Seagull silhouetted against the sunset at Liverpool Docks

We spent last weekend in Liverpool, exploring and shopping, and loved it. On our first evening wandering along the waterfront we were lucky enough to get a gorgeous sunset, with plenty of great shapes to silhouette against it. 

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/100s, 35mm, hand held.

Blackpool seafront

Welcome to my first post of 2017! I took this one at Christmas - I love the light, lines and curves on the Blackpool seafront. The view here is beneath Central Pier, looking towards North Pier.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4, 1/500s, 35mm, hand held.

Whitby pier and waterfront on a dark winter tea time.

It was a dark January tea time last year when I took this photo. I balanced the camera on a bean bag on top of a waste bin to get the long exposure.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 30s, 55mm, bean bag & cable release.

Blackpool beach and central pier on a late winter afternoon.

Another one from late December last year. I love the colour palette created by the light in this series of photos - subtle peaches and blues.

Beyond the pier on the left you can just see the Big One - the huge rollercoaster on the edge of the Pleasure Beach.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/8, 1/100s, 40mm, hand held.

Late winter afternoon at Blackpool's north pier.

I took this one in late December last year. I love how the shape and textures of the clouds seem to mirror those of the sea.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/8, 1/100s, 18mm, hand held.

Blackpool's north pier viewed from the promenade steps.

This was a late afternoon at the end of December last year. I love the mixture of soft pinks and blues, the curves of the steps and dark lines of the pier.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/8, 1/60s, 44mm, hand held.

After sunset on Whitby's west pier.

Another view of Whitby's very photogenic pier, photographed just after sunset in late January this year. The unusual angle is partly by choice and partly by necessity - I needed to get a long exposure due to the low light but only had a beanbag with me, rather than a tripod. I positioned it at the top of a few steps so that I could sit on a lower step to compose the picture, rather than having to lie flat on the boards!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 30s, 18mm, bean bag & remote release.

Beneath Whitby's west pier.

On our second morning in Whitby (in January this year), we walked down to the pier before it got busy so that I could get some photos. I was planning the usual pier-top-looking-out-to-sea photos, which I did get, but had no idea there were also opportunities beneath the pier. There's a metal stepladder at the end that takes you down to this area, where you can walk back a short way under the boards. Between the pillars on the left you can see the Abbey ruins and the church on the hilltop, as well as the west lighthouse.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/4, 1/80s, 24mm, hand held.

Blackpool's north pier at dusk.

I took this at the end of December last year. I didn't expect it to turn out well as 1) it was a really quick shot whilst my husband nipped into the arcade, 2) I had both dogs so was unable to adjust the camera settings, meaning the shot was under-exposed and 3) I had to hold the 2 struggling dogs in 1 hand whilst trying to steady the camera on the top of a railing with the other. Considering all that, I'm quite pleased with it!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/125s, 26mm (& lots of Lightroom noise reduction!)

Whitby's east pier viewed from East Cliff Flats

Here's another one from this weekend at Whitby. We spent quite some time wandering around the Flats (rocks & pools) on Sunday morning and I'm sure I could spend lots more time there and never run out of photographic options! As it was, we had to retreat when the tide started to come in (really fast!).

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/8, 1/80s, 30mm, hand held.

Birds flocking over Blackpool's North Pier at dusk

Back from my Christmas break now with a new set of photos to play with! I took this a couple of days ago in Blackpool. My husband and I walked from his parents' house to the seafront with the dogs and I took my camera 'just in case'. Glad I did, because the light was beautiful as the sun went down. We also got treated to a show from these birds (starlings?) flocking around the pier, creating different patterns of dark waves against the sky.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/125s, 48mm, hand held.

Derwentwater pier and silhouetted mountains

This one is from our holiday to Keswick in August 2014. I love the light on the horizon (between the mountains Catbells and Causey Pike), its reflection on the lake and the way it highlights the lines of the pier.

In Lightroom I used a grad filter to balance exposure, converted to monochrome and increased contrast. I also cropped to a panoramic view as the grey sky above didn't really contribute anything to the picture.

View over Derwentwater rowing boats to Catbells

This is a alternative view to an earlier blog post, taking in the rowing boats and pier at the Keswick end of Derwentwater and looking across to Catbells on the horizon. Rather than choosing the more obvious landscape orientation, I chose portrait to give the moody sky a lot of space - it's another day of heavy clouds, but the sun's fighting to break through in the distance, silhouetting the mountains and just managing to light up the lake surface a little.

In Lightroom I used a graduated filter to reduce exposure in the sky, then I increased overall exposure and contrast slightly.

Derwentwater launch and rowing boats

Back to Keswick again today - a picture from August this year. This one shows the launch heading back in towards the piers and rowing boats at the Keswick end of Derwentwater, You can also see Causey Pike in the background (top left).

It was a high contrast day - a mix of bright sunshine through dark clouds, so I had a bit of post production editing to do - a graduated filter to bring the sky exposure down, then increased shadows and reduced highlights slightly. I also cropped to position the launch on the thirds as the main focus point.