Formidable Photography

Duke of Lancaster

2013-05-19T17:33:30Z

The Duke of Lancaster is somewhere I’ve been meaning to get to for a while.

It’s a graffiti covered ship on the North Wales coast, run by DuDug – their ultimate aim is to open the ship up as Europe’s biggest open air art gallery.

It’s not possible to get close to the ship as it’s fenced off but you can shoot it from a footpath that runs around either side.

Definitely something worth visiting if you’re in the Talacre area!

St George’s Hall

2013-05-05T10:45:06Z

More from the X100s. I was keen to see what it was like as capturing architectural details in very low light.

The answer was: very capable. These shots were taken with the Fuji tripod mounted – it looks a bit odd on a big tripod, being such a small camera but I’m more than happy with the results.

The 23mm lens is a great focal length for this kind of work and the RAW files it produces are great to edit – loads of variation available.

I’ve been reading that a lot of X100 users don’t bother shooting RAW as the JPGs that the camera produces are of such high quality, I might have an experiment with this.

If you’re based in the Liverpool area, I’ve got an exhibition opening on Tuesday night – Secret City. It’s at the Clove Hitch on Hope Street – launch night is open from 7pm, come down if you can!

Liverpool One At Night

2013-04-28T20:13:17Z

A wander around Liverpool One trying out the low-light and autofocus abilities of the X100s.

The owl below is one of Liverpool One’s Reading Trees – more details here. Basically, you take a book and leave a book. Nice idea.

I was very impressed by the autofocus of the Fuji in low-light – there were very few occasions when it ‘hunted’. Less than my D90, truth be told.

I bought the Fuji to have a walk around camera capable of capturing these type of images without having to carry around an SLR – so far it’s been up to the job.

These are also the first lot of images I’ve processed using Lightroom – giving it a try after growing a little disillusioned with the lack of updates to Aperture. Very impressed so far.

Fujifilm X100s

2013-04-02T08:06:16Z

A few images from my new camera – the Fujifilm X100s. The X100s is a pocket rocket camera, designed to pack enough punch to produce quality images but still be small enough to make it easy to carry around. This Land Rover was parked up in Hoylake.

Vintage Land Rover – Black and White – X100s

The low light performance is definitely something I want to spend more time playing with – very impressed with it so far.

Bold Street Newsagent – X100s

As is the macro mode….

Fleur? – X100s

And the wide-ish 23mm fixed lens also allows for some great landscape type shots.

Boat Race, Black and White – X100s

The weather hasn’t been the best since I’ve got hold of it – it’s alternated between snow or that cold you can’t hold a camera straight so hopefully I’ll be able to get out more in the next few weeks and give it a proper trial.

More images to come here and I’ve got a more comprehensive review of my thoughts on the camera to come over at LightStalking.com!

Allerton In The Snow II

2013-04-02T08:06:16Z

As the country (well, some of it) is engulfed in SNOW CHAOS once more, I thought I’d post what are hopefully my last snow photos of the year.

These were taken on a snowy day in January.

I like to think this man was off to donate blood – maybe very nearly an armful?

I always feel compelled to get out with my camera when it snows – it’s often a fleeting appearance.

And so it proved here – the snow had already started turning to rain by the time I decided I’d had enough.

Hopefully spring is around the corner – as much as I love snow, a bit of sunshine wouldn’t go amiss.

Lennon at Night

2013-03-11T10:10:42Z

The John Lennon statue on Mathew Street on a particularly empty January night.

Imperial War Museum North

2013-03-11T10:10:42Z

I took some time to have a proper look around the Imperial War Museum North over the weekend. I’ve been for a walk around Salford Quays and MediaCity before but wanted to focus on the museum. Unfortunately, the weather was stereotypically Mancunian and overcast so I’ve mostly gone for a different approach from normal with an abstract, high-key feel for most of the shots. Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, the museum stands out even amongst the rest of the bigger buildings around it.

The publishers N-Photo Magazine, Zinio, have very kindly offered me 10 subscriptions of their magazine to give away on this blog – the first 10 people to leave a comment on this post will get a subscription. They are also offering 2 for 1 subscriptions at the moment - if you don’t win, it’s definitely worth having a look at their offer. Good luck!

Glam – Marc Bolan

2013-02-24T16:17:32Z

A projection of Marc Bolan onto the Albert Dock to promote the Glam exhibition at Tate Liverpool.

Or, as the security guard who politely told me off for wandering down the slipway said, “It’s ‘im off the Mighty Bosh isn’t it?”

Spirit of the Blitz – Redux

2013-02-24T16:17:33Z

I’ve tried a similar shot to this before but I thought this had an extra dimension to it due to the effect the mist had. This is a statue dedicated to the victims of the Blitz in Liverpool, located in the churchyard of Church of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas on Chapel Street (more affectionately known as The Sailor’s Church) and is by local artist Tom Murphy.