me.

Back at home I did my usual Photomatixphotoshoptopaz processing, but then, for some reason thought I would try out Orton effect.
I used to use Orton in the old days (that's before digital or BD) by overlaying contact copies of slides, one of which was out of focus for a sort of 'glowing ethereal' look.

...and this is the finished image. I used layers in Photoshop to create a Gaussian Blur effect while retaining the detail.

There is a useful tutorial here:

http://pcin.net/update/2006/11/01/the-orton-effect-digital-photography-tip-of-the-week/

No, I'm not sure either.

Second Terrace, Sunderland

Second Terrace, Sunderland, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

The village of Sunderland, on the promontory that is usually referred to as Sunderland Point was once a prosperous and thriving port where goods from the West Indies and Baltic were transhipped to smaller vessels and lighters. Robert Lawson is credited with developing the port with warehouses, an anchor smithy, a blockmakers and a ropewalk to serve visiting vessels.
Sunderland's history is inextricably tied up with the slave trade and many of the ships that moored here were carrying slaves, some of whom settled locally.
Lawson went bankrupt in 1728 but Sunderland continued to prosper until the late 1780's when the neighbouring port of Glasson Dock opened. Soon afterwards Sunderland became known as 'Cape Famine'.
The village enjoyed a revival in the early 19th. century as a bathing resort, at which time there were two inns in the village, but its relative isolation and the vagaries of the tidal causeway drove most visitors to nearby Morecambe.

And as a photographic location, perhaps in spite of, or partly as a result of its past Sunderland Point is completely, absolutely and totally unbeatable.

St. Anne's Pier

St. Anne's Pier (at 70mm), originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

There is something visually fascinating about St Anne's Pier. The disjointed pier and head are the result of a series of fires and demolitions that have left a short landward section and a disused landing stage out on the sands.
The pier was originally constructed of iron columns with lattice girder work, built to a length of 914ft (277m) at a cost of £18,000. Designed by A Mawson and commissioned by the Land and Building Company Ltd, St Annes Pier was opened by Lord Stanley on June 15th 1885.
In 1904 further, much more ornate, work was carried out with the construction of a 'Moorish' pavilion as well as various kiosks along the pier neck. The whole complex was finally completed in 1910 with the construction at the pier-head of the 'Floral Hall', which provided facilities for concerts, opera's and vaudeville acts.
1962 saw St Annes Pier purchased by the Amalgamated Investment and Property Company for the sum of £240,000 and renovation of large areas of the pier commenced. The work included the entrance buildings, the Floral Hall, a landing jetty and a children's area that had been damaged by fire in 1959.

Tragedy was to strike St Annes Pier in 1974 when a serious fire completely destroyed the recently refurbished 'Moorish' Pavilion and a building of considerable architectural merit was sadly lost. The fire also damaged the Floral Hall, jetty and pier substructure but an application to demolish the damaged seaward section was refused by Flyde District Council in 1975. The pier owners subsequently went into liquidation.
Successive owners carried out further restoration works but the bulk of the seaward end structure was finally destroyed in another blaze in July 1982. The Floral Hall was burnt down and St Annes Pier seaward end was so badly damaged that this time it had to be demolished, reducing the pier's length to a mere 600ft (182m).

I took this with my Sigma 70-300mm lens (at 70mm) in order to compress the distance between the two remaining parts of the pier and shot it at f8 to maximise the definition of the lens.

Sunderland (Point) Whammel.

Sunderland Whammel, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

Back to Sunderland (the village rather than the Point, which is a bit of a hike up the beach) to photograph the boats. The sun had been obscured by heavy grey clouds for several days so I did not have particularly high hopes for the day, but as I parked by the sea wall it made an appearance and bathed the scene in a gentle warm glow that was more like late evening than half past ten in the morning.
I heaved my bag and the large Velbon tripod that I use for multiple exposure shots out of the car and set up as quickly as possible, using my 12-24mm zoom and a PL filter.
Even though this was shot into the sun, the combination of the filter and Photomatix has allowed me to bring out the detail in the boat without blowing the highlights.
The relatively short shadow is the only giveaway that this was not shot in the 'Golden Hour', but if I had waited until later in the day I could have been marooned at Sunderland, cut off by the tide that floods the causeway at high water.
And while I might be prepared to make some sacrifices for my art, I draw the line at three things;
Getting up early, walking up mountains and hanging around in a village without a pub for six hours.

Boy Michael returns to Leigh in colour.

Boy Michael returns to Leigh, HDR colour version., originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

When I got back to my own computer I ran the photo of the cockle boat 'Boy Michael' through Photomatix, converted it to a pseudo HDR and then enhanced the detail and saturation a bit in Topaz Adjust.
I might think this was all worthwhile, but I imagine the men who take these boats out to dredge up shellfish would be among the first to ask ...
Why?
Thus proving that one man's HDR is another one's cocklers.

