Tag: long exposure

Wire Wool

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You know I like long exposure photographs. Well, I am going to try this.
I am going to try this. I am going to try this. I am going to try this.

Seriously, I am going to try this. That’s because I’ve been meaning to try this for ages (like I did with the ginger beer and that worked out ok) and now that summer is on the way, I am going to try this. Really.

I can only hope that my results are even half as good as CJ Wormwell‘s though.

Nice on white, maybe, but MUCH, MUCH BETTER ON BLACK (and then click fullscreen for the full effect).

I’m pretty sure that’s the beach in Ramsey in the Isle of Man, not that it really matters. You can see his other wire wool photos here.

And should you feel the need to have a go too, here’s a decent tutorial on how to go about it.

Photo credit: Many thanks to Chris for his permission to use his photo.

They’re back…

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Ah – the infamous and immortal words of little Heather O’Rourke playing little Carol-Anne in Poltergeist II.

But this is far less spooky. The guys from Silent UK are back – but this time, having been caught and prosecuted in the UK, they’ve gone Stateside!

For me, the adventures in London were over, my trump card used, as were my excuses. Yet something still remained, that desire to once again risk it all for that unique experience and reward. I know now that only one thing could cleanse that from my mind, and that’s death. I needed an outlet, some way to satisfy this desire but with London’s capital now off limits i was forced to look further afield. America.

In the States my slate was clean, although the consequences would still be unforgiving should i be caught, i felt safe in the knowledge the punishment wouldn’t bare the same damage multiplier the British justice system now reserves for me.

The posts relating to Silent UK were – and still are – some of the most popular on 6000 miles… and the photography is the big draw. Thankfully, it seems that despite the trans-Atlantic crossing, the quality has not suffered. So far, we’ve had some amazing images of a couple of airfields full of abandoned planes (here & here), together with some amazing images from the Manhattan Bridge:

Perhaps understandably, there is still some edginess:

It had been almost four months since i last crept through or climbed the unknown. The fear of legal repercussion grounding me, causing my inaction, the suffering forever engraved in my mind. It was something that i could not, and still have not shaken.

But it’s great to see some new stuff on the site and I hope that we see much more in the coming months.

My kingdom for a post…

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A post, a post… My kingdom for a post. According to Mr Shakespeare, so speaketh Richard III back on Bosworth Field back in 1485, although in the throes of battle, he was misheard and his request was mistakenly thought to be for a horse. Looking back, just speakething (albeit boldly speakething) about wanting a horse would be a  rather short-sighted thing to do when one considers that if he were to blog about it his need, he could then tie it in to Facebook and twitter, reaching a much wider audience and hugely increasing his chances of securing some equine transport.
Richard III was a canny fellow and what he really wanted was a blog post – and through that, a horse, escape, freedom and the chance to fight another day.
Sadly, Richard III was with MTN and had failed to activate his roaming option before arriving in Leicestershire. Thus, there was no connectivity, no chance of any blog post, no horse and – as history tells us –  no chance to fight another day.

So it is with me. Because of my enforced bed rest, I haven’t been doing anything and moments of inspiration for suitable blog post topics have been few and far between. This explains why inspirational blog posts have also been few and far between.

However, there is some good news: @JacquesR came to the party with some inspiration via Facetube earlier and a link to some very interesting long-exposure pics on design milk:

The pictures are taken on the New Transit Yurikamome – a rail system in Tokyo, Japan and are by Flickr user AppuruPai and there’s plenty more Yurikamome goodness in her Yurikamome set.

Quota Lighthouse

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Because of one thing and another (but mainly one thing), I think it’s fair to say that posts are going to be a little erratic here for the next week at least, so please bear with me and in the meantime, enjoy a quota photo of Green Point Lighthouse:

Go large

I’ve never really understood why it is painted in garish red and white diagonal stripes.
“So that it stands out from the buildings around it,” they tell me.
Does the big, bright, rotating light on the top of it not do that adequately enough then?

And how can the crews of ships passing off the Atlantic seaboard see the stripes at night anyway? Even with very powerful binoculars, they would surely be dazzled by that big, bright, rotating light on the top of it.
And when they can see the stripes during the day, at what point is it important that they recognise the building as a lighthouse? Surely the presence of any building at all would indicate land: something which is best avoided if you are a ship – vessels which tend to prefer wet places, which land is not.

Colour me confused (but not diagonally red and white).

Tower view

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One here for Mr Brian Micklethwait of BrianMicklethwaitDotCom fame who is a big fan of the Strata Tower – or at least a big fan of taking photographs of it (see here, here, here and more recently here).
But despite his best efforts, not even Brian has got a pic from this angle (AFAIK, anyway):

Bigger here.

Borrowed (without permission, nogal) from these guys (who do plenty of stuff without permission too, it seems) and who have some spectacular examples of long exposure photography of London (and elsewhere) along with some amazing tales of derring do (and in some cases, some of derring don’t).

I must say, I’ve never really though of trespass as a hobby before and I can’t bring myself to agree with it. I can, however, appreciate some of the fantastic photographic results and the images of otherwise secret history that their naughtiness generates.

On a personal note, I was much touched by this pic, from this post, which reminded me of this place, which used to be here.