Boy Michael returns to Leigh

Boy Michael returns to Leigh, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

Its only a matter of time when I visit the rellies in Leigh on sea before I find myself making an excuse to go to the Old Town to photograph the cockle boats.
Although I am ancient enough to remember when the boats were made of wood and the cockles were brought ashore by men carrying baskets down a gangplank, I still find the whole cockling industry absolutely fascinating.
The boats are now modern, steel and purposeful, and the cockles are unloaded by mechanical grabs, but they are sold from the same sheds that I used to walk past every week on my way home from my 'Saturday Job' at Walker's chandlery, to the same rather surprised looking customers and accompanied by the same pungent smell of vinegar.
And I am still struck by the same question after all these years. Without wishing to criticise the long standing heritage and tradition of the industry, i cant help but wonder...
Why?

Cedar House Photography Competition 2009 Winners

Cedar House Photography Competition 2009 Winners, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

A Missed Opportunity

Grey Heron, Lancaster Canal, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

If ever there was a need to prove that a long lens and a sunny day does not make a wildlife photograph, I managed to fulfil it this weekend.
I followed this grey heron up the canal in my boat, steering with one hand and holding my S5 with a Sigma 70-300 in the other until he (she?) decided that enough was enough. Realising that catching dinner was going to be on hold until the bloke in the Orkney Longliner whiffled off (I always like to characterise wildlife as if it is written by P.G Wodehouse) , he stood obligingly on a post and posed for me as I drifted past.
I took a total of 18 shots of the heron as he gazed unblinkingly at me. The camera was set to shutter priority, as I was shooting towards the 300 mm end of the zoom, and told me it was metering 1/142 at f5.6. It was set to shoot Jpeg (I usually shoot in RAW) but was at maximum resolution, so I expected sharp results.
And what's more, I realised that this was an unusual opportunity to photograph a heron, an habitually shy and retiring bird.
So, was I successful?
Was I Swedish Exercise.
Even though this was the pick of the 18, it is soft, badly exposed and lacks definition at anything bigger than the size of this post.
I have given it the full treatment. Photoshop, Adjust, Vivacity, you name it. Nothing can rescue me from my own incompetence.
Apart from the limitations of shooting on a compressed format I assume that I have discovered the limits of both my lens (f8 or bust) and hand holding.
I daresay Gussie Fink-Nottle could have done far better.

A Dozy Pair

Dozing Cygnets, Lancaster Canal, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

... of cygnets on the Lancaster Canal. I photographed this family of swans on the canal in May, at which time the cygnets looked like this:



I imagine that growing so fast must be a tiring business.

Leigh on sea, Arnside with Boats.

Old Leigh, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

Summer holidays soon, and time to go and see my family in Leigh on sea. I always try to find time to photograph the 'Old Town' part of Leigh, down by the water. Cockle boats, seafood stalls and old pubs full of old fishermen and young yachtsmen, boatyards full of abandoned projects and the mounds of crushed cockle shells that make up the foreshore and the space behind the jetties where the boats unload.
Everything that Arnside doesn't have as a result of the tidal pattern of Morecambe Bay. But then, Arnside also doesn't have piles of litter, the most expensive car park outside of Knightsbridge and it doesn't smell of vinegar.
I like them both, and I like photographing them both, but for very different reasons.

Arnside Sunset

Arnside Sunset, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

I've not really felt much like blogging recently, nor have I taken many photos. Its not that I've lost interest in photography (or blogging for that matter) but being a sensitive soul, or a softarse to be more vernacular, I have not been in the right 'place' mentally for several months.
All it took, as it turns out, was a visit to Arnside seafront and some dramatic 'pink' light. I quite like the result above, but more to the point, I am looking forward to taking some photos again soon.

Morecambe Contrast

Morecambe Contrast, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

Having taken this a few weeks ago, on a rare bright day in August, I was a bit disappointed with the final result after running it through Photomatix and CS2 with Topaz Adjust. As the title suggests, the point of the photograph was the contrast between the old bandstand and the recently redeveloped Midland Hotel in Morecambe. I had hoped to draw attention to the graffitti scrawled all over the bandstand and the weeds forcing their way through the ground in front of it, while at the same time pointing the lines of sight in the image towards the gleaming Art Deco hotel.
In the original version, the graffitti was a bit lost and the Midland lacked any real punch, so the picture, instead of showing the paradox that is Morecambe, looked a little like Blackpool with a few weeds.
So I downloaded Topaz Vivacity and filtered the original file with it.
I've always been a bit nervous of sharpening. Used delicately it can help low res images look like they were taken with a plate camera. Getting too free with it can make a perfectly good image look like it was taken with a mobile phone.
Having been an enthusiastic supporter of Topaz Adjust since I tripped over it on a web forum earlier this year I had high hopes for Vivacity.
And I was not disappointed. The image now makes sense. The contrast between the two sides of Morecambe's character jumps out of the frame as it was meant to originally.
And it doesn't look like it has been deliberately sharpened at all.
Which is rather the point.

Plover Scar Range Front Light.

Plover Scar Range Front Light, River Lune, Lancashire., originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

I was really quite pleased with this shot of the lighthouse at the mouth of the River Lune between Heysham and Cockerham Sands. I had walked all the way out to it a couple of weeks previously to find that the light was so washed out that the capabilities of my S5 to resolve punchy images from less than ideal lighting were no match for the grey monotone that was the sky and the one photograph I produced that day was no more than a reference shot, serving to remind me to go back when there was some contrast in the sky.
The second time I visited, I was able to walk out further towards the lighthouse as the tide had ebbed further, but more importantly, the light made the hike from Cockerham worthwhile.
The sun played on the stonework as I splashed around in the mud with my monopod, trying to get Heysham Power Station and the skyline on the third lines, while the clouds provided a theatrical backdrop for the lighthouse.
Eventually, after an hour of this top entertainment, I walked back up to the sea wall and returned to where I had parked the car.
This was landscape photography at its best. A strong subject, great lighting and a bit of exercise.
Job done.

August in Arnside

Arnside Clouds, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

To paraphrase Victor Meldrew, I simply don't believe the way that this August, just like last year, has been more like the monsoon season in Borneo than summer in the UK. My garden has gone bonkers, the roads have been rarely dry enough to ride my motorbike and I am seriously fed up with photographing everything under a moody dark sky with towering clouds.
Take the shot above for example. To be fair, I wouldn't have even bothered posting it on my Flickr stream without the sky, but I would really like just for once to have a reason to put a circular polariser on my camera.

Wyre Wreck

Wyre Wreck 5, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

Time off work has provided me with many things in the past. The chance to relax a little. The opportunity to have some time to myself, to reflect on the past year, or on my plans for the future. More importantly in recent years it has given me the time to visit places and photograph them.
I have an extensive and comprehensive list of places I want to photograph. Some of them are places I have been to before, some I have photographed in the past but many are parts of England that I think might give me an interesting shot or two, but which I have never set eyes on.
So how do places get on to my list? One way is if I see a photograph taken by someone else there that inspires me. But there is a certain danger in this, as it is surprisingly difficult not to take the same photograph oneself. Even with a different lens, different light and a whole different pair of eyes looking through the camera I have more than once unwittingly plagiarised someone else's photographic work.
And I have had it done to me. Once.
So the chance to spend a little time photographing the wrecks on the banks of the River Wyre behind Fleetwood Fish Docks was something I approached with some reservations.
There are many, many photographs of these boat remains on Flickr, Pbase and on individual websites. Perhaps the best, and the first I saw, are on David Nightingale's website www.chromasia.com .
So I was quite pleased with this shot. Not because its better than anyone else's. Just because its sufficiently different. to say something new about the place. Not a whole page of something new, nor even a paragraph. But just a couple of words.
And that, for me anyway, is enough.

Gale Beck Lodge

Gale Beck Lodge, Blea Moor Road, North Yorkshire, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

I used to drive past this building on my daily commute from Newbiggin in Bishopdale to Kirkby Lonsdale. So my daily drive, which had previously been in and out of London on the M4, was along one of the finest driving roads in the UK. Like a true saddo petrolhead I used to time myself from Hawes to Ingleton, shaving seconds off by taking a sweeping line round the corners and learning every bump and change of surface and camber. I tested the ABS on my car more than once as I came face to face with a milk tanker or a scraggy Swaledale in the middle of the road, and relied far too heavily on the ability of Bridgestone Potenzas to find grip on wet North Yorkshire County Council tarmac.
But it was my personal Nordschleife, a challenge that was as compelling as it was pointless.
The relentless stream of bikers on summer weekends seemed to appreciate the road as much as I did, and I was surprisingly pleased to see Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond one evening parked next to Gale Beck Lodge in a Porsche and an Aston taking a break while filming a road test.
But all things come to an end and after I moved to Arnside I rarely had any reason to go back to the B6255.
Until last week, when I drove over to Bedale.
And stopped to take this photograph.
My only regret is that it was sunny. I can't help but feel that dark clouds would have suited the image better.
However, I'm going back to Bedale tomorrow and I will be riding back to Arnside on a motorcycle, so I am quite sure that the weather will oblige me with some splendid rain clouds.

Oi Oi!!

Sunderland Point Sam York 2, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

...an old Essex expression for 'Hello there, how are you?', but which is also a bit like 'eye eye', a Photographic term meaning ' I used an Ultra Wide Angle, which is why the verticals converge'.
I am aware that it is possible to correct Fisheye distortion with rectilinear correction software, or with Fisheye-Hemi, but as my new, Ebay purchased, Nikkor 10.5mm is such a novelty for me at present, I am rather childishly reluctant to do so. In any event, I thought the transom gantry on the Sam York did rather a good job of framing the rest of my shot, taken at Sunderland Point this weekend.
But shooting trawlers with a fisheye lens is not my only discovery of the week. I stumbled over a Photoshop plugin called 'Topaz Adjust' while looking for a current link to Lucisart (which is now discontinued), shortly to be replaced with 'Lucisart Pro', (which will cost about a gazillion pounds by the way).
Topaz Adjust is a remarkable tool for finishing photos off with a range of detailing, sharpening, exposure correction and saturation adjustments. It has a number of presets, but they are all adjustable and you can refer to the original image at the touch of a button. And best of all, it is fairly cheap.
Two bargains in one week. I have saved a fortune on my gear buying recently.
Does that make me a semi pro